Seems as if Toyota created something that's just too good. Apparently the competition is heating up, and even within Toyota there is competition for hybrid sales. Still... glad I got my Prius. In spite of the many alternatives I never even considered another brand. Here's a link to a short article on Prius sales for this year. Toyota Prius Sales Fall 14% - Ford (NYSE:F) - 24/7 Wall St.
There will likely be an in rush of buyers if the Gen 4 strikes the correct balance of style, affordability and economy. Right now the interior and exterior design and interior materials of the Prius is a couple of cycles behind the competition. The economy of the vehicle remains an advantage but beyond that it is not a compelling buy. With gas prices dropping, and a model that is now approaching 6 years old, incentives will be needed to keep sales moving.
I can think of a few reasons why their sales are down: 1. A lot of people already own a prius. Unless they upgrade every year or every other year, someone who bought a model year 2010-13 probably won't need the 2014 model. 2. Increased competition. If they don't own a prius, but want a hybrid, there are a lot of other hybrids out there now. Sure, a lot of them excel better than the prius in a some areas, notably acceleration and handling. But how reliable are they compared to the boring prius? Some people may not want a prius for whatever reason, most likely the look, but will gladly buy a camry, fusion, or accord hybrid because they look and drive a lot like their gas counterparts. 3. People who want a prius but haven't bought one yet also may be waiting for the gen 4 to come out in a year or so. This gives them extra time to save up on money to buy one, and in the event the gen 4 doesn't blow them away, they'll end up buying a different hybrid. 4. Hybrids in general are too expensive for most people to want to consider them. Non-hybrid cars are getting better mpg every year or three, and most people could justify spending $14-20k for a new gas guzzler. But they may balk at the prius's prices, most of which will normally be in the $22-30k range. Unless gas prices shoot up and stay high, they may figure it's cheaper just to buy a civic/corolla/focus/mazda 3, and save that extra money on gas that they would've otherwise had to spend on buying the prius. Yes, the mpg isn't as good, but for many people, it's good enough. 5. Despite it's increasing popularity, some people still view hybrids with skepticism. I still keep seeing "the hybrid battery will cost $6-8k to replace!" from posters in other car websites. Then they complain about having to take their car in for repairs every year or two. Some people driving their priuses slower to maximize mpg while in busy traffic doesn't help either. There's probably other factors too, but I'm sure the majority of my guesses are why prius sales are slowing down.
Well, the first factor to keep in mind is the elephant in the room California sells 9% hybrids+Plug-ins vs. not quite 3% elsewhere. So that makes California's 11% of the population look like ~33% of the market. California is pushing Plug-Ins as hard as possible which takes a little wind out of the Prius sales.
BaBingo ... as such I spenta couple hours taping fabric onto the 2 inch armrest foam. Comical driving to store this morning without the door pad ... so low and a brick .... and yes I knew about if before buying. I did not anticipate I would need to put an inch and a half foam pad on my headrest due to the excess lean (tilt) the manual dr. seat takes on at low height settings. Memory foam bathmat (yes, it's new) and two velcro straps are materials. I figure taller people have longer thighs and thus the thicker part of the thigh is on front edge of the seat cushion (front portion of seat cushion foam angles up). ... so why do they make the manual seat increase lean (tilt) as they are lowered down?? (I have data on cushion tilt from 0 pumps up to 30, every two pumps). All that said, Camry / Hybrid SE, XLE would be a drop in and drive, no fuss needed car for me at least.
A lot of people own 2003 to 2012 Honda Accord sedans too, but there is no question the 9th gen 2013+ Accord is Much better than previous generations. There were quite a few complaints from gen2 prius owners looking for gen3 when it came out. The new Accord is selling like hotcakes ... over 51,000 Accords (sedans, coupes, PHV, hybrid) sold in August '14 !! Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - August 2014 - GOOD CAR BAD CAR versus 23,437 Prius liftback + c + v +PiP for August '14. And prius is arguably a wider family than Accord (c is small, med and larger v Prius) August 2014 Dashboard - HybridCars.com Although most agree the 3rd gen Prius is better than the 2nd, I think there are many that got turned off by things like the floating bridge console, lack of map pockets and more in the 2010+ Prius. btw, Prius liftback is down 16.3% so far this year. In fact most hybrid (non plug) models are down compared to last year. See Hybrid cars dashboard above.
Prius (and thus other hybrids) are likely still the butt of jokes and skepticism from many on the street. Yesterday, my niece asks ... "do you try to drive it under 30 MPH most of time to keep it electric?' or SLT and 'cause so many Prius drivers are so slow'. The gas lovers like to think Toyota hybrids have split personalities (no pun) ... either electric or gas. I told the niece, look, I just drive the darn car and it figures out what to do. The car can blend electric and gas together.
I purchased a little siphon (to use on niece's old car) at Auto Zone ... the counter guy (older) says "yeah if we didn't have a president that works overtime to keep gas prices high, we'd be alright." Gas lovers are kinda annoying. I'd sorta like to tell them 'why don't you go swim around in a vat of crude oil' or 'how about put your mouth over a tailpipe and enjoy' .... they think just because the exhaust is invisible, well, it must not be there, wooohooo.
we have an a.g. running for governor. she say's, if elected, she'll put in an automatic gas tax increase. (easier said than done, even in a blue state) one reporter asks her if she knows how much the current gas tax is? "uh, 6 cents?" bad answer. 24 cents. the opposition is killing her, playing the stupid thing over and over. it's frustrating to see the ignorance on both sides.
In California we should see a spike in sales in the coming months and into 2015, as California has just passed a new gas tax which can add $.40 cents to $1.00 more a gallon..gas is currently around $4.00 gal. This new tax starts January 2015.
Wait and see attitude could be costly, I am sure dealers will be marking up the price on all hybrids and EV vehicle in 2015.
I'm glad I got mine, too, Oskar. And with the sales slump, end of year, and Toyota rebate ending a week ago I was able to get a good price. I've wanted a Prius for some years, but could never justify a second car. Then my wife totaled her motor scooter and decided to stay off of them after 3 days in the hospital, so my window of opportunity opened.
people who think the prius has poor acceleration are simply uninformed. 9.9 times out of 10 i can easily out accel traffic off the line. I accel to the speed limit +7 and the traffic behind me are dots in my rear view mirror.
Great news!!!! Sales down..... G4 will be on the market before 2020 (maybe)...... Means that new G3's might be on sale soon!! Buyer's market.
