Prius C outsells Volt, Nissan in 3 days

The Volt is rated 35city/40hwy/37combined mpg by the EPA in gas only hybrid mode. The sticker might only show the combined in large print on it do to space and layout issues.

 

well Prius c is such large success that they had to move out production of 5 other cars from that same factory, run it overtime and still cant produce enough cars. there are waiting lists for Prius c.

Toyota has hit a home run, ball way out of the park...

on the other hand, GM had to close its Volt factory for 2 months because nobody bought it.

it is pretty clear cut. What is there left not to understand?

One car they expanded production 50% from the target and still cant produce enough of them, and other car the shut down factory and sent people home because nobody bought it.

GM and Toyota both made decisions and had several billions in investment and thousand engineers tied into the project. Result of GM's project was that the factory is shut down due to 156 days of oversupply and result of Toyota's project is 1.1 million hybrids being produced in 2012.

How hard is it to understand that Volt is failure because it has been tremendous waste of GM's money and resources, money and resources that could have been spent for something that would actually sell and change the market. GM will never be able to get back years of wasted time. Competitors will run over them with their own solutions, like Toyota already did and like Ford and Honda will.

 

I think it is premature to state the Volt is a failure. The problem the Volt and Leaf are suffering is basically it is hitting a market that is still immature. The Leaf's issue is range with lack of decent electrical recharging infrastructure. The Volt's is the price point and pure uncertainty as well as the fact there is a lack of decent electrical recharging infrastructure.

The Volt is a bit better off than the Leaf because of the Range extending ICE, but I think the most distraction is in the price point of the car. Some would say the savings might not be where people would like with the current cost, and the fact it is also a new technology startup that is holding it back, but Prius might have also suffered the same problem initially, however with the Prius it also leans more to the familiar versus just purely new for many.

 

Prius C's success is good. The real demand and production increase are for Japan. I've not seen anything about an increase in projected US sales/deliveries.

The Prius C's sales are, however, generally unrelated to the Volt. They are in totally different price class, and probably in fit/finish. A 40K car will not be selling as well as a 20K car. If you want to compare the Prius C to something from GM, try they Cruze or Sonic. If you want to compare the Volt to a Toyota family hybrid, try Lexus HS or CT. The CT sold more than the Volt,the HS sold far less.


And FYI, shutting down a plant is not a sign of failure. The Cruze plant was shut down for 2 weeks in the fall to align supply/demand of one the fastest selling GM cars. They sold 20,427 Cruzes in Feb, nearly as much as Prius which sold 20,589.

There are still waiting lists for the Volt, in many places, but the distribution/allocation model of GM is puzzling. Orders placed in Ontario have an 18-20 week waiting time, and there are only 8 cars on lots in the whole providence. In Europe the wait is even longer. GM seems to have curtailed production as a business decision (to keep demand > supply to keep price high). Their production capability, 6000 Volts per month, far exceeds their current sales, but also exceeds sales of lots of other models such as the corvette. But rather than run the plan slow (corvettes are produced in the 1000-2000 per month range), the Volt plant is going full bore, then shutting it down. That approach may be more cost effective.

 

The c looks like it will be a big sucess. Many of us expected this. It doesn't make much sense to compare it to initial adopter cars that no one expects to sell as well. That is why its a misleading comparison. It should be clear.

I think a b-segment hybrid that has toyota's reputation, and the aqua's styling should be compared to the best selling cars in the segment. That would be the nisan versa not leaf, and the chevy sonic, not the volt. No reason to shop around for bad comparisons.

The motor trend article I sited said that toyota was not planning to increase production for the US. They were predicting lower US sales because of availability. Toyota can still change production plans, but currently with the 30K/month production, only 6K are destined for outside Japan including the united states.

 

How about, why does the Volt have to be a failure for the Prius c to be a success?

This thread started because of a press release from Toyota comparing the c's sales to the Volt and Leaf. Perhaps it was in response to the comparison of first year Volt sales to first 'year' gen1 Prius sales in the US. A comparison that is just as bogus as the one in the OP here. Both are merely PR stunts for headlines.

The Prius c is a success and will likely continue to be so. Why not focus on that? Why turn yet another thread into one about how horrible and a complete failure to Volt is? Worried that the initial rush for the c will peter out, and it actually won't crush all the competition? That on a closer look it might be discovered that its success is at the expense of the Corolla's?

The Leaf was also mentioned in the press release. Why no posts on how it's a failure? Don't want to look past the Volt since that might mean seeing how the c smashed the Prius PHV sales too?

The Prius c has much going for it. It can sell on its own merits without the need to get down in the mud.

 

A market class is determined by the set of cars consumers choose between, not your bias of what is similar or different.

Off hand I'd guess that not a single person who bought a Volt cross shopped the CTh seriously, and I suspect the same of Prius 'c' owners wrt the Sonic.

 

What makes your offhand statements meaningful? You said its what people consider? How about what car mags consider the CTh competition?

Here is one article that cross shopped (and chose the volt). Lexus CT 200h gets high mpg rating, marks for style

Here are are a few places that list them as competing models
http://www.caranddriver.com/feature...an-feature-car-and-driver-fuel-sippers-page-3

2011 Lexus CT 200h competitors

2012 Lexus CT 200h

Winding Road | Driven: 2011 Lexus CT200h Premium


I cannot comment about the Prius c vs Sonic.. too far below my target marget segment to really what people shopping for them consider.

 

C&D as useful for anything ? Nah

 

I do agree it's pretty silly to compare the C to the Volt. Compare plug ins to plug ins, hybrids to hybrids! In the C's class that's pretty much limited to the Honda CRZ, and maybe the Insight right now.

 

Point well taken. And comparing the Prius C to a CRZ or Insight is not much contest. Better looking, better value, better fuel economy.

 

Because of the sticker price, I think most people looking at the c will cross shop in the C segment. They'll look at the Cruze versus the Sonic. For those in which low car price is a priority, it is hard to beat a Accent, Versa, or Yaris.

 

Or Fiesta.

I recently had a 403mi tank almost all hwy average out at 38mpg. My average speed was 65mph for the tank as well.

On a 'c' note, we saw an orange one on the way to Greenville this weekend. Really easy to spot even as we passed by at a combined speed of over 140mph.

 

I already presumed in my mind when this guy is out for sale. Congrats.:cheer2:

 

The Fiesta is why I'm waiting before calling the c a smashing success. Ford, and others, are bringing to market 3 cylinder turbo charged engines in their small cars. Combined with other technologies, like auto start/stop, they will approach the c's efficiency. The rumor, which likely includes some boasting, is 40mpg city and 50mpg hwy for the Fiesta. Even if that proves to be true, the c still has a big advantage in fuel economy. But the new engine is expected to only add around $500 to the Fiesta price.

 

Yeah that is the killer, even between the current Fiesta and C it is a tough sell if you run the numbers.

17600 for sticker on my Fiesta
20000 for Prius C (guess, site doesn't let you config yet)

$2400 difference gets you 600 gallons at $4 a gallon

50mpg over 12k miles is 240 gallons of gas
33mpg over 12k miles is 363 gallons of gas

Gas differential of 123 gallons a year.

It would take 4.8 years to break even.

If the Fiesta bumps to 40 average then the game changes significantly.

(33 is my average and I run mostly city).

 

Not a chance of a 40/50 rating. The EPA's a subcompact killer and a 1.0 is going to be working the turbo hard at higher speeds and rpm.

But, there will certainly be 40/50 available to drivers who keep their speeds down. Then again, the Prius c will be delivering 60s to drivers who can get those 40/50s.

 

Are these cars sold in Europe ? If so and they have not been introduced to the US it suggests either ergonomics or emissions are a barrier locally.

ps -- I found a report saying the Ford Focus with a Turbo 1.0 Litre is being produced in Germany from Feb of this year. NEDC is US 50 mpg (combined ?); emissions not reported other than CO2 of 109 -115 grams/km depending on model.

 

And then the potential buyer is going to consider if the price gap is worth the extra mpgs. In the Fiesta's case it likely is, but the Fiesta isn't the only car making improvements. I think the competition will be close enough to keep c uptake along the same lines as the liftback.

It's merely Ford's introduction schedule. Small car goodies go to Europe first. The new engine is the smallest of the ecoboost line, and should be available in the Fiesta, possibly the Focus, next year.

 

5 years is pretty good. Prius c would have higher resale value by then. The longer you keep beyond that, the better with Prius c. Prius c also has 4 cubic feet more interior room. Fiesta has a bit more power and faster. Interestingly, Prius c is lighter with HSD.

Prius c will use less gas and emit less CO2. Fiesta will emit 5.6 US tons of CO2 per year while Prius c would emit 3.6 US tons/year.