Prime destined to be doa?

When we picked up the PiP, the dealer personnel were not knowledgeable about the car. I knew quite a lot more about the car than they did. At the Toyota dealership in purchasing another liftback a couple of years earlier, we were steered towards a corolla if we wanted to save money on gas. So many people just want to know what the monthly payment is going to be to determine if a car is expensive or cheap when they buy a car. It will be an interesting experiment to see how many Primes get sold. I think that the sales will come mainly from "pulls" from the customers rather than "pushes" from the sales team. Will monthly payments affect this group of customers more than total out the door price? We shall see.

 

steering toward a corolla is actually the right move for saving money.

 

I wouldn't want to hazard a guess until we see the pricing.
Toyota could sell 100s of thousands if they price it at $10k.
Obviously they won't as that isn't sustainable.

They have the Toyota reputation, which will translate into some sales.
Beyond that, it all depends upon price.

 

yep, we killed gm four the 4 seater. pretty much a useless halo vehicle for most people. you could have knocked me over with a feather when toyota announced the prime. for me and many others, prius has been all about utility. lower lines, less interior room etc. is not going in my direction. but again, i'm not the demographic, although i do own a truck.

and stickers. without stickers, cali is just another state.

 

No way. CA is the single biggest influence on auto manufacturers. CARB creates the artificial markets that influence what cars get made. It also has among the highest fuel prices in the US. Then there are the Hollywood celebs that drive a Prius to make them cool for everyone else. Try picking any other 5 states and see if it even begins to approach the influence of CA.

 

How well does the gen2 Volt fit your needs and wants from back then; could it have been a contender?

Could part of the demographic be people that can't get the Mirai, but want the joy of owning a Toyota with four seats? Will the Corolla get four seats on its mid-cycle refresh? The new Camry is coming soon.

 

granted. but stickers still make up a significant percent of cali pip buyers.

 

volt wasn't a contender for several reasons, size being a significant one. but i was tempted by the aer.

 

Call me a fool, but certainly Toyota wouldn't deliberately make their 2nd gen PiP less functional - just to make their hydrogen experiment less unappealing.
.

 

Guess we'll have to wait and see the next Camry.

 

Actually the traditional family (2 parents) with kids is an extreme minority, less than 20% of all families. A huge majority are DINKs (dual incomes no kids) of which I'm one. The typical household consists of 2.6 people. Was 3.1 only 10 years earlier. The graying of America will only make this number even less.

Maybe you are right. I swear its a small percentage. Now I should tell you I've been a long time subscriber to Consumer's Report and maybe its me, but they've been increasingly reviewing BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, Lexus, Cadillacs, Lincolns a lot. And not the cheap ones. Not sure what the standard public gets out of those reviews excepts maybe dreams. I believe they are getting as jaded as any car magazine out there. I also work with 800 of my closest friends (a large facility). By and large they get their car opinions from family, friends, and coworkers. I rarely hear Car and Driver said this or Motortrend said that. And increasingly, they do not get their cars locally but will range quite a bit to save money.

Absolutely! I have a hard time imagining anyone in the southern states, like Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, saying let's go to the car dealer and look at a Prius. Maybe in large cities, maybe.

 

Yes, there are a large number who don't have the need for transporting more than 4 people.

There is also the group of people who shop based on the test-drive experience.

Think about how little the salesperson has to do if they are smart enough to keep the battery-pack topped off.

 

I just don't understand this statement. Why wouldn't people in the southern states (especially Texas) want a Prius? I've been saving up for years to get one. My current car only gets 25 mpg so going up to 50 mpg was going to save me a lot in gas and time. I drive about 50 miles a day going to work and back home. When I first started looking at the Prius, the old Plug-in just didn't seem worth the extra money for so little electric mileage so I was just going to get a 3rd gen. Then they announced the 4th gen and I figured I might as well save up a little more and get the newest and best, right? Well now they announce the Prime which will just about get me to work without using any gas. That sounds like a pretty darn good deal to me. Doubt I could convince my boss to put in a charging station but thats okay.

Anyway, back to the point. Texas is huge. Lots of rural land where people drive 20+ miles to work every day. Anything to help save us money on gas is a no brainer. I work in a smaller town yet I see several Prius' daily. They are quite popular here.

 

When the label 'family' gets applied to a car, I picture a mid-size sedan, a minivan, or some crossover thing. That is a car that can carry a couple with kids, and the stuff they need. While households with kids are minority, the average number of kids they have is still over two. While a car with 4 seats only could appeal to the majority of households, I don't think many would use 'family car' to describe them.

Take my dad's Mini Countryman. Plenty of car for my parents to get around, and also for the four of us when we go down and visit. It can work for a family with kids, but will be tight with three of them. Yet, I don't see anyone calling it a family car.

My disillusionment with CR started with a review of dog foods, and ended with their unscientific fuel economy test for cars.

I've had co-workers and friends ask me the Prius, and I even had someone next to me at a light ask about the Sonic. Aside from those large used car dealer chains like Car Max, I don't think many people go to a dealership without some kind of info on the car they want to look at. Impulse buys still happen, but getting a car is still a major purchase for the vast majority.

Plug in market share is growing, but I think the popularity is past the point of getting many going to a dealer lot planning of buying an ICE yet.

Are you in Austin?

Texas does a reputation as the land of the pick up in the rest of the country.

 

Bravo! Wow been away since high school for quite awhile.

 

there are very few pick ups and suv's in texas. most people drive a long way to get where they are going, and need a fuel efficient vehicle. plus, they have some of the highest gasoline taxes in the nation, dedicated to reducing their carbon footprint, resulting in some of the highest gas prices.

 

Ah yes I agree the proverbial 800-lbs gorilla
...who me? my name is CARB


Bisco - aside from HOV stickers, there is the minor issue that CA mandates Plug-Ins..this creates the market since auto makers must price the cars to sell to get the mandated sale credits. I am thinking that CA is the whole justification for Prime.

 

It is worth noting that in Europe, the Prius is right in between the "small family car" (think Golf) and "large family car" (think the Passat... at least, for the US one, before 2012, then the 2012 US Passat got quite a lot bigger than the Euro one) classes. Although, damn near everything in those classes has five seats, and some of the wagons have a third row, too.

 

good point. i'm so parochial, i never think of sales outside the u.s.

 

No confusion. That's why it was stated as "potential". The investors obviously believe it's going to happen.