Toyota Vice President Bob Carter told me back in March that Toyota hoped to sell 100,000 2010 Prius hybrids in 2009. Given the state of the economy, 100,000 units sold by the end of the year was a goal based more on hopes than reality. But with 139,682 total Prius sales in 2009, it looks like Toyota may have squeaked out 100,000 3G Prius sales, or at least they got very close.
I'm waiting to hear a break-down from Toyota on 2009 vs 2010 model year sales, but by looking at the sales numbers from January - May 2009, Toyota sold around 42,000 Prius hybrids. The 2010 Prius went on sale in May, so if around 1/3 of the May sales were of 2010 Prius models, Mr. Carter and the rest of Toyota met their goal.
Whether they sold 95,000 or 100,000 2010 Prius units between late May and the end of 2009, the sales results are really a feat. Everything was working against the Prius this year - lower fuel prices, a recessed economy, and a rising Yen.
The Honda Insight, dubbed by a prominent car magazine as a "Prius Killer" , had total yearly sales of just 20,000 units. That is a far cry from the initial 90,000 sales goal Honda had for the car. In fact, back in June American Honda Motor Executive Vice President John Mendel told Bloomberg news, "Given some dramatic change in things, I don't think we'll get to 90,000. At 50,000 to 60,000, we will be just fine." Based on my discussions with Honda dealers, most Honda dealerships have a 2 year stock of Insights currently on their lots. And they never want to see any more Insights delivered to their dealerships.
Who's the Prius Killer now?
