Pricing Coming Tomorrow? 2010 Base Price Slashed BELOW 2009 Base Price!

[DeanFL]

From L.A. Times

04:58 PM PT, Apr 20 2009

Toyota, apparently spooked by the arrival of the budget-priced Honda Insight hybrid in showrooms last month, is shaving $1,000 off the sticker of the Prius. Faced with a collapse of the hybrid market and the arrival of the Insight with its $19,800 base price, Toyota blinked and decided to cut the price of the 2010 Prius to $21,000, down from a base price of $22,000 for the 2009 model, according to Bloomberg News.
Toyota plans to announce the pricing on the new Prius on Tuesday and the car — the first full redesign of the Prius since the ’04 model year — should start showing up in Southern California showrooms in late May.
How many Toyota will sell is another question. Hybrid sales have plummeted along with gas prices, and the Prius hasn’t been immune to the trend. Sales fell 56% in March compared to a year ago, and dealers were reporting 80 days worth of inventory — a far cry from last summer when every Prius basically disappeared from dealer lots as fast as they showed up.
-- Martin Zimmerman

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp, the world’s largest automaker, will cut the base price of its Prius gas- electric hybrid model by $1,000 to $21,000, as it competes with
Honda Motor Corp’s Insight, said a person familiar with the matter.
Honda introduced the Insight on March 24 with a sticker price starting at $19,800, undercutting the 2009 Prius, which starts at $22,000. Toyota will announce prices on the 2010 model tomorrow, with details about the new car tomorrow, said the person, who asked not to be named because the statement is pending.



Details were disclosed to a small group of Toyota dealers today at a meeting in Washington, D.C., said the person.

[paprius4030]

Would the silver package for the pre-order people be a Prius 2?

[rfruth]

It makes perfect sense to me, announce just b4 the Insight II and for those who will wait a little longer you might save a few bucks - knew I liked the 4th of July for a reason

[eglmainz]

Originally Posted by DeanFL

From L.A. Times

04:58 PM PT, Apr 20 2009

Toyota, apparently spooked by the arrival of the budget-priced Honda Insight hybrid in showrooms last month, is shaving $1,000 off the sticker of the Prius. Faced with a collapse of the hybrid market and the arrival of the Insight with its $19,800 base price, Toyota blinked and decided to cut the price of the 2010 Prius to $21,000, down from a base price of $22,000 for the 2009 model, according to Bloomberg News.
Toyota plans to announce the pricing on the new Prius on Tuesday and the car — the first full redesign of the Prius since the ’04 model year — should start showing up in Southern California showrooms in late May.
How many Toyota will sell is another question. Hybrid sales have plummeted along with gas prices, and the Prius hasn’t been immune to the trend. Sales fell 56% in March compared to a year ago, and dealers were reporting 80 days worth of inventory — a far cry from last summer when every Prius basically disappeared from dealer lots as fast as they showed up.
-- Martin Zimmerman

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp, the world’s largest automaker, will cut the base price of its Prius gas- electric hybrid model by $1,000 to $21,000, as it competes with
Honda Motor Corp’s Insight, said a person familiar with the matter.
Honda introduced the Insight on March 24 with a sticker price starting at $19,800, undercutting the 2009 Prius, which starts at $22,000. Toyota will announce prices on the 2010 model tomorrow, with details about the new car tomorrow, said the person, who asked not to be named because the statement is pending.



Details were disclosed to a small group of Toyota dealers today at a meeting in Washington, D.C., said the person.

Let's hope the cut the price on their top of the line models too! That would be great news! If this holds true, nice job, Toyota!

[BH1973]

Look for 2009 Package #2s to be going for 19k by the end of May, possibly less.

[stream]

Here's the Bloomberg article:
Toyota Said to Slash Prius Price in Duel With Honda (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

Toyota Said to Slash Prius Price in Duel With Honda (Update1)

By Doron Levin


April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, will cut the base price of its Prius gas- electric hybrid model by $1,000 to $21,000, as it competes with Honda Motor Co.’s Insight, said a person familiar with the matter.
Honda introduced the Insight on March 24 with a sticker price starting at $19,800, undercutting the 2009 Prius, which starts at $22,000. Toyota will announce prices on the 2010 model tomorrow, with details about the new car tomorrow, said the person, who asked not to be named because the statement is pending.
The two hybrids were introduced more than a decade ago. Since then the Prius has led in sales, accounting for half of all such models sold in the U.S. Honda dropped the original two- seat Insight in 2006 and revived the name this year with a bigger version.
Insight’s fuel efficiency is rated at 41 miles per gallon, combined for city and highway driving, said Sage Marie, a Honda spokesman.
Prius, classified as a midsize sedan, will be rated at a combined 50 miles per gallon, said the person familiar with the price.
‘Huge Brand’
A Toyota spokesman in Japan declined a month ago to confirm or deny a Nikkei newspaper report that the automaker planned to cut the price of its older model Prius to match the price of the new Insight.
New Prius models will be available in a month; the cheaper ones not until later in the year, said the person.
Details were disclosed to a small group of Toyota dealers today at a meeting in Washington, D.C., said the person.
“Prius has become a synonym for hybrid, it’s a huge brand unto itself,” said David Fischer, a car dealer based in Troy, Michigan and owner of a Toyota franchise. “Insight will do the same for Honda. The hybrid is no longer a boutique concept, it’s becoming mainstream.”
Through the first quarter of the year Prius sold 24,277 units in the U.S., off 43 percent from a year earlier. Insight sold 569 cars in March, when it had limited time in the U.S. market.
The new Prius is the model’s third generation, billed by Toyota as bigger and more fuel-efficient.
To contact the reporters on this story: Doron Levin in Southfield, Michigan, at dlevin5@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 20, 2009 18:52 EDT

[usbseawolf2000]

Originally Posted by stream

Argh, jaggies!!

[toronado455]

This is wild. The cheapest Insight is $20,470 including destination, right? If they are saying "under 21k" I'm guessing that means something like $20,995 plus destination. So around $1,200 more than an Insight. That's an amazing deal. Even a lightly equipped 2010 Prius would be so much more car than an Insight.

[edmcohen]

Originally Posted by BH1973

Look for 2009 Package #2s to be going for 19k by the end of May, possibly less.

There appears to be a big inventory of `09s, owing to an increase in production during the gas price spike, followed by a big drop in sales when gas prices collapsed. Now it is clear that Toyota is not going to stint on the rollout of the G3 for the sake of making chump change on that inventory. There will be a short window of opportunity to get one of those thankfully plentiful `09 package 2s.I think it will briefly be possible to get one for 16 or 17k! Remember, the other `09 Toyota cars remain current until September. The `09 Prii are now officially leftovers.

[lauren80ryan]

It is "technically" tomorrow on the east coast!!! Where's that pricing info?! :-D