Toyota to Cut Price of Prius Hybrid in May, Nikkei Reports

Re: The existing Prius will continue to be available

i wouldnt be suprised if it becomes japanese market only...

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/19058-where-prius-made-2.html

From ken1784:

If you have your VIN number, the 11th digit shows the factory.
3: Toyota Tsutsumi plant, Japan
7: Toyota Auto Body Fujimatsu plant, Japan

 

2,331,000.00 JPY

=

25,709.38 USD

Japan Yen United States Dollars 1 JPY = 0.0110293 USD 1 USD = 90.6673 JPY

 

Bad news. The 3G Prius will cost a lot. Anyone know if this is the case for Australia?

 

I visited the Tsutsumi plant in late 2003 before I owned a Prius (and saw 04 Priuses on the line). I don't recall the Prius having its own separate line.

I'm positive that I saw a mix of different models coming down the same line and some were left and right hand drive.

TOYOTA: Company > Company Profile has a list of what Tsutsumi produces.

My first auto plant visit was a Mazda plant in Hiroshima in 01 and I know I saw a mix of vehicles on the same line including the 626, MPV and Eunos Roadster/Miata and possibly others. They also were a mix of LHD and RHD.

Flexible and profitable, GM Lansing shoots to top - 2/22/04
BW Online | January 28, 2002 | Attack of the Killer Crossover Cars
Big Three play catch-up to Toyota plant prowess - 2/22/04 all briefly mentioned flexible factories.

 

$22K is pretty close to the existing price. There must be an additional markdown moving from Japan to here, or this is non-news.

As for the simplified interior, I would bet it still has the MFD. Taking that out would require a redesign of several parts, I don't think it would be cost effective at this point. Items that could be removed are seat pockets, cup holders, auto-locks, auto-windows, lighted & mirrored visors, electrically adjusted outside mirrors, CD player, multiple speakers, tonneau cover, fold down armrest in the back seat, and the right-hand-side outside mirror. (I'm comparing cars I owned in the 90's to my '06 pkg 1, not sure how that differs from the base model Prius, I think it was only airbags).

 

More cost reduction options, black/white MFD display, smaller HV battery pack (1kWh instead of 1.3), make A/C, side airbag, map light & rear folding seats optional.

 

Crank up windows?
No CD Player?
No SKS?
No Side impact/curtain air bags?
Hand adj. side view mirrors?

 

It was my understanding a new plant, originally for pickups, and then designated for Prius, is on hold for a more propitious time. If the demand for the 2G Prius rises, that plant may yet be finished for Prius production.

Does anyone actually have definitive Toyota sources for this old-and-new concurrent production/sale news? This sounds much more like current domestic psych war tactics in Japan than real world production strategies.

Needless to say, the New York greed heads will jump all over this kind of a sniff. Anything to manipulate for another buck.

 

A couple more extras not yet mentioned: sunglass holder above windshield, grab handles above the seats (at least above the driver's seat!), intermittent wipers, rear window mister.

 

In the US the current Package No 1 lists for just over $22000.

It only lacks the SKS and the backup camera but it's only sold to fleets. It still has the standard audio and power windows and locks. Now if the alloys, heated mirrors were 'decontented' there might be another $500 that could be deducted.

THEN... since the G2 model has paid back all its Fixed Cost investments it could be priced on the basis of 'marginal costs' only. This goes back to the discussion about Toyota losing $5000 on every vehicle due to the batteries. Well the G2 has paid back all the investments on R&D and other fixed costs so the only current costs Toyota has to build a new G2 are the costs of materials, labor, marketing and transport.

This pricing on marginal costs ( when it's done properly ) is a brilliant method to generate additional sales without sacrificing profit. They could lower the sales price to $20500 for a stripped Package #1 and still generate profits.

 

Prices are being cut on cars across the world. Soon it will be on all products and then it will be wages. Not a good scenario.

 

Toyota Will Keep Selling Old Prius

Looks like Edmunds.com is reporting two Prius on sale at the same time. Wow...this could get really interesting.

Toyota Will Keep Selling Old Prius

TOKYO — Toyota will continue to sell the current Prius in Japan when the all-new third-generation Prius launches this summer, according to a story in the Japanese press.
Japan's Nikkei business paper claims Toyota plans both to keep the outgoing Prius on sale, and to lower the price as a way of firing a shot across the bows of the hot new Honda Insight.
So there will be, confusingly, two cars called Prius on sale, or at least that seems to be the plan. Toyota's idea is to gut the interior as way of lowering the price, according to the paper.
The new Prius, which debuted at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, shifts up to 1.8 liters and the latest technology means the asking price will inevitably go up.
Right from the start, the story's been how the Insight's been set up to undercut the Prius, with Insight stickers in Tokyo widely expected to start below the psychological ¥2 million mark (some $22,222 at current exchange rates).
With the Prius selling in Japan today for $25,900-$37,217, it could be game, set and match for Honda, especially as Japan's a fast-moving, trend-driven market that loves anything bright, techy and new. The Insight clearly ticks all those boxes.
Toyota's press office in Tokyo refused to respond to Nikkei story. "We don't comment on future models," said a spokesperson.
Inside Line says: Maybe Toyota should rebadge the old model as "Prius Classic." — Peter Nunn, Correspondent

 

Don't forget that in Japan Toyota still produces a 20 year old version of the Crown for taxi purposes. This may be a replacement for that vehicle. http://toyota.jp/comfort/