Prius I, and Other News

Good trim level for fleet.
The deleted accessories are not essential to business use.

The under car aero components would be a point for damage on fleet cars anyway.

Rear wiper, the back will be stacked with stuff half the time, and the advertising on the rear window is not likely to be wiper compatible.

Rear seat apointments, what sales rep cares about rear seat cup holders, rear seat heater ducts and folding head rests? The headrests will likely be removed any way. Who is going to be in the back?

Rear speakers? You only have 2 ears.

cruise control? Have you ever seen a sales rep drive at a constant speed?

Grea interior? Won't show the food stains.

Touch Tracer? Will a sales rep care?

Sat radio? You can't hear that with the phone against your ear.

Passenger-seatback pocket? As above.

Smart Key? Sales reps wouldn't understand it.

EV mode? What the ...?

Rear tonneau cover? Wont matter when stuff is stacked to the roof.

Something to remember is the people who buy these things are not the people who will be driving them so the little comfort features have little appeal to them.

 

Agree somewhat but the caveat here is that it will be offered to sales rep initially only but the real purpose of Prius 1 wal to compete with the Insight, which has become pointless....

Guess what is going to happen… Based on the high demand of Prius 2 and above, the Prius 1, other than for purposes of a fleet vehicle, won’t really fly… so, Toyota will most likely add some things to it to make it more attractive to customers after they realize Prius 1 as it is was a bad idea or completely eliminate it, or maybe upgrade all levels across the board (1 thru 5).

 

As happened with the first Gen II in 2004.

Wayne

 

For a $1000 more for the model II I don't think that going to the model I is worth it for what they are taking away.

 

Why not Chrysler products rented from Thrifty do not have cruise control. At least in El Paso.

 

Again....YOU CANNOT BUY THE CAR. Its not for consumer sale.

$1,000 might not seem worth it...unless you are buying 200 cars at once for a fleet. Saves you $200,000. Thats what this car is about. Even 5 or 10 cars...

 

Regarding the +$400 price hike...is only the Prius affected or are other Toyota models going to see some price hike as well? Does anyone know if Honda and other Japanese manufacturers are also planning similar action? As some have speculated if this is due to the rising yen, we should be seeing similar moves across more Japanese brands and models. Otoh, if the Prius' is an isolated price hike, then we can be certain that this is motivated by testing the market for pricing strategy.

 

No... just not YET. The point is that IF it were offered to consumers, almost nobody would find it desirable, so it SHOULD remain fleet only.

 

Which is why its not offered to consumers.

 

Get ready to see the new Prius in Coke and Pepsi colours.
Westpac bank here love them, as does the South Australian government.