Yaris Beware!

This article is from 18 months or so ago:

Toyota Auris Hybrid smashes sales expectations

...suggests 15% of Toyota/Lexus sales are Hybrids. No exact figures outside the Auris...

 

Apples to apples the 5 door Yaris starts at 15,140 here ...

Stripped c starts at $18,950 ......... $3,810 difference.

I don't think too many people set on a $16k ish Yaris are going to waltz over to the $20k c Two. And although I think the c and v will continue to sell nicely, the regular Prius IMO will have majority sales for many years.

 

hey buddy, all you need is ask... 10% for TMC in 2011. 80k hybrids sold, 800k cars.
40k Auris, 20k Prii, rest was Lexus (half of their sales).

 

I don't think that you should be ashamed - the point that I got was that after taking out the cars that were listed that have not yet come out in hybrid form Toyota produces quite a few hybrids, none of which are terribly good performers in either sales or MPG other than the original Prius save the 2 new models (the V and the new Camry). They have had solid reviews but are too new to really be able to say if they will be successful. In a couple of years it will be interesting to see if any of these come close to matching the success of the original Prius or if a car maker like Ford or Hyundai swoop in.

If you take all of the other hybrids - the old Camry, Highlander, HS, LS, RX, CT - none of them have sold all that well. They are all overpriced (compared to their competition) and compromised (such as the battery in the old Camry) and do not even come close to returning the mileage benefit to justify buying them over the gas version - for all of them the only tangible benefit to buying the hybrid is to green up your personal image - to me they are all fairly forgettable cars.

 

One example, the Highlander hybrid is a 7-seater with 28mpg combined. What other 7-seater comes close to 20mpg. Hopefully, we are not expecting every vehicle, regardless of size to get 50mpg.

Compare Side-by-Side
.

 

The Explorer equipped with the 2L ecoboost gets 23mpg combined and 28mpg on the highway. Only 20mpg city, but those numbers are the same as my 2006 HHR, which is the size of the Matrix.

It isn't available with AWD, but has twice the cargo space of the Highlander when you actually carrying 7 passengers. Plus, if don't want or need all the standard features of the Highlander(power seats and satellite radio appear to be the only major ones) it can be bought for almost $9,000 less.

 

The hybrid premium for the highlander is close to $10k - for that you get a 6 mpg combined boost - sorry, but to quote local Boston radio personality Glen Ordway, "you are making my point".

 

The hybrid premium for the Highlander is close to $10k - for that you get a 6 mpg combined boost - sorry, but to quote local Boston radio personality Glen Ordway, "you are making my point".

As to your original question about 7 seaters that get close to 20mpg - there are a bunch, and most are over 20. I'd start off with the regular Highlander at 22 combined. As mentioned the Explorer can get over 20 and Ford also has the Flex. Add in the Rav4 (though that 3rd row seat is tight as anything), the Sienna, the Pilot, the Odessey, the Traverse, the Carrivan/Town & Country/VW Routan, the Quest and what I think is the best driving of all of the group - the Mazda CX9 (I had one as a rental and it was terrific). I believe that is at least 1 vehicle from every "full line" car company. My wife bought a new car in August and we started off researching all of the above and more. Add in the fact that new power-trains take a few years to actually be deployed and I think that in just a year or two we will be talking about a bunch of the same cars getting over 25 mpg.

The comparison link you provided was not really fair - you had the Highlander stacked up against 2 premium & big SUV's - both with big engines and lots of creature comforts and some actual offroad chops - especially so with the Land Rover.

 

I'm in this every day, with folks and their decision between Yaris, Corolla, etc - even Prius.

This car won't dent Yaris sales.
It will dent Prius II and III sales way more than anyone expects. It will also slightly impact Corolla sales as well. And, Rav4 too.

But, typical Yaris buyers won't consider this car. It will be rare if someone's actually between this and a Yaris! Yaris sales are NOT about the looks.

 

I think we just got the definitive answer!

 

With a car as homely as the original Yaris I think that your comment has to be spot on.

Have you seen the new 2012 Yaris - in pictures it seems to be a much better looking car inside and out - dare I say something that might actually compete in that area with the Fit?

 

so who in your experience buying Yaris? commuters? first car bayers?

With high mileage commuter in mind, "C" makes alot of sense. At 30K annual Prii save 1200$ over Yaris, 1500$ over Corolla. Difference in price with Corolla 2000$, 4000$ with Yaris (taken with automatics). It would take 1.5years to better Corolla, 3.5 Yaris. This is at $3.50/gal.

3.5 years basically mean that your Prius C monthly payments+gas would be less then of Yaris. You break even with Yaris at 20K annual. However it is hard to imagine "C" not pulling commuters off Yaris.

Now the poor/low mileage buyers are gonna stay with Yaris, no question about it.

Agree Corolla and hatchback are gonna be bigger losers. When compare Prius C vs hatchback it is all about cost vs size. I could see people not needing extra size.

 

without sounding too offensive or condescending, I suspect that most Yaris buyers do not bother doing this kind of calculation. I remember someone mentioning insurance costs in this thread. Seriously? Does *anyone* contact their insurance co and get a quote for like 5 different car models before going car shopping?

I think the reality is that people who are buying Yaris are short on cash. If they weren't, they wouldn't be considering it; they'd be looking to get a Corolla instead. A 3-door Yaris AT starts at $14,840; a 5-door comes in at $15,140. A Corolla L AT starts at $16,960. A Prius c One starts at $18,950.

Look at those prices again. No one considering a Yaris will think about getting a Prius. If a Yaris is all you can afford, it's all you will buy. If you can afford more than a Yaris, you won't buy it now, you wouldn't have bought it before, and you won't be buying it when the c comes out. Note also that the c generally has interior space measurements closer to a Corolla than a Yaris.

 

^^ you maybe right; it is hard to rationalize irrational purchases, even if you are a russian ;P

 

This I can wholeheartedly agree with. But that's not the title of this thread

 

It could be argued that was done with the Accord hybrid. Honda mean even have said has much.

Or real penny pincher hypermilers.