In Japan the Prius liftback had over 6 months of backlog while the USA had cars sitting in lots. Toyota aren't going to kill the goose.
The difference is that the Japanese are willing to wait but Americans want their cars now so Toyota isn't going to risk losing sales because there isn't enough stock in the U.S.. The car buying market is different. I've never walked into a dealership and bought a car off the lot. We've almost always ordered ours (mostly because we buy within 2 months of launch so we have to wait anyway). I don't mind waiting the 1-2 months for a car I want rather than pick something off the lot (unless it happens to match my package/colour identically which has only happened once).
Exactly, Americans will not wait 6 months for a prius c, they will buy something else. They may keep inventory low though, as the margins in japan are likely much higher.
Toyota Motor Sales, USA is putting the new Prius c, the fourth member of the expanded Prius family (earlier post), on sale in the US in mid-March with a starting MSRP of $18,950 Prius c One (MSRP $18,950) features: power windows and door locks, automatic climate control, Multi-Information Display (MID), Hill Start Assist Control (HAC), Remote Keyless Entry, projector-beam halogen headlamps, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, 4-speaker audio, Bluetooth hands-free telephone controls, Bluetooth and USB auxiliary outlets, rear window wiper. Prius c Two (MSRP $19,900) adds cruise control, tonneau cover, 6-way adjustable driver seat with vertical height adjustment, 60/40 split fold-down rear seat, engine immobilizer, tilt/telescopic steering wheel and 6-speaker audio system. Prius c Three (MSRP $21,635) adds Display Audio with Navigation and Entune, Touch Tracer Display, Smart Key System on front doors and liftgate with Push Button Start and more. Prius c Four (MSRP $23,230) adds SofTex-trimmed seats, heated front seats, alloy wheels, fog lamps. Green Car Congress: Prius c hybrid goes on sale in US with entry MSRP of $18,950; new transaxle, motor technology
They can start producing them in US in Mississippi plant. Blue Springs is cranking out Corollas same as Kanto Autoworks which is making "C" now, so obviously the equipment/programming can be shared. Question is what can be made/sourced locally and what has to be shipped.
they build hybrid Camry in US so it is not like it cannot be done. Toyota originally planned to produce Prii in Blue Spring and with exchange rate it would make them alot cheaper too.
*Prius c Two (MSRP $19,900) adds cruise control, tonneau cover, 6-way adjustable driver seat with vertical height adjustment, 60/40 split fold-down rear seat, engine immobilizer, tilt/telescopic steering wheel and 6-speaker audio system.* Hope dealer will have this one::fish2:
Excluding the 60:40 back seat from the base was sneaky. It turns the base car into a two seater with luggage instead of a 3 seater with luggage.
Well, that's something on the cheaper base Insight that's not on the base c. Of course, Honda then charges you $1775 dollars to upgrade to the more expensive LX to get a comparable spec to the c Two. (To get cruise control, which is one of my wife's "needs"). The Prius c Two has what we "need". The big miss would be the heated mirrors from the liftback Two. Losing 1-door SKS wouldn't be such a big deal since my wife's used to a key in the Civic but she really appreciates not having to stand in the cold and/or rain to scrape the mirrors. Honda doesn't even give you 60:40 on the Civic LX.
It does seem a bit cheap to miss it off. I can only think of one occasion in the last 5 years I've used this though. GT-I9000 ?
He said make them cheaper, not sell them cheaper I don't understand people being upset about the lack split fold down on the 1 trim. They don't want to sell it. They put an inferior seat and no cruise control in the car, those are the big bullet points. Honda plays this game too.
dude, do you realize that Corolla and Prius c share a lot less things than Camry 2.5l and Camry Hybrid? If anything. How hard is that to understand. Do you think parts, stamping, a billion other things just come from the sky? They dont. They require substantial investment into production valued in hundreds of millions. And then you still have to ship hybrid parts in. Not worth it for those volumes. They sell most Prii in Japan and hence they build it there. In US, they sell more of bigger vehicles than anywhere else in the world, and hence they will now cease production in Japan of cars like Highlander, and move it to US as announced yesterday.
Mississippi Prius Factory to Open "When the recovery hits full stride" | PriusChat Huh, they sell many more in the us then thailand or china. That is where they invested in new prius production. IMHO, not a good PR or business move. Maybe they will someday begin prius production in the united states. AFAIK, they are keeping production in Japan, China, and the US. They are reducing production and exports in Japan, while increasing exports and production in the US. They simply are less expensive to build and export from the US then the Japanese or Chinese factory. Build share for export has nothing to do with domestic demands for a plant. The camry is the main vehicle that toyota builds in the us for export.
No. They are stopping production in Japan completely for Highlander. As to the Chinese, will you get it into your head that Toyota has not ever exported a single model from China to anywhere else? You keep mentioning Chinese, Chinese, Chinese... do you know how many Prii will they build in China? You dont... do you know that it wont be real production, but rather parts will come from Japan and just be put together in China? You didnt. It is not the same. In China due to customs, imported cars cant sell... so they have to work around those rules. They are building hybrids in Japan because they are most productive there and have factories that can adapt to the demand better. To make profit with Hybrids, production has to be crazy lean, so thats why they do it there. It is not like they dont like making money. They just sold 50k hybrids in Japan in January alone.
