I'm waiting to see the new Camry hybrid. I have always thought the Prius is somewhat strange looking. The new hybrid Camry will probably get a few fewer MPGs than the Prius, but I might be willing to suffer that. I suspect a lot of old guys like me will prefer the Camry. Toyota expects to build 50,000 Camry hybrids in the US per year with a surge capability to 100,000 using the Japanese plants. There are some alternatives: 1. The CH will fail... not likely. Prius remains supreme 2. The price and availability of the Prius will improve for the consumer... 3. Prius becomes a "test bed" with hybrid technology retaining a small market niche 4. The Prius goes away as Corolla hybrid comes to market Watch out for the RAV4 hybrid! What are your feelings?
I think price will determine the answer. Camry succeeds becssue it is a lot of car for the money, for the masses. If the hybrid premium doesn't pay back for most buyers, they will pass. The Prius is bought not only for economy but for intangible reasons as well. I don't think many buy Camrys for such reasons. I don't know the answer, but it will be easy enough to calculate once real-world mpg and the price differential are known. With the Prius, we have nothing to compare to, but we sure will for the Camry.
I'm leaning towards 2 and 3 combined. 2) The price of the Prius will become more acceptable as components become more available and the technology becomes more commonplace. 3) The Prius was the original hybrid testbed for Toyota. First introduced in Japan, then in the U.S. And it passed that test with flying colors. But niche market? I don't think so. Insight perhaps, Prius no.
Indeed. My Dad would prefer a Camry Hybrid even though the Prius saves more because the Camry has larger seats that are more comfortable. The size of the Prius' front seats are more akin to the 97-01 Camry than the new one. Besides, it's reaching out to the market. It's for those people who say "I want a hybrid but the Prius is way too techy for me." I mean I hope Toyota doesn't dumb down the inner workings of the hybrid system like it did on the Highlander Hybrid and RX400h with that tiny little screen in the IP. I think the HiHy was a mistake on their part by dumbing it down and pricing it too high.
I saw the Camry hybrid brochure at my dealership and I believe it listed the MPG's in the high 30's. Quite a drop from the Prius. My salesperson also confirmed the rumor that Prius production will be cut back while hybrid parts get used on the new Camry. My prediction: Lower supply and continued high demand will keep the Prius at MSRP (or maybe above as fewer enter the dealer lots.)
I think that Toyota is positioning Prius as their high-tech car. What constitutes "high tech" will certainly change over time. If hybrid power becomes standard, the Prius will have fuel-cell/hybrid tech, or who-knows-what. As I see it, if the Prius model survives, that's great. If not, and the Prius technology migrates to other models and it ceases to be a viable, separate model, that's fine, too, since the technology will survive. Jan
TOYOTA: Build a Camry hatchback and when replacement-time comes around I'll buy it, otherwise I'll stick with Prius!
