NO. QUOTE=priuskitty;1530997]Could it be that the Advanced Pip's get shipped first? And the lowly Base Pip's get shipped last?[/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE] just trying to make sense of why everybody on NEW CENTURY 2 ship's got their call and I haven't. Feeling a little left out.
I will tell you one thing. It's just my own observation after 127 PHEV deliveries, with quite a few more to come... The first few loads of cars, the first two or three boats, new buyers couldn't WAIT to get in here and get their cars. I was jammed swamped and overwrought every day for DAYS... and since early April, about 5 weeks after I saw my first PHEV arrive here, I have cars "languishing" with folks off doing other things, not rushing or in a hurry in for their cars!!! I have no idea - it's a strange phenomenon. I am kinda chalking it up a little to them being able to live vicariously thru YOU owners ... but ... it's just weird! Just sharing. In a way it's nice because I do have time to sell other cars (LOL, yes, I do sell lots of other models too)...
After I read your e-mail about this last night, it made me wonder how many other dealers have experienced this. I suspect that unless other dealers have your volume of data points, this might be missed. There's probably a connection between the earliest orderers and what you mentioned as their anxiousness to take delivery. But it's really the others, especially those who have left their cars languishing on your lot, that are kind of interesting. Did they not REALLY want the car in the first place? Or as you conjectured, maybe they are getting their "jones" through reading about others here. I would think that the glitterati at Toyota marketing would look pretty closely at the whole Prius Pre-Order experience. It may not be the first pre-order of a new model to ever happen, but I suspect that it might be the first one that's been done exactly like this. The ability to specify a particular car and then have it built is not new, but rarely has it been done at this volume (2100 units) in such a narrow window of time (sounds like a little less than 8 weeks). So it feels a little like those who line up for an iPhone or iPad - part of the attraction - or the rationalization - is "the experience" - and one benefit is that after "the experience" you also get to leave with one of the first models. Once the initial buzz is downstream, though, I wonder what will sustain sales? I bet Toyota is also wondering about this. Oh well, hopefully, there will be one less clearwater blue PHEV languishing on your lot after this weekend!! (crosses fingers just for luck)
Yes, that's the language in the original contract we agreed to back in November. So when a dealer does go the extra mile to make sure cars are picked up by the original customers, I think it's noteworthy. Every day a car sits unsold on a dealer's lot, the dealer's losing money one way or another - even if someone "pre-ordered" it.
Does anyone seriously think there's $7000 worth of difference between the Base and Advanced models? If sales don't sustain themselves after the initial wave of early adopters, then for sure dealers will have to find another way to move them off the lots. So there is already much more room to deal on the Advanced model than the Base. But with Prius IV and V being pretty direct price competitors with the base, that lineup might see a drop in price well before the PiPs with their higher capacity battery does. Obviously, $4.50/gallon gasoline favors the PHEV. But as the price fluctuates back down - as it will before the next serious spike - it will be interesting to watch how sales of hybrids and EVs go. As these cars become more of a commodity than an oddity, I think a more mainstream audience will be interested in the cars. I've heard a few people mention that they're more seriously considering a hybrid or EV next time around. But that discussion always comes back to the price of gas. So the next 'crossover' may well be a hybrid in the next decade if it gets 'fueled' by higher prices of gasoline.
According to the sales figures Dianne's given here (127+) she accounts for the sale of about 6% of the TOTAL of ALL PHEVs built for the Pre-order event (2100). I'd be surprised to learn anyone else is even close to that figure.
Dianne, Ever think of moving to the east coast? Since global warming, our winters have been pretty good... :welcome:
