Prius is the top selling of all cars in Japan for the FIFTH consecutive month!

[Rybold]

TOKYO — Toyota's Prius hybrid was the top-selling car in Japan in September for the
fifth straight month ... Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest automaker, sold 31,758 Prius cars last month, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association.

Toyota said this week there was a backlog of Prius orders, numbering in the several thousands. Customers ordering the cars now won't get them delivered until after May 2010.

The Canadian Press: Toyota Prius top-selling vehicle in Japan boosted by tax breaks, incentives

[bwilson4web]

In the USA, it has fallen off:
Green Car Congress: September Auto Sales Plunge in Aftermath of Cash for Clunkers; SAAR at 9.2M units, LDV Sales Down 41% from August, Hybrid Sales Down 48%

Reported sales of hybrids in September dropped 4.1% year-on-year to 19,977 units. (Reported sales do not include sales of the Mercedes S400 hybrid, which went onsale in the US late in August.) Compared to August results (38,701 units), however, hybrid sales dropped 48.4%. New vehicle market share for reported hybrid sales in September dropped back down to 2.7% from a high of 3.6% in July.

Over half of the USA hybrids, 55%, were Prius. The other hybrids including the Toyota hybrids, carved up the rest. The Honda Insight was number two followed by two Lexus hybrids.

September 2009 Dashboard: End of Clunkers Hurts Hybrids | Hybrid Cars

. . .
The Toyota Prius fell precipitously from nearly 20,000 units in August to about 11,000 units in September. But there was a silver-ish lining in the dark clouds: the Prius was the 9th most popular vehicle in the United States last month, showing that a hybrid car with the right traits can be popular despite a bad economy and low gas prices. Prius sales were actually up by 1 percent compared to a year ago. We’re not saying that Prius, or any other hybrid model or any hybrid brand, escaped the misery—but the Prius's numbers underline how the end of Cash for Clunkers pulled the rug out from the entire automotive market.
. . .

Bob Wilson

[DaveinOlyWA]

hmmm... interesting, especially with the large drop off in sales for US makes me wonder if the drop off is lack of demand or a reduced allocation?

[burritos]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

hmmm... interesting, especially with the large drop off in sales for US makes me wonder if the drop off is lack of demand or a reduced allocation?

Maybe it was due to the termination of the clunkers for cash program?

[DaveinOlyWA]

Originally Posted by burritos

Maybe it was due to the termination of the clunkers for cash program?

if there is no one waiting for a Pri right now, i might believe that.

however, i know someone at work now that is waiting for a pkg 2 as we speak. in fact, she complained ENDLESSLY when informed that she would not qualify for C4C program. not sure how long she has been waiting, but last i talked to her, she was.

that was a few weeks ago. things may have changed, we only share 2 days a week at work and shifts only overlap a few hours

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

hmmm... interesting, especially with the large drop off in sales for US makes me wonder if the drop off is lack of demand or a reduced allocation?

I plotted Prius, Insight and RX400h sales and the Prius and RX400h sales seemed to parallel (using a log scale.) But the Insight, something bad happened in September. The Insight's best month was August and then really took a steep dive in September.

What we really need is some sort of "days on lot" or "days of inventory" to really understand how demand is stacking up versus available inventory. Of course it could be that our clever Toyota team has this very sophisticated annual sales model and ...

Bob Wilson

[LRKingII]

My local dealer has 8 setting on the lot that have come in to them in the last week.
3 blizz pearl
3 red
1 silver
1 winter gray

1 of the reds is a 4 with sunroof
and 1 blizz is a 3 with sunroof.

This is first time i've seen any sitting on the lot.

[DaveinOlyWA]

my dealer had some too the other day when i was getting oil changed in the SPM... 5 of them all in a row up front. but at the same time, 2 were being picked up (they always park new sales in same place) so dont know if they were available. i think what we have is a shortage of the very low and very high end models. iow, 3's and 4's abound...

[spinnsilly]

there's tons of 2010 Prius' sitting on lots in the SF/bay area where I live. The issue is not many or any package IIs. I've found a couple here and there and dealers are charging an arm and a leg for them. The hype is a bit much for my taste and I'm seriously considering opting out of getting one because of it.

[hampdenwireless]

To me the most interesting news is Ford selling about the same number of hybrids as Honda. With the low price of the Insight I did not expect the numbers to be that close. Ford not only has comparable numbers to Honda, Fords are full hybrids while the Honda's are all mild hybrids.