Their top level page in the title says "Insightful Analysis and Commentary for U.S. and Global Equity Investors". Per About Us - 24/7 Wall St., the author of this factually challenged piece w/originally very misleading title is supposedly their Editor-In-Chief & CEO!
I'm still waiting on Jeff Cobb's report but Toyota has released their numbers: June 2016 Sales Chart | Corporate Big hit in the hatchback, 8,531 whereas I was hoping for 9,500. That would explain why they increased incentives to move the 2016s. Now if I could explain the incentives of the Japanese -nly options denied to North America. Probably a lost cause. Bob Wilson It was curious to find they didn't cite a source. Thanks to Google: Toyota Deals | New Toyota Incentives & Special Offers So I checked: New Car Deals | Local Toyota Deals, Incentives & Special Offers 0%, 60 months - Avalon 0%, 72 months - Camry 0%, 72 months - Corolla 0%, 60 months - Sienna 0.9%, 72 months - Prius 0.9%, 60 months - Prius c 0.9%, 72 months - Prius v 0%, 60 months - Avalon hybrid 0%, 72 months - Camry hybrid 0%, 60 months - RAV4 hybrd Although there was a smidgen of fact, in reality, Toyota has higher interest rates on the Prius ... not really trying to move them off the lot. Funny behavior if a model is going to be discontinued, yes? Really sounds more and more like a 'click-bait' SPAM site: Clickbait: The changing face of online journalism - BBC News (WARNING: this is a reasonably balanced, well researched, and thoughtful article which will dampen one's pitchforks and torches.) Thanks @cwerdna ! Bob Wilson
no need to wait for toyota incentives, when the dealers are practically giving them away. i think we predicted this way back in late 2015, early 2016.
What in a million years? There is more gettable fossil fuel (with current tech) than 20 years ago. Now the move may be to phev's and alcohol blends for liquid fuel to stretch that further, but auto fuels are now even more abundant with plug-ins. No this is more like articles about desktop mac dying as apple moves more to revenue from iphone and ipad. Toyota was called out specifically as selling competing hybrids to the prius. It is true. The long cycle between gen III and gen IV, and the increased competition has probably never going back to the peak of 2007, or the prius family peak of 2013 at least in the world outside of japan. That said the headline is misleading clickbait.
In fairness to the mediocre 24/7 Wall St. story, the huge problem was the seriously misleading headline, which would lead the casual browser to think that Toyota was discontinuing the Prius, when the story was really about Toyota putting incentives on the car, which has been selling worse than expected (this accompanied by a pile of ignorant Prius-bashing BS and general cluelessness). The headline was corrected shortly afterward to "Toyota Dumps Prius Inventory as Sales Collapse". As noted above, even this milder version of the headline overstates matters considerably, since it seems the Yaris and the Prius line are the only Toyota cars not being offered with 0% financing.
"being first to market no longer has any value" Any value at all? Still the leader of hybrid sales...hey they did get the numbers but did not see the position?! Complete rubbish.
Not too surprising considering that gas prices are still fairly low, prompting many people to buy trucks and SUV's instead. Econocars are starting to get "good enough" mpg for most people who don't want to pay the "hybrid premium". And most importantly, there's way more competition out there now than when it first came out, particularly with plug-ins. Toyota no doubt lost a lot of conquest sales when people traded their Prius in for a Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, or the other plug-ins out on the market.
is the article in post #8 posted today, different than the one in post #6 from 2 weeks ago? they look the same to me.
I'm a little tired of the whole discussion. IMO Toyota sacrificed for a long time to build the reputation of Prius and Hybrids as a whole. Prius has been a great success. The "mystery" and panache of owning a Prius has waned, IMO...you can only be the "hot" new thing to buy and own, once. Couple that with a period of relatively low and stable gas prices in North America, and Prius sales have declined. But what The Prius "IS" hasn't changed, and arguably with Gen 4 has improved. That is a Prius is STILL a very utilizable, real world vehicle, that in all it's incarnations, is an affordable entry into an ownership experience that offers great gas mileage along with all the hybrid benefits. It's ridiculous to believe or advance the idea that Toyota is going to "dump" this. Is Toyota going to adjust expectations and production to coincided with fluctuations in sales? Certainly. But Toyota's MO has been nearly from the very start, to support Prius. Not even 1 year into the sales of what is generally touted as a much improved Gen 4, I hardly think Toyota is considering "dumping" a model line, and actually an entire ownership concept, that they have worked so long and hard to build up.
