Toyota targeting 220,000 Prius sales in the US in 2012

Rybold · Mar 2, 2012

Toyota Beats Sales Estimates, Prius Rises - Bloomberg

BLOOMBERG NEWS, By Alan Ohnsman - Mar 1, 2012 5:01 PM PT</span>

Toyota Motor Corp. (JDCSTYTA), seeking record U.S. Prius sales in 2012, said increased supply of the hybrid helped the automaker beat analysts’ estimates for February sales and will buoy gains in March amid rising fuel prices.

Asia’s largest carmaker reported yesterday that sales of Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles rose 12 percent last month, more than the 8.2 percent average of seven estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Prius sales, including the v wagon, were up 52 percent to 20,589, the highest in almost four years. The total for all Toyota and Lexus hybrids climbed 60 percent.

“They’re targeting 220,000 Prius sales,” said Alan Baum, principal of Baum & Associates, a provider of auto-industry analysis in West Bloomfield, Michigan. “Given the assumption we’ll have high gas prices into the summer, this looks like a reasonably good bet.”

Toyota’s gain contributed to a 16 percent increase for all Asian brands last month, as the industrywide U.S. annual sales pace was the highest since February 2008, according to Autodata Corp. With rising gasoline prices stoking demand for fuel- efficient vehicles and signs of a strengthening economy helping light trucks, the industry’s sales also advanced 16 percent.

Consumer Confidence

Consumers gained confidence in February as the Dow Jones Industrial Average exceeded 13,000 for the first time since May 2008 and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest in three years. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has increased 14 percent this year to $3.74 as of Feb. 29, according to AAA, the largest U.S. motorist group.

Toyota starts March with more than 25,000 Prius hatchbacks and wagons already on the way to dealers, or at least 29 days of supply, one of the highest levels it has had in the U.S. for the gasoline-electric model, Bob Carter, the company’s group vice president of U.S sales, said in a conference call yesterday. The Prius c subcompact and plug-in model will also go on sale this month and boost sales for the hybrid, he said.

“I like our positioning in the market,” Carter said on the call. “We projected an increase in fuel prices as we moved into the spring. We didn’t expect fuel prices would move this quickly and this rapidly.”

Prius Preparations

That’s benefiting dealers such as Don Mushin, general manager at Toyota of Hollywood in Los Angeles, which says it’s among the top three Prius sellers in the U.S. by volume. The dealership’s supply of Prius models has nearly doubled in the past couple of months, and the new small version of the hybrid that arrives within the week should be a particularly strong seller, he said.

“It’s a whole different story from a year ago,” said Mushin. “If gas prices go to $5, I think the Prius c that’s priced at around $20,000 will probably be the commuter car for everybody.”
The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker sold 159,423 vehicles in the U.S. last month. Toyota also benefited from demand for the revamped Camry sedan that went on sale in late 2011, with deliveries rising 27 percent.

The carmaker is running no-interest loan offers for Avalon sedans, Tundra pickups, Venza wagons, Highlander and RAV4 sport- utility vehicles, and Sienna minivans to keep sales growing across the Toyota brand.

‘Best Position’

“They are clearly in the best position they’ve been in in the last two years,” Jesse Toprak, industry analyst for pricing service TrueCar.com, said in a telephone interview.
Toyota’s market share in February was 13.9 percent, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata. That was a drop of 0.4 point from a year earlier, as the company’s sales gain trailed the industry’s.

Honda Motor Co. (7267), Nissan Motor Co. (7201) and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. (005380) and Kia Motors Corp. (000270) also reported February sales that topped analysts’ estimates.

Toyota fell 0.6 percent to 3,315 yen at 9:55 a.m. in Tokyo trading, while Nissan and Honda were little changed. Hyundai rose 3 percent and Kia advanced 1.7 percent in Seoul.
Honda, based in Tokyo, said sales for the Honda and Acura brands grew 12 percent to 110,157, including a 42 percent surge for the Civic small car. Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan, posted a 16 percent increase to 106,731 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles.
The averages of seven estimates were for gains of 4.5 percent for Honda and 6.1 percent for Nissan.

Hyundai, Kia

Hyundai and Kia, affiliates that operate separately, combined for a 26 percent jump from a year earlier. The Seoul- based companies beat the average of five analysts’ estimates for a 19 percent gain. Sales of Hyundai’s Accent small car were up 29 percent. Kia benefited as deliveries of the Optima midsize sedan more than doubled.

Honda’s February gain followed a January increase that was the automaker’s first monthly advance since its inventory plunged after Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in March.
“February felt great,” Al Castignetti, Nissan’s vice president of U.S. sales, said in a phone interview. “Consumer demand is coming back, and I think it’s coming back fairly aggressively.”

Honda’s U.S. market share was 9.6 percent last month, a decline from 9.9 percent a year earlier; Nissan’s was unchanged at 9.3 percent; and combined share for Hyundai and Kia was 8.4 percent, an increase from 7.7 percent, according to Autodata.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at[email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at [email protected]
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Toyota Beats Sales Estimates, Prius Rises - Bloomberg
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Rybold · Mar 2, 2012

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Transcript of Toyota's earnings call on March 1, 2012:

Speaking today will be:
• Bob Carter, Group Vice President and General Manager of the Toyota Division
• And Tim Morrison, Lexus Division Vice President for Sales and Dealer Development

The Camry hybrid, still building inventory, saw sales up more than 260 percent.
Prius family was up 52 percent. Prius liftback sales rose 22 percent with additional growth provided by the all-new Prius v.
In fact, total Toyota Division hybrid sales were up more than 63 percent.
The Prius family continues to grow this month as the Prius c and Prius Plug-in, both with combined fuel economy ratings of 50 miles per gallon, begin arriving at dealerships.

The CT200h also performed very well in February with 1,640 units sold, an increase of 60% over January.
Click to expand...

Toyota February 2012 Sales Conference Call :: PaddockTalk :: F1, Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, MotoGP, ALMS, And More!

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efusco · Mar 2, 2012

WOW! That's a lot of Prii.

Skoorbmax · Mar 2, 2012

As we know, attention spans are short and now with the media going ape over gas prices, Toyota will be able to sell as many of these as they can produce.

fotomoto · Mar 2, 2012

“If gas prices go to $5, I think the Prius c that’s priced at around $20,000 will probably be the commuter car for everybody.”

I've had reservations that finding a base c "comfortably under $19k" will be rare. This quote doesn't alleviate them.

Sergiospl · Mar 2, 2012

If gas prices stay up for the next 3 months, at least thru Memorial Day, IMO, they will probably move 30,000/month from all 4 Prius models. Good luck to anyone trying to buy in a seller's market.

austingreen · Mar 2, 2012

fotomoto said: ↑

“If gas prices go to $5, I think the Prius c that’s priced at around $20,000 will probably be the commuter car for everybody.”

I've had reservations that finding a base c "comfortably under $19k" will be rare. This quote doesn't alleviate them.

Click to expand...

you're in gulf states like me, I don't think toyota dealers were going to discount them for us anyway, so under $19K out of the dealership was never an option. Now I bet they jack them all up with port installed options.

Sergiospl said: ↑

If gas prices stay up for the next 3 months, at least thru Memorial Day, IMO, they will probably move 30,000/month from all 4 Prius models. Good luck to anyone trying to buy in a seller's market.
Click to expand...

Even before the gas price hike I expected the prius c to be in short supply. I filled up at $3.489 yesterday. There is a lot of californication with the refineries shooting up prices in certain areas.

M8s · Mar 2, 2012

I've been trying to find out how many Prius vees were sold in February. If my math is correct, here's what I get from the chart of total Prius sales for February (20,589) and the Toyota spokesman's comment:

Prius family was up 52 percent. Prius liftback sales rose 22 percent with additional growth provided by the all-new Prius v.
Click to expand...

In February, the "Prius Family" was only two vehicles: the liftback and the vee. So, if the liftback was up 22%, then that works out to 16,518 liftbacks sold (that's 22% over year ago figures of 13,539).

That leaves 20,589 - 16,518 = 4,071 Prius vees sold in February. Pretty strong for a model that's only been out since 10/24/11. I guess that answers the question as to whether Prius vee sales would "cannibalize" liftback sales.

Skoorbmax · Mar 2, 2012

fotomoto said: ↑

“If gas prices go to $5, I think the Prius c that’s priced at around $20,000 will probably be the commuter car for everybody.”

I've had reservations that finding a base c "comfortably under $19k" will be rare. This quote doesn't alleviate them.

Click to expand...

The $19k one is trash anyway, it misses some very basic accessories such that it's really no more than a PR stunt IMO. The real one is $20k and darn few will be sold at the sub 19k base price point.

spwolf · Mar 2, 2012

austingreen said: ↑

you're in gulf states like me, I don't think toyota dealers were going to discount them for us anyway, so under $19K out of the dealership was never an option. Now I bet they jack them all up with port installed options.

Even before the gas price hike I expected the prius c to be in short supply. I filled up at $3.489 yesterday. There is a lot of californication with the refineries shooting up prices in certain areas.
Click to expand...

interestingly enough, unlike the last time, trucks are still selling well.... back in 2008/2009, there was collapse of truck market. Today, for now, people are in better financial position it seems.

Regardless, Prius family will keep on selling in record numbers, question is will mass market migrate from trucks again or not, or maybe real question is how soon.

Toyota targeting 220,000 Prius sales in the US in 2012

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Toyota targeting 220,000 Prius sales in the US in 2012

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