Toyota reportedly has racked up 75,000 orders for the forthcoming Prius hybrid, an impressive feat that shows the eco-wonder isn’t about to yield any ground to the new Honda Insight. Honda had hoped to take some of the luster off Toyota’s halo with the Insight, an all-new hybrid with a rock-bottom price. Some 20,000 Insights have rolled out of showrooms since the car’s launch three months ago, exceeding the company’s expectations. Toyota had no comment on the report, which first appeared in Japan’s Nikkei newspaper. But if Toyota has amassed that many orders ahead of the car’s launch in July, Honda may keep watching from the sidelines as its leading competitor continues dominating the hybrid field. We’ve driven both cars. Check our our review of the Insight here and the Prius here. Next-Gen Prius Already a Hot Seller | Autopia | Wired.com
Firm orders for 75,000 cars that only a few of us have actually seen or driven??? I don't believe everything that I read. Keith
If that individual orders, that does not sound right. If that's dealer/worldwide distribution commitments, then the 75000 may be possible.
It sounds like there are plusses and minuses in comparing both cars. I am satisfied with my Prius. Competition hopefully will be a good thing. Perhaps with the competition from the Insight Toyota will keep the price down on the Prius. Actually I am glad that Honda has produced a new hybrid. More people switching from gas engine cars to hybrids would be a step in the right direction. :car:
As for 75,000 in the USA, let's look at recent data: Column 1 Column 2 0 Month Sales 1 04/09 8 385 2 03/09 8 924 3 02/09 7 232 4 01/09 8 121 So we have six months remaining in 2009 which means: 72,000 / 6 = 12,000 per month Part of these orders may be dealers who will need to replace their existing NHW20 Prius inventory. But there are other factors: Implosion of GM and Chrysler - some buyers on the fence may go foreign and tired of waiting for the Volt, commit to a Prius. Limited competition - Honda Insight and limited Ford hybrids that don't really match the Prius because they are too small or too big. Built-up demand - for many, new car sales have frozen but eventually folks will have to buy new. We know that the Prius has been supply limited. We can see this in the 2008 data. Column 1 Column 2 0 Month Sales 1 04/08 21 757 2 03/08 20 635 3 02/08 10 895 4 01/08 11 379 Compared to this data, 75,000 Prius in the next six months seems a little light. Who knows, the economic recovery act may work and then they won't be able to keep up with the demand. Bob Wilson
Toyota officially unveiled the 2010 Prius to the US population today. Toyota rolls out new Prius amid hybrid price war - Yahoo! Finance
Quote from the Yahoo article "Toyota is promising 38 kilometers per liter, which converts to 90 miles per gallon, in Japan, for the latest Prius." 90 miles per gallon must be a mistake?
I suspect that the 75,000 orders are from dealers not from customers! When I worked at a GM assembly plant in the 80's everything that came off of the line had been ordered, but by dealers. So I find the 75,000 orders are very suspect. Of course I hope they are plentiful so that I can upgrade my 2007 this time next year.
Well, my conversion site says 39 km/l is 89 MPG US . It's also 2.6 l/100 km and 107 MPG imperial!! Even when warmed up the best I've ever seen Pearl do on a short run is in the 3.4 l/100 km range. Nice test! Can we have those figures in real life please? I wonder what's in Japanese cigarettes?!
No, it is not a mistake. It is the real outcome of a rather useless, unrealistic test. Our EPA tests have been adjusted downwards several times to produce more real-world numbers typical of average drivers and conditions. This particular Japanese test has no such adjustments. If you are an extreme hypermiler, you can achieve that number, and more, if you don't need to get somewhere on a schedule.
There is a smilar article from reuters. Toyota cranks up heat on Honda with new Prius | Reuters Includes a graphic comparing Toyota and Honda hybrid sales but the Honda scale is half the Prius scale so Honda at first look, looks better.
Edmunds. com rates the 2010 Prius at 50 mpg. That's great that some people who hypermile can get considerably higher that 50. There are also people like me who just try to drive reasonably and need real world figures.
