GS69

Toyota President: Prius Could Outsell Camry

Toyota Motor Sales USA president Jim Lentz said in an interview that he believes the company’s Prius dedicated hybrid could take the crown from the Camry sedan as the company’s best selling product in the United States.

“I think long-term, Prius as a nameplate could even outsell Camry as a nameplate, into this next decade,” Lentz told Ward’s Auto World.

Lentz is optimistic that the Camry will remain a big seller, though.

“I think Prius will become just that much stronger,” he said.

Currently, Toyota sells more than twice as many Camry models than Prius models in the U.S., but that number could change should Toyota decide to produce a whole line of Prius-badged hybrid vehicles. Camry sales were long lumped in with sales of the Camry-based Solara coupe in Toyota’s official reporting procedures, meaning that various Prius models could also be counted together.

SLegacy99

This would be good for our dependence on foreign oil.

<VENOM>

Except for the fact that the Prius, and all the other hybrids that run on electric motors still have recommended oil changes of 5k, that is still dependent on foreign oil, and oddly enough all these cars use tires which is another product that relies on foreign oil

The G Man

I see hybrids as a bridge to better technology. The wave of the future is not going to be hybrid vehicles, but for now, they are the most cost effective green cars.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

If the "Prius" name is extended to a coupe and wagon, as many rumors suggest, then I see this as a viable thought.

IS-SV

I see the possibility.

RXSF

exactly. And when toyota finally approves Li batteries, then that will be an even bigger step until we ge that hydrogen on the way

The G Man

If they can make a all electric car that can charge a battery in 5 to 10 mins and its affortable, then they would really have something there.

(Cj)

+1
now that would be something!

mmarshall

I agree that the Prius could equal or exceed Camry sales, for a number of reasons. First, for roughly the same money that a Camry costs, you can get a car with literally twice the gas mileage. That probably wasn't a huge issue until the summer of 2008, when gas hit $4-5 a gallon. That converted a lot of people into high-mileage vehices that had never been converted before. The new Lexus HS250 (see my recent review) might take some Prius sales away in the premium segment, but, likely, not many.

In addition, the Prius, unlike the rival Insight and Civic hybrids, has been glamorized by Hollywood, environmental groups, and the college academia. So it gets a lot of press that its Honda competition doesn't....and the public, both naively and with some truth to it, is buying it up.

But the Prius, of course, is not for everyone. It may (?) be a little too small for those used to a Camry-sized car. Its geeky styling, weird dash/gauge layout, unconventional controls, and tipsy, Roly-Poly handling turn off some who would otherwise be attracted to the car (although the 3Gen model is distinctively better-handling than the 2Gen). In addition, the 3Gen model, judging by the experience I had reviewing it, has notably thinner, lighter-weight sheet metal/trim/hardware, and lacks the solid, high-quality feel of the 2Gen model.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

hate to burst the bubble but our daily oil consumption is 19 million barrels, 13M of which go to gas/diesel, 6M to everything else. Our domestic production is 5M barrels. Even if we got every single vehicle to use something not petroleum based our domestic production cant even keep up with the portion thats not made into gas/diesel.

mmarshall

While your figures here are generally correct, that doesn't burst SLegacy99's bubble or change the legitimacy of what he said. Even if the Prius and other small hybrids, alone, won't knock out our dependence on foreign oil (and you are correct that they won't), still, if a lot more people drove them, it would make a significant dent in the amount we would have to import. That is all that SLegacy99 was saying.........and, in that, he is also correct.

(we also need, obviously, to start drilling and refining more here at home, but, of course, that is a subject for another thread).

IS-SV

I agree, because SLegacy99 made no mention of eliminating dependence on foreign oil in his posting.

SLegacy99

Three comments here.

1. Synthetic oil, 5k mile oil changes will be a thing of the past.

2. As hybrid technology progresses, the idea is that less emphasis will be on the ICE. The Volt for example. No point in changing oil that only has 1000 miles on it, even if the car has traveled 5000 miles. A system needs to be in place to determine how many miles on said vehicles are actually involving the ICE and thus using the oil. Age of the oil should also be recorded.

3. 4 to 7 quarts of oil is nothing in comparison to the amount used to drive 5,000 miles.

SLegacy99

Canada is also a major source of American oil. Personally, I'm not so much concerned with buying oil from them as I am from OPEC.