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For a number of reasons, although it is popular in Japan, the once-icon of the hybrids has seen its sales dip in the U.S. Controversial styling, relatively cheap gas, and a public shift to SUVs (and more) all seem to be playing a role.
The Toyota Prius that Kendall Greuel bought six weeks ago does what he wanted, which is save money on his daily 100-mile round trip commute. Just one thing nags at the Oklahoman.
“Sometimes I catch a glimpse of the car,” Greuel said, “and think it’s kind of ugly.”
The 31-year-old IT worker from Muskogee has his finger on the latest vexation for Prius, the gas-electric hybrid that established Toyota Motor Corp. as an environmental leader two decades ago. At a time when American customers were already defecting from Prius because of cheap gasoline and a shift to trucks, the automaker pushed through a polarizing redesign -- one that’s been a hit at home in Japan but has failed to stem a sales slump in the U.S.
“The Prius design is busy and overwrought,’’ said Eric Noble, who runs a product development consultancy called Carlab in Orange, California. “It never should have been allowed to happen.’’ In his view, the new Prius comes close to rivaling the Pontiac Aztek, a 2005-era sport utility vehicle often mentioned as one of the worst auto designs ever.
The 93,083 Priuses sold in the U.S. through August was a 26 percent drop from the year-earlier period and put the model line on pace for its worst annual deliveries in five years.
Design Defense
Bill Fay, Toyota’s head of U.S. sales, begs to differ with Prius’s critics. Toyota chose the design to attract mainstream customers as well as environmentalists, and plenty of people like it, he said in an interview. The vehicle’s greatest challenge is fighting the booming popularity of truck and SUV models spurred by cheap gasoline, Fay said.
The situation in the U.S. is far different from Japan, where Prius has resumed its position as the top-selling model and gasoline costs the equivalent of about $4.50 a gallon. The potentially varying reactions to the design may reflect cultural differences.
“Toyota opted for an ‘entertainment’ or ‘anime’ design that appeals to the Japanese market more than the U.S.,’’ said Geoff Wardle, head of graduate studies at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Several design elements don’t support a common theme, he said, such as the neon-red lights zigzagging through 20-inch tail lamps that protrude from the side of the car like “flying buttresses.”Fay was among executives consulted on the design and said he’s confident the Prius line will do well. “All we can do is continue to reinvest and make the car as compelling as we can, because the market is going to change again,’’ he said. Two Prius models, the Prius C compact and Prius V wagon, haven’t been updated along with the liftback version.
Reinforcements are on the way in the form of a refreshed plug-in model, newly dubbed the Prius Prime. With a 25-mile all-electric range that extends to 640 miles between refuelings, the Prius Prime will be priced $6,000 less than the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt.
‘Squandered Lead’
Yet even Prius Prime’s green credentials disappoint some environmentalists. Roland Hwang, transportation program director with the Natural Resources Defense Council, says Toyota is being too conservative. The plug-in’s electric range is less than half the Chevrolet Volt’s 53 miles. And while General Motors Co.’s all-electric Chevrolet Bolt arrives in showrooms this year, Toyota doesn’t offer a battery-only car in the U.S.
“One can argue Toyota has squandered its lead in the green vehicle market,” Hwang said.
The Prius’s rate of sales decline through August is almost double that of all hybrids lacking a plug, according to HybridCars.com. Demand has dropped even though Toyota updated the segment-leading Prius late last year with a double-wishbone suspension for better handling and added tech features such as lane-keeping assist. Only 42 percent of owners are opting for another Prius when they trade in their car, down from 64 percent in 2005, according to Edmunds.com.
In surveys, customers complain about a cramped interior and paucity of storage space, said Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, a San Diego consumer research firm. In his firm’s overall measure of customer satisfaction, Prius ranks below the now-discontinued Chrysler 200. Among customers who shopped and rejected the Prius, 12 percent did so because of exterior styling, up from 8 percent with the prior model.
Those figures help explain why Toyota has had to keep relatively high rebates on Prius even after the redesign. The company now offers rebates of $3,039 on each Prius, down only about $200 from the year-earlier period, said Jessica Caldwell, an Edmunds.com analyst.
The competition won’t get any easier. Environmentalists will have unprecedented choices as the number of battery-only and hybrid plug-ins grows to 33 next year from three in 2011, according to the Consumer Federation of America. And the Prius now has gas-electric challengers within Toyota’s own lineup: the company has sold 28,862 RAV4 hybrids this year.
For now, the Oklahoma Prius owner Greuel is satisfied that his new ride is averaging 56.1 miles per gallon, enough to save the equivalent of a second monthly car payment. But as for that design -- with curves in the hood converging into a small snout above an exaggerated grille opening -- his attitude toward it “depends on what mood I’m in.’’
Unfortunately I see these things everywhere in NYC as the NYC gov't has a whole fleet for its various departments.
They are everywhere next to gov't buildings where i work.
Here is a pic with old one to give you an idea.......
the u.s. public has spoken. the car is butt ugly, and 50+mpg isn't enough.
The US public is also fickle about economy cars, we don't like them when gas is cheap. Watch Prius sales explode when gas gets back up to $4-5 a gallon.
The US public is also fickle about economy cars, we don't like them when gas is cheap. Watch Prius sales explode when gas gets back up to $4-5 a gallon.
That's part of the mind-set in this country that, IMO, needs to change. I'm not saying we can tell people how to spend their money.....you obviously can't do that in a free society. But gas prices seem to be one of the main factors (if not THE main factor) in determining what sells and what doesn't.....when in reality, a whole lot more involved than just that in vehicle ownership. I think many potential buyers have simple tunnel-vision...they look only at pump-prices, and don't take things into account like safety, insurance costs, reliability, cost of parts/service, warranty-length, suitability of the vehicle to their daily driving needs, and much more. The prevailing attitude seems to be....."Cheap gas, buy a truck or large SUV.........High-priced gas, buy a small hybrid or econobox", and forget about everything else. I'm not saying that every vehicle buyer behaves like that, but certainly a high percentage does.
Thank you consumers. Please give Toyota the message that they've gone too far with the new Prius. Did Toyoda even SEE the Prius final design? It makes the previous Prius designs look classic and timely by comparison. It's such an embarassment that the design team should resign right now. Keep the weird designs in Japan.
For once, I would just LOVE for a manufacturer to admit they designed a total turd. Prius's have always been available during high and low gas prices, and sales have remained quite consistent until now. So there's not much left to blame except for the styling. But for them to admit it will probably never happen here, especially with a stoic company like Toyota. It would be so great to hear the lecture and then "your fired" office conversation to the one who green lighted this monstrosity. It's just as ugly on the road as it has been in pics here. And this is also the opinion of the non-car people too.
For once, I would just LOVE for a manufacturer to admit they designed a total turd. Prius's have always been available during high and low gas prices, and sales have remained quite consistent until now. So there's not much left to blame except for the styling. But for them to admit it will probably never happen here, especially with a stoic company like Toyota. It would be so great to hear the lecture and then "your fired" office conversation to the one who green lighted this monstrosity. It's just as ugly on the road as it has been in pics here. And this is also the opinion of the non-car people too.
Granted, I think it's ugly, too......but the Japanese home market seems to like it, where sales are up.
The biggest issue with the Prius is that Toyota made the mistake of not baking in performance into this vehicle. The Prius is about the same size as a Corolla, both have a 1.8, both get very good (Corolla) and very, very good fuel economy (Prius). But the price of the Prius is so much higher for so little actual performance. This Prius needed a plug-in option that would drive on electricity for most of the day. Add in some actual performance, and the Prius would be doing better. Volt owners claim 1000 miles between each time they every need to visit a gas station, can't say that about the Prius.
Originally Posted by mmarshall
That's part of the mind-set in this country that, IMO, needs to change. I'm not saying we can tell people how to spend their money.....you obviously can't do that in a free society. But gas prices seem to be one of the main factors (if not THE main factor) in determining what sells and what doesn't.....when in reality, a whole lot more involved than just that in vehicle ownership. I think many potential buyers have simple tunnel-vision...they look only at pump-prices, and don't take things into account like safety, insurance costs, reliability, cost of parts/service, warranty-length, suitability of the vehicle to their daily driving needs, and much more. The prevailing attitude seems to be....."Cheap gas, buy a truck or large SUV.........High-priced gas, buy a small hybrid or econobox", and forget about everything else. I'm not saying that every vehicle buyer behaves like that, but certainly a high percentage does.
You're argument is flawed. Most buyers at the lower end of the MSRP spectrum (under the average selling price of a car) do not have extra cash lying around to make a decision that is not fuel related.
a lot of consumers are irrational about fuel costs. they go out of their way to save a few cents a gallon and then go out of their way to get their $4 drink at starbucks drive through.
a lot of consumers are irrational about fuel costs. they go out of their way to save a few cents a gallon and then go out of their way to get their $4 drink at starbucks drive through.
The biggest issue with the Prius is that Toyota made the mistake of not baking in performance into this vehicle. The Prius is about the same size as a Corolla, both have a 1.8, both get very good (Corolla) and very, very good fuel economy (Prius). But the price of the Prius is so much higher for so little actual performance. This Prius needed a plug-in option that would drive on electricity for most of the day. Add in some actual performance, and the Prius would be doing better. Volt owners claim 1000 miles between each time they every need to visit a gas station, can't say that about the Prius.
You're argument is flawed. Most buyers at the lower end of the MSRP spectrum (under the average selling price of a car) do not have extra cash lying around to make a decision that is not fuel related.
One thing the Prius has over the Corolla besides gas mileage is space. The Prius is a liftback with more cargo room with the seats up, WAY more room with the seats down. Its pretty amazing how much stuff you can fit in a Prius, especially big/oversized objects. The Prius V wagon is even better, and IMO the Prius to buy. It also has more room than a Volt as well.
That being said, its amazing they don't sell more Chevy Volts now days, considering with the $7500 tax credit they're priced maybe $1-2k more than a Prius. The Prius does get about 50-55mpg, vs the Volt which is rated at 37mpg, but you do get "38 miles" of electric driving range. I'm not about to break out a calculator and figure out how much a month it costs to charge a Volt vs put more gas in a Prius, but I'd imagine unless electricity is super expensive where you live(or you plug in at a free public charger all the time) the Volt is cheaper to operate by a few bucks. Main thing is Chevy has done a **** poor job marketing the Volt, until you mentioned it I had no idea the price had come down on them to where they're no more than a regular type of car. Doesn't help that they're ugly(along with the Prius), so you lose a good number of customers just on that fact alone.
Thank you consumers. Please give Toyota the message that they've gone too far with the new Prius. Did Toyoda even SEE the Prius final design? It makes the previous Prius designs look classic and timely by comparison. It's such an embarassment that the design team should resign right now. Keep the weird designs in Japan.
well, there is nothing to thank them for, since due to record high sales in Japan, and good sales elsewhere, Prius is going to have a record year :-)
Plus, these charts talk about Prius c, Prius v, Prius PHV and Prius lfitback sales. Prius liftback is only new vehicle there and its sales dropped 1.6% compared to 9/2015, 8.6% for the year.
This is easily the best Prius ever made, and drop of sales is simply because cheap gas in the USA and sedans sales dropping, while SUVs are going up. Thats why Toyota now has Rav4 hybrid in the USA. Rav4 hybrid actually sold almost half of Prius numbers last month, and it is 2nd best selling hybrid in USA.
In the end, Toyota benefits the most, since they make more money from Tacoma, 4Runner, Highlander and Rav4 than from Prius... so people shifting their Toyota purchase from Camry and Prius to 4Runner and Highlander is pretty great for them. Since this is world car, increased sales in rest of the world offset US sales.
You're argument is flawed. Most buyers at the lower end of the MSRP spectrum (under the average selling price of a car) do not have extra cash lying around to make a decision that is not fuel related.
Well, for that matter, many upscale buyers don't, either. That's why many of them lease rather than buy. That way, they get into a Mercedes or BMW for the monthly-payment of a substantially less expensive vehicle. Heck, leasing is what keeps many upscale car-dealers in business.
10-04-16, 06:00 PM
U.S. Toyota Prius sales down, Japanese sales up.
Fay was among executives consulted on the design and said he’s confident the Prius line will do well. “All we can do is continue to reinvest and make the car as compelling as we can, because the market is going to change again,’’ he said. Two Prius models, the Prius C compact and Prius V wagon, haven’t been updated along with the liftback version.
