Just came across this article on "The Consumerist" LINK HERE. Apparently, the most overstocked cars at Dealers in the US are as follows.: The Murano CrossCabriolet...that I can understand. I've never seen an uglier and more useless car. Seriously, a Murano Convertible? The Prius seems odd since my dealer had only 1 on the lot and I'm waiting for a basic Three trim level to arrive. What really surprised me was the Chevy Volt. Has anyone even seen one in the wild yet? I haven't yet in the Chicago area. No dealers by me have one (I wanted to check it out). Is there a stock pile of them on the coasts?
I think I saw in another post that Prius were in good supply in CA. Perhaps people are waiting for the new Plug-In Prius due spring of 2012. The Volt, I think it's too overpriced.
Locally we have 2 Chevy dealers and each has 1 demo Volt. I believe the data collection of this group is suspect.
I agree that the research is suspect. That said, who is going to be the first one to run out to their Ford dealer to buy a F-750 and have it fitted out to carry their fleet of Prii?
Some of the inventories could be more expensive models. Saying "Toyota Prius" doesn't say much: there's a different implication between lots with Twos and Threes and lots with Fours and Fives. It's also possible that it'll take a while to get consideration again after a shortage full of gouging.
I can only speak for the Southern Wisconsin area, but when I was looking for mine in early summer, there were no 2011 models at any dealership I could find(Madison and Milwaukee included). That may have changed since I got mine, but they were pretty scarce.
It's hard to get hold of a 2011 Prius two or three. That's why end up buying a Four. Now here in SoCal there's a lot of Four and Five and the Prius with sport package. I forgot the term..Prius Plus? Anyway it's just a Three with side skirt, chrome wheels etc.
From what I was told and saw when shopping- plenty of Prius 2 in LA, Ca. (And I got a great price 2 weeks ago on mine) Harder to find 4 and 5
Let's say you are a GM dealer with your alloted 1 Volt, that you are using for demo purposes. 1 car on the lot / 0 sales = infinite overstock. Comparably, another car that you have 600 of, on the lot and sell 6 per month looks terrific at only 100 months worth of inventory.
I just got my first service @ Hollywood Toyota...they had at least 20 prius on the lot...from 2 to loaded 4's with the sport package.
I for one don't believe this report. We have a large(by our standards) Toyota dealership near where I live and they only have 4 Prii in stock. Three are number 2"s and one 3. This is way down compared to a normal of 15 to 25 that I have seen at the dealership.
From the link: "Chug says the site maps inventory sites to compare what's on lots versus what should be there this time of year." The first Prius MY that had any leftovers was 2009. The Prius is overstocked because historically there shouldn't be any left on the lot at the end of the MY. This also presumes a uniform MY which we know doesn't exist. Historically Prius MY 2012 would be starting now but is it? MY 2010 started in Spring 2009. MY 2011 started in 2011. If MY 2012 isn't going to start until 2012 then it is too early to call the current Prius inventory "leftovers". To have a leftover you need a new MY on the lot. IMO a more accurate list can be generated by looking at the incentives piled on the hoods of the vehicles. The higher the incentive, the greater the number of leftovers.
