There's going to be two very interesting time periods next year. 1-January, when the tax credit kicks in, and there is a flood of people rushing to buy a Prius, and 2-Sometime in the second half of next year when the tax credit drops from 100% to 50%. It's going to be a weird supply and demand scenario. Dealer add-ons will mushroom. People will try to "buy" a Prius that hasn't been built yet (the opposite of the December "hold that car" effect). The rush on dealers will make the Black Tuesday rush at Wal-Mart look like a walk in the park! The ever vigilant media will be on the scene recording the fist fights and name calling. Rush Limbaugh will declare victory over greenies. Dealers will have to close their doors!! Toyota quadruples production, cuts corners, and actually builds a car with a manufacturers' defect! It could be the end of civilization as we know it. :lol:
The Escape might start having a real surge at that point. BUT...at 50%, a $1500 credit is still nothing to sneeze at.
All of us '06 buyers should get together in, say, Wichita, for a Prius New Year's Eve. Only we could just stay there, partying it up, dancing, watching movies and playing cards, until someone calls us, one by one, to come pick up our cars. We could have a Prius pinata---or would a Hummer be better?
