Toyota Lowers Sales Targets for 2016 Prius

I went for a hatchback and a trunk

 

i don't think toyota wants to limit sales, otherwise, they wouldn't have made all the positive changes they did.
if that were the case, it would apply double to every other carmaker.
i do think hybrids are still more expensive to make, and most of the buying public doesn't see the value.

 

Cycledrum,

Not sure why you think highly praised Honda Accord Hybrid is Joke. Check out this review
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Test – Review – Car and Driver
Not just that one, pretty much every review is glowing.
0-60 in 7.2 secs(faster than regular Accord, Camry Hybrid) , City MPG 50.
Technology wise they did beat Toyota. That is not a question, but long term reliability we do not know yet. I test drove last year and it much more substantial than driving Prius. To braking felt little bit more different, and I guess user need to get used to it (like we got used to Prius).
Price, it is higher, but if I remember correctly it was only 4 grand more for regular EX-L vs Hybrid EX-L at that time(at least what dealer offered).

Of Course my preference for a hatchback though. Before I bought my mini-van, I used my Prius almost like a mini-van for all my home improvement projects.

Phasing out, only Accord Plug-in is phased out, because as you said, not many sold. Hybrid main issue was availability as drivetrain was imported from Japan, and it seems not planned well for huge production.

Honda Accord Hybrid: Supply Now Sufficient To Meet Demand

 

I don't think it was the quality he was saying is a joke, but the sales results.

 

It had supply issues, and Honda pricing to deal with. It is the most expensive of the hybrid mid-size sedans.

 

honda needs to learn to stick with what is working and weed out the bad apples. patience.

 

Too bad Honda decided to stop selling Accord in Europe (any kind of it): European Honda Accord Getting Axed in 2015 Due to Slow Sales

It was a nice car, albeit a bit too expensive. And hybrid version isn't that impressive with 42mpg average reported on fuelly.com, 5 less than Prius - not to mention that it has less storage.

Insight in Europe is starting at 21,000$ (88hp version), and I couldn't even find any info on Accord Hybrid, but probably somewhere around 37k$, considering base Prius is 30,500$ - and even that is pretty expensive imho.

 

This is really non-news to me.
Sales projections are just something Toyota and every large company does with their products. With gas prices low? All I read here is that Toyota isn't expecting a huge increase.

And I find the presentation spinned to be a little slanted.

Toyota isn't really lowering the sales projection, they are just lowering the upper end of the ceiling.
Last years projection 300,000-400,000
This years projection 300,000-350,000

Public school mathematics but nothing really has been lowered except the upper end projected ceiling.

300,000-400,000 was always a projected RANGE.

All Toyota is really doing is decreasing the range they are projecting sales might fall. This might have some impact on production and pace, but lowering the upper end projection by 50,000 IMO isn't a harbinger of anything but Toyota being conservative, which they must be.

Once fully released Toyota can adjust sales projections again. And that would be in reaction to actual sales figures coming in.

This headline? Doesn't mean much to me.

PS.
I don't think this has anything to do with any projected connection or perceived failure or success of the new design.
My speculation is Toyota would lower sales projections for the standard Prius even if there was no model change or evolution coming.

 

agreed. $1.89 gas and still dropping. sequoia's are selling great, so what's the difference.

on top of all that, it's been unseasonably warm.

 

Compared to last winter...you folks in Boston are having an out right heat wave...so far.

 

i may cancel florida. not.

 

Some people create drama where none exists.
All companies modify projections as time goes by.
As projects advance, as unplanned event occur, etc, estimates change.

The people I find the funniest are those that replace the word "estimate" with "promise".
As if an estimate never changes for any reason. And if it does, it is some personal affront.

 

Then you should read up on Sienna owners complaints. Last and current gen are the worst. Looks like Toyota cut cost by putting too small of rear brakes, hence rotors warps causing padel vibration.

My 2011 Sienna rear rotors warped with only 35k miles. Turned the rear rotors, only good for another 5k. Had to buy new rotors. Sourced aftermarket to get better than OEM crap hoping to get more than 35k.

One major reason all my cars purchases will have regen braking. My 2005 Prius with 162k miles has been prove.... and still going... on original brake pads and rotors.

 

you're fortunate to have rear drums.

 

Rear drums are very uneventful. Only thing: if they ever need new shoes, I'm inclined to let the pros do it, I'm all thumbs with them.

Alzheimer's setting in though, reads too much like "ear drums", lol.

 

I have the similar brake problem on my 2009 VW Routan minivan, whereas Routan is a Dodge Caravan variant. VW decided to go with small rear brakes which last about 5000 miles. Actually one heavy use and they are warped. I down-shift a lot, and luckily do not use it too much (8k/yr).

My mechanic says one option is to go with slotted discs on the front brakes, but that's not available for the rear drums.

(the only reason we didn't get Sienna it was 19 MPG and for C4C rebate we needed 20 MPG, which Routan is in truth 17 not 20 but 20 was EPA sticker)

 

i have heard honda makes the best overall minivan, is this just personal preference?

 

Rotors rarely warp in the sense that they are out of true. It is actually excessive heat creating hard spots in the rotor iron; they aren't steel. These hard spots don't wear has fast as the rest of the rotor surface, and the resulting bumps cause that warped vibration during braking. Resurfacing will return the rotor surface to flat again, but those hard spots go deep into the metal, and problem will soon return. New rotors are the only complete fix.

There are few things that resurfacing will actually fix, and if you can swap your own rotors, new ones can easily be found for less than having a shop cut the old ones.

If you are an all out ecomodder, resurfacing can get some efficiency gains. Have a shop cut them with a thin shim under one side. This results in the rotor surface no linger being parallel with the pads. The 'high point' of the rotor surface will kick the pads out, reducing the brake drag disc brakes have. Be careful with the shim thickness though. Too thick and the pads are pushed back enough for a delay between applying a delay and pads hitting the rotor.

Of course, newer cars have springs that pull the pads back some already, and there might be aftermarket ones for cars that don't have them.

Never actually done a shoe replacement on a car yet, but from just checking them it won't seem the hardest part would be in getting the drum off. No problem using a couple screw drivers to ratchet back the shoes on our old Ranger, but I have never been successful doing so on our Sable.

Which is why I prefer disc brakes. But there are two downsides to disc brakes; the slight brake drag on economy, and they make lousy parking brakes. So even cars with rear discs will have a small drum brake built into the rotor for parking.

Honda is generally the top seller in the US, with Toyota a third. The Dodge and Chrysler are second and fourth, but would be one if added together.

Like with any modern car, I'd say it is personal preference as to which one is best. Honda has a reputation for reliability, but the early 2000 Odysseys have the same problematic transmission behind the V6 that the Accords of the time had. It might have been worse with the minivans heavier weight.

I've had no complaint about the Caravans we have at work, but the only minivan my family owned, and I had extensive drive time in was an Astrovan conversion.

 

...TB is it possible to have the front brakes take more of the load

I agree with your diagnosis as far as hard spots...minivan is a misnomer these days these are big vehicles hard to stop