Why Hybrids Are Such a Hard Sell

Just last night, my uncle was telling me all this crap about how Toyota admits they made a mistake with the hybrid, blah, blah, blah. I told him sales were up 87% in Feb. Oh course he said it was due to the price cuts.

When gas prices head up to $3 and maybe $4 this summer, they'll sell just fine. People have short memories, they think because gas got down to $2 (here in the mid-MO area) that the gas prices won't go back up.

 

Ask Chrysler about what happened when they ramped up Ram/Durango production the past year.

 

Newsprint: Snort! Snort! What do you expect from a 'news' source that gets a major hunk of thier advertising dollars from GM, Ford, etc. ?? I hear ads for mongo gas guzzlin' SUV's that continue to talk about their "hot" SUV's. Hot? That's responsible. Sales of guzzler SUV's are way down in the toilet, yet they have the nerve to call them 'hot'. gee, I sure wana run out and by one because they told me it's 'hot'. (shaking head).

 

Instead of dissing every article which is negative about Prius, why don't we consider that to some degree there is some truth to the article.

In its own right, we already know that the car financially barely breaks even - under the best of circumstances.

The fact is: The Prius was selling last summer at full price for the following reasons:

- Limited production (as compared to now - when Toyota has ramped up)
- A $3,150 tax credit (has dropped to $1,575 and dropping again soon)
- HOV Lane Stickers (now gone.)

All of these factors have changed - thereby making the car that much less appealing to the average consumer.

Does it mean its a bad car? or that we made a bad decision buying it? Not at all - the car is reliable and fun to drive. Its just not for everyone and we all can't have religion about cars.

B)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Mar 8 2007, 12:53 PM) [snapback]402273[/snapback]</div>

Remember When?? Gas was 99 cents a gal...

only 22yrs ago...... B)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Mar 8 2007, 12:53 PM) [snapback]402273[/snapback]</div>

I hope that's all you whip out, Tony! :blink:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Mar 8 2007, 01:04 PM) [snapback]402286[/snapback]</div>

I remember 17 cents a gallon, full service, plus they gave you a glass with a fill-up.

Tom

 

"David Welch is BusinessWeek's Detroit bureau chief."

Any chance this author is a Detroit shill?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Mar 8 2007, 08:52 AM) [snapback]402240[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Mar 8 2007, 03:41 PM) [snapback]402364[/snapback]</div>

Maybe not from some of his writing (below) -- although this was a quick skim, and he certainly had penned tons of gm articles, though that could come just with being Detroit bureau chief. Hmm. Let me see if I can add any more qualifiers to my evident non-opinion. Most likely he just didn't research this one thoroughly. Although, I have to say, if I hadn't bought my Prius yet, all these articles decrying the abundance of Prii on lots sure would be sending me shopping...an inadvertant upside, perhaps, to this misinformation.

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/autobeat...ing_the_ta.html
February 08, 2007
Reviving the Taurus is bull
Ford is taking a name that they killed with a decade of bad design and terrible sales and marketing strategies and putting it on a car that has gone unloved since its launch. Sounds like Ford will flush millions in marketing and ad dollars down the tube with this one.

True, the Taurus was once the best-selling car in America in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Then Honda beat it with the Accord and Toyota eclipsed both with the Camry. The 1996 Taurus—the football-shaped disaster that came about when former company Chairman Alex Trotman challenged his designers to scare him...

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...htm?chan=search
Ask consumers why Toyota may soon be the largest automaker in the world, and they will point to the Camry. Or the Prius. Or the rav4. (It's the cars, stupid.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Mar 8 2007, 01:04 PM) [snapback]402286[/snapback]</div>

Really? According to my car notebook, back in January, 2002 I got gas for 99 cents a gallon. Here in Washington State.

Dave

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Mar 8 2007, 08:52 AM) [snapback]402240[/snapback]</div>

The March 12, 2007 issue of Newsweek cast a totally new and different slant on the "Auto" makers and their problems and apparently Prius is the biggest problem. The spin/slant of the Business week staff writer, made me question what planet he was on, to concoct his story. We are living in a world of spin and I foresee it becoming worse. If you have a Prius and find happiness with it, cast the spin aside and enjoy your car!

 

I was at under $1 in the late 1990's (maybe 2000). This was when I believed in my stock options I owned in the start-up I worked for I must confess that I wasn't looking at prius type cars then . I wish I did as I might be owning a RAV IV EV instead of a gas gussling prius. Oh well next time EVs come around I won't miss them! ... by the way GM I won't lease!...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Mar 8 2007, 11:18 AM) [snapback]402352[/snapback]</div>

I remember a cartoon from the 70s of a gas station with a sign which read

FREE

With $10 purchase

An 8 oz glass to put it in

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Mar 8 2007, 01:04 PM) [snapback]402286[/snapback]</div>

Ha! I am old enough to remember gas at 25 cents a gallon,

 

John in LB seems "right on" to me. I love the Prius however everybody has their own opinion.
Just filled up @ $3.09/gal. More people will probably want a Prius as gas price rises.
Carl

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Mar 8 2007, 03:45 PM) [snapback]402317[/snapback]</div>

Very good points. Articles like this always leave out tidbits that put it in perspective. Toyota planning on selling 160K Pri is a lot of vehicles! Sure is it no Camry at around 450K per year, but there are lot of vehicles that don't sell near that many cars.