AutoObserver
has some interesting insight as to the "State of the Hybrid" market. Not surprisingly the best sellers are those that push economy over performance. Also surprising is the tricky footwork that Toyota managed with their Prius, which paid off handsomely.
Toyota, in April, greatly reduced prices for select equipment on Prius hybrid models...
Some prices dropped in equipment packages by as much as $600 to $2,000, which represents a savings of fifty percent or so.
These price reductions replaced the incentives that had been previously been in place. The Total Cost of Incentives (TCI) on the Prius was $669 in May compared with $1,004 in April. In addition, the price reductions helped offset the federal tax rebate on the Prius, which dropped to $788 on April 1 from $1,575.
The result was that transaction prices fell, to $23,984 in May from $24,224 in Aprilâhowever sales nearly doubledâas Toyota sold 24,009 Prius models in May, up from 13,056 in April.
Full story here: Hybrid Sales Increasingly Mirror the Overall Market
These price reductions replaced the incentives that had been previously been in place. The Total Cost of Incentives (TCI) on the Prius was $669 in May compared with $1,004 in April. In addition, the price reductions helped offset the federal tax rebate on the Prius, which dropped to $788 on April 1 from $1,575.
The result was that transaction prices fell, to $23,984 in May from $24,224 in Aprilâhowever sales nearly doubledâas Toyota sold 24,009 Prius models in May, up from 13,056 in April.
Full story here: Hybrid Sales Increasingly Mirror the Overall Market
estreka says:
10:30 AM, 06/15/07
Wow. That's a pretty big month for the Prius.
billt9 says:
11:48 AM, 06/15/07
The hybrids are coming from the big 6 and the Germans.
Surely future developments, such as the 2-Mode system, dramatically reduce the size and weight of hybrid equipment.
Eventually they'll have negligible impact on weight and handling.
Since BMW is building hybrids, that means the handling problem of hybrids has been solved.
ateixeira says:
09:55 AM, 06/22/07
Already a million on the roads. Pretty incredible.