NPR: Toyota Prius Best Selling Hybrid

Yeah, this one actually kind-of pissed me off. They use the JD Powers survey as the basis for the theory that we Prius drivers choose to drive a Prius because "It makes a statement". I get extremely frustrated by this being trotted out over and over again as the reason why the Prius is successful while other hybrids are not. This story particularly aggravated me, because they made the statement that other hybrids weren't getting very good mileage, compared to their price premium, and then went on to emphasize how we're all really just driving around Prii because of what they say about us.

A very disappointing news piece, from a source I usually respect.

 

Hi All,

Have any "Clean Diesels" actually entered the market place yet? I am unaware of any clean diesel cars are for sale now.

None of the cars in this article are even for sale yet, and many wont be available to 2010!

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/...0713_699758.htm

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/07/07...el/index_01.htm


So where does she come off saying :

"At the same time, some gas-only models have become very fuel efficient. And as more clean diesels enter the U.S. market, consumers are showing an increased interest in those, as well."

And this bit is definately meant to subconciously say the Prius is not anything tangible:

"Still, Prius sales continue to mount, getting a boost from something a bit intangible: image, and what the car says about those who buy them"

This piece seems to me to be repackaged propaganda. Not anywhere close to NPR's usual standards.

 

My husband and I listened to this story and were outraged. Who is paying these people off? Besides the statement that most of us bought our Prius for the" image", there was another part to the story where an aging hippie couple were gushing about how the Prius reminded of them of the Volkwagon beetle they had back in the day. This was presumably because of the shape. But once you link the two, the result can only be more negative propaganda, in my mind. Strangely, when I went to the NPR website with half a mind to fire off an email, I reviewed the story and found that the part about the VW comparison was missing! So what is up with that ;, were we hallucinating? Why are all the great things about the Prius, not the least of which is the low emission numbers, always missing from these stories?

 

The Prius "green" image and looks of the car almost drove me away from it. However, I could not ignore the great quality and practicaility of it.