August 2014 - Dashboard Report

Considering the incentives they were throwing on the regular prius, it's not too surprising they'd sell really well. Normally you'd only get a cash rebate or 0% financing, not both. But if you qualify for the $1000 cash back and 0% financing for 60 months, it's a pretty sweet deal, which I'll admit I took as well (and qualified for, woohoo).

I'm surprised the PiP didn't sell more considering they had even better incentives for it. But I'm guessing it was due mostly to only being available in certain states, and a lot of people being skeptical of only 11 mile range in EV mode (compared to a Volt or Leaf, or even a C-Max energi, nevermind that it's also a regular prius with 50 mpg combined). I do find it interesting that it actually sold less models than in the previous months.

On that note, while the Volt, Leaf, and Energi did outsell the PiP for August, keep in mind PiP is only available in certain states and still sold somewhat decently. If Toyota sold them nationwide, PiP sales would probably be a quarter to half of what the liftback sales are, though liftback sales would likely have dropped as well.

The next-gen EV's should be an interesting battle if they can lower prices and recharge time, while increasing the range they can go.

 

Monthly Plug-In Sales Scorecard

Toyota Prius Plug-In: While Toyota had its largest corporate sales month ever, the Prius Plug-In did not aid in that result.

For August just 818 electric Prii were sold, which was off 52% from a year ago, and Toyota’s worst result since the doldrums of January.

We do have to note, this was/is not a reflection on the demand for the car as…well, there isn’t any. Toyota has less than 100 model year 2015s at dealerships to end out the month.

New model inventory is so tight you really can’t even go by ‘days on hand’, but by hours..like 40 or so. In other words, someone at HQ made a big allocation error and is probably getting ready to fall on their sword at any moment.​

The only thing stopping toyota from rolling out the prius phv to other states or having adequate inventory is toyota. The bmw i8 and c-max energi surprisingly surged to outsell the prius phv tthis month, and bmw is still initially rolling out its car. There are less than 500 rav4 evs left to sell.

 

looks pretty good across the board, considering gas prices. nice bump for the volt. thanks bob!

 

Edumnds is shopping around a negative story about hybrid sales. Here is the LA times version

Electrified car sales stall as buyers back away from hybrids - LA Times

I think Jessica Caldwell gets a lot wrong, but its the hybrid sales story of the week.

 

The states chosen to sell the PPI were so because they represent 60% of Prius sales according to Toyota. If actually available nation wide the PPI would be around a fifth to tenth of Prius sales going by the last 4 months.

 

Toyota didn't choose the best states to sell the prius phv, it picked the carb states, then canceled a nationwide roll out. BMW i3 which somehow outsold the much less expensive prius phv last month is starting with just 6 states - CA, NY, NJ, CT, MA and TX. Yep somehow they chose a non-compliance state even in a set of 6. IMHO BMW would be smart ot add GA, FL, VA, WA, IL as their next group of 5 (60% non carb) that should give them better coverage than Toyota. Note BMW is doing launch cities, they aren't covering all the dealers in the states.

I agree with Ashlem, if Toyota is serious about the phv they should roll it out to at least dealers that want it in TX, FL, GA, OH, and IL. There was an excuse that the next generation was coming soon, but it won't bo out for over 2 years.

 

I thought the i3 was nationwide?
The two dealers I know of in the MN/Minneapolis metro area both have them available on the lot.
The corporate BMW test drive tour also came through here, so I don't think it is a case of BMW dealers 'unofficially' getting their hands on some.

 

If its nationwide already I stand corrected. BMW set those initial launch cities/states to get it first then talked about a nationwide roll out. If they have done it already good for them.

 

accord hybrid is nationwide, doesn't seem to be helping their numbers tho.

 

It is probably suffering from most things Honda, higher price and greedy dealers.

 

Think how low they would be if they only sold in CARB states like the prius phv?

Seriously between the way honda handled battery problems in their hybrids and the value proposition of the accord hybrid versus the camry and fusion hybrids its doing fairly well.

The prius phv on the other hand at the new lower price,seems like it should have been rolled out on schedule last year. I am not saying it needs to be a volt type roll out with angry dealers talked into stocking cars, but at least do a ford type roll out of allowing any dealer that wants to sell the car have ability to sell the car.

 

I don't know. A quick search finds she has gotten it into the WSJ, Fox News, Detroit Free Press, Time and tons of local papers.

Quite a misleading pov if you ask me. 3 cars account for the fall, the prius liftback and v, which own most of the market, and the ford c-max. I have to believe the prius liftback and v are just down as part of the normal design cycle and will be back up with redesigns launced at the end of next year. The volt is also due around the same time, and suffers from competition, phevs are up 44% this year in spite of the volt fall.

 

Seems to me the fluctuations in gas prices are being left out of the equation.

 

More like the hybrid sales story of the year -

- There are more hybrid models on the market this year than ever before

- Sales of hybrid (non-plugin) cars are down so far this year

- Sales of conventional cars are up so far this year.

But, I think the LA Times title is disingenous.

 

I could go to Toyota Sunnyvale tomorrow and choose from many 2014.5 Camry Hybrid XLE w/nav, w/o moonroof for about $26.xk before tax and all.
Can't think why I'd want to scrounge around for a base model Accord Hybrid that might get a $500 disc to end up $29,445 before tax ...

plus the XLE has leather wrapped wheel ... a bigger trunk, spare tire and pass through. But I've seen some quality issues with Toyota:

I saw a 2014.5 Camry XLE conventional loaded with leather, the 4 spoke st wheel with nasty offset from centerline of dr. seat which btw did not adjust into same positions as the SE or non leather XLE seats....

next to that XLE, a 2014.5 SE with 3 spoke st wheel which is Much more inline with the dr. seat....
Fit and finish issues , quality issues.

I think the 2015 Camry Hybrid is going to put some more hurt on Accord Hybrid. I woulnd't mind driving HAH to see if it's cool or weird.

 

PiP sales are down because you can't find one.