Today's WSJ - Toyota says hybrids don't make sense!

[kirbinster]

In today's Wall Street Journal Kattsuaki Watanabe who became president of Toyota last moth says that hybrids don't make economic sense:

"Mr. Watanabe concedes that the better gas mileage doesn\'t provide enough savings, over the life of a car, for consumers to earn back the extra cost of $4,000 to $5,000 above a nonhybrid model. Gas just isn\'t costly enough for hybrids to make sense economically."

Not my opinion - please don't attack me - this is what Toyota is saying.

[Mystery Squid]

All depends upon the standpoint... LOL, you brought this to light just as I got into a "tussle" with an individual on the same subject matter...


http://priuschat.com/forums/so-this-jerk-o...ys-vt10293.html

[efusco]

This isn't news. And Toyota's never claimed otherwise. It's about saving gas. It's about lower emissions. It's about a better vehicle.

No one will be mad at you or anyone else, anyone who's crunched the numbers has found the same thing.

But the same logic extends to other cars too. Imagine we'll ever see a headline "Sports Cars Don't Make Sense":Speed limits are 70mph and traffic won't let you go faster. I don't think so....

Or
"SUVs don't make sense: It's cheaper to rent the utility vehicle you need for those rare occasions and money saved on gas for your family car can be used for child's education"

Ain't gonna happen. People have very narrowly begun to think of hybrids as gas saving vehicles and then they twist that into saving on gas saves on money and that that money saved is the reason to buy. It isn't--it's the saving of gas itself that is the goal along with emissions that is the goal. If the premium in cost isn't worth that 'feature' then you're better off going with another, more economical, car.

[kirbinster]

I just thought it was an interesting comment for the "chief marketing officer" aka president to make. Especially since it is not really that true in many cases. Take my case where we are using the Prius rather than the gas guzzling SUV. At 14,000 miles per year at 45mpg versus 15 mpg we will save 622 gallons of gas a year. At $2.25 a gallon that comes out to $1,400 saved a year. Using the $4,000 price premium number that comes out to a payback of just 2.86 years!!! That makes economic sense to me.

The numbers make even more sense to me because I bought my barely used '02 Prius with 7,200 miles on it for just over $16K.

[mikepaul]

Perhaps the Japanese tradition is a new car every 2 years?...

[skruse]

The WSJ is "correct" hybrids do not make sense, if you only think short-term. I try to model what I teach - long-term thinking and minimal emissions. Front passengers are always amazed at the MFD feedback on fuel economy. I've decreased my dependence on oil and look forward to being able to plug-in to further decrease my use of oil.

Okay WSJ, want to double your profit?! Then double your efficiency - in a hybrid and throughout the rest of your life.

[Marlin]

My prius is the fourth car that I've owned. The first car was a Chevy Celebrity station wagon that I got from my mother when I was in college. I replaced it at 198,000 miles with a Ford Explorer. I subsequently replaced the Ford explorer 12 years later at 196,000 miles and bought my Prius. In between all that, I got married and immediately replaced my wife's crappy LeBaron with a Chevy Malibu. It currently has 112,000 miles on it after 7 years and I intend to keep it another 3 years or so until it has at least 180,000 miles on it.

I intend to keep my Prius as long as I've kept my other cars. I also expect gas prices to continue to rise.

Over the lifetime of my prius, I will most certainly at least break even, and I expect to come out well ahead.

[Jared]

I have no doubt that the Prius is worth the extra money. Gas is currently $2.55 in New York. I drive about 25,000 miles per year, which means I burn about 500 gallons of gas at 50 miles per gallon, for an annual gas cost of $1, 275. If I drove a camry, which is similar in interior size and comfort, I would burn about 1,000 gallons at 25 miles per gallon, for a cost of $2,550. So I am already saving $1,275 per year. I intend to keep the Prius at least 10 years, for a saving of $12,750 dollars in fuel costs. Now I fully expect gas prices to rise over 10 years, perhaps to $5.00 per gallon or more. In that case, I will save much more than $12,750 I am not great at math, but even I can figure out the the Prius makes economic sense.

[ltu1542hvy]

Even though crunching the numbers yielded that I should at least break even in recouping the extra cost for the hybrid technology over the lifetime of the car, I am with Evan on this one. Saving money is not the point of this car - reducing emissions, saving gas, and reducing our dependence on oil is, along with all of the environmental benefits that this entails. Any financial advantage I consider to be a fortuitous side effect.

- Bill

[Jared]

Personally, I think a car's sole function is to transform energy into motion. The more effeciently a car does that, the better the car.