Persona SE model discontinued.

I was surprised myself. I thought they would run it until they ended the GenIII like they did with the Touring the last three years of the GenII run. I checked South East Toyota's site yesterday and there were five available with no future shipments reported.

Now, I think it's kinda cool. We may be a small part of Prius history...

 

are they bring something even cooler?

 

I would hope Toyota would expand their Prius color pallet to include the before exclusive Persona Black Cherry Pearl.

If that color had been available on a standard Prius that is the color I would of wanted.

 

they have no reason to keep offering something no one's buying...

 

I like the Persona, colors and wheels. Just not enough options available for me. My local dealer had a white one available two weeks ago.Trying to find one (new) now, would be tough. Most new (unmodified) Prii are bland, and the Persona was a breath of fresh air.

 

If they had offered heated seats on it, I might have sprung for a white one. I just don't like "leather" that isn't heated.

 

I honestly don't think that's it.

I say that because of "Scion".

Scion has offered "Special Edition" version of their vehicles, similar to "The Persona" run of Prius. And they are all usually offered as a limited edition, limited run type of offering.

They do sell. They have sold.

But part of the appeal is the future implied exclusivity of the run. In this case, all good things MUST come to an end.

I did not want to pay the premium for the benefits of The Persona, but I thought the Persona version of The Prius was great. - Loved the Black Cherry Pearl color.

Really can't judge whether Toyota perceives Persona as a failure, my guess is no. I don't think "Persona" was ever meant to become a permanent trim level.

I'd be curious in upcoming years, whether Toyota ever offers an exclusive and unique trim level. It may actually aid and help sales if they announce upfront that it is an exclusive or limited run. Everyone likes to own something that has a degree of individuality or uniqueness.

In any case, I would say congratulations to those that have bought a Persona version of The Prius, you do now own a unique version of The Prius.

 

The Persona hasn't been on the Toyota site for at least a month. During my week of research/contacting dealers it disappeared from the site. At that point the local dealers here still had a bunch of stock.

 

I would be curious to hear from somebody within Toyota whether the long term thinking with the Persona package was ever meant to be a permanent fixture of the Prius line or if it was always considered a temporary or limited time offering.

That's really the only way to know whether Toyota looks at Persona as a marketing failure or not.

I personally think that it's better to take a page from the Scion group, and offer these up scaled packages upfront as a limited production run. That makes the exclusivity a selling point. And also when they are "discontinued"-stopped, nobody perceives it as somehow a production or marketing failure.

 

Actually, I believe that, based on basic business principles, my reason is exactly it. Special editions are released in order to generate some interest during slow times (ie Honda and their SE models). They are "limited editions" but really don't offer much more for the money when compared with other trim levels comparable in price. Gen IV is on the way and Toyota's doing everything they can to keep the hype down about the Gen IV and keep the Gen IIIs blood pumping by generating additional and, in the case of the Prius, very limited interest, which is most likely why the Persona is off the radar pretty much as soon as it arrived. No interest what so ever, except some in this forum.

 

Also was told that there's plenty in stock at my local dealership, Camelback Toyota, here in Phoenix.

 

Since we're all being honest here -- I'm sooooo glad that I'm not into vanity...really. Anyone else agree? I feel the same great feeling when I have to deal with my old lady gripe about anything vanity related, from the way she has to look to the what other people think about her/us = me. Who cares if I decide to grow a raggedy untrimmed beard for a few months? Not my boss (thank Jesus, the ultimate anti-vanity). Obviously I do a good job of respecting others and staying within reasonable bounds in terms of offending anyone, but to say that I can't drive a car with 15" wheels is, to me, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over the top. But of course you are entitled to your vanity fair and just as I am entitled to being comfortable with whatever people think of me. Again, thank you Jesus!!!

 

I did buy a Prius with 15" wheels, but quickly (within one week) replaced them with the Prius 5, 17" wheels. Just my preference.

 

Well I don't think Jesus or vanity have anything to do with someone not liking the looks of the lame looking hubcaps on the Prius. It is my choice and is no more vane than choosing red over black. Let's leave Jesus out of this.

 

Dude, "looks" is vanity lol...