The Gauntlet is Down: Toyota Drops Prius Price in Japan to Match Honda Insight

The Gauntlet is Down: Toyota Drops Prius Price in Japan to Match Honda Insight | Motortrend News & Auto Blog - Wide Open Throttle

VERY, VERY Exciting news if this carries over to the States. I'm looking to buy within the next 1-2 months, and I was worried the Prius would be too much (and have to go with the Insight instead).

This is great news. Hope soon we can learn about the new and improved price.

Hmmm...

And the Prius at the old price was not making any money? Hmmm.....

We still have the weak dollar situation. It may be a while before the US sees a price drop. Europe possibly...

How is this possible? The Gen III Prius seems to be so much more car, with more advanced technology and more features. It must cost more to produce, so unless Toyota is selling them on an incremental basis or taking a frank loss on them...

Oh, this is great news. I too have been worried the new price would drive me to the Honda, but if this is true, the sooner the 2010 Prius hits the dealers lot the sooner it will hit my garage.

Actually, if you exclude the new, high tech options (which I'm sure will come at a price), my guess is the new Prius (base model) probably costs less to produce, since they're further along the learning curve with the hybrid system; plus the initial high R&D costs were amortized on the first gens.

Just because something is more advanced, doesn't mean it should cost more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just look at computers. You can buy a $800 computer that blows away anything close to a $800 computer 10 years ago. And that $800 computer is something decent that any "average" consumer would be able to use without any issues. 10 years ago a $800 computer was a piece of junk that would *maybe* run Windows98 if you were lucky. So you get more, for less. Better, for less.

The Camry is about $21,000 for the same basic features, and you can typically get that down to $17,500 (just looking at CarsDirect.com). So maybe the 2010 prius just won't have as much "slack" under the MSRP.

With this new generation of the Hybrid-Drive, I'm sure Toyota did A LOT to keep costs down. I think Honda's new system is 2/3 cheaper to produce they said? If Toyota can do the same, that's a HUGE savings there. In short, the "Hybrid" fee can go down to $1000-$2000 dollars.

So with that being said, I think cutting the price would be agressive, but not too surprising. The hybrid fee should keep going down to the point where EVERYTHING can come in hybrid flavor without too much work. And if you look at Toyota's plans...that is what is happening. A Yaris Hybrid, confirmed. A Matrix Hybrid, Rumored. A RAV4 Rumored, a Sports Car Rumored.....

Anyways, Keep it low, and you got yourself a deal Mr. Toyota.

I'd venture to say Toyota didn't (and doesn't) want to be in the low cost race, but as we all know times are tough and the Insight II is forcing their hand. If there within $ 1000.00 or 1500. (US) of each other its a no brainier for me (Toyota FTW !) but if it's more i'm going to have to think long & hard about it.

This is marketing 101. The market leader drops the price to match the competition, to retain market share. The Prius volume advantage allows them to make their cars cheaper than the new competition. The 2010 Prius is also getting somewhat better reviews vs the Insight, so the Prius may be preferred at the same price.

Well, we can only hope that translates to The United States... *crosses fingers*

Just thinking out loud here...maybe the base price will be in view of Insight pricing...however the packages e.g tech will be overpriced ??

Isn't this the case with any car? The base is ALWAYS the best value. Options are what pay the manufacturer. You can get a base Camry for 19k, and the loaded version (non-hybrid) comes in at 29k. Huge spread. 10k buys you a crappy Versa.

Right..I am aware of that, but I mean over over priced !... which Toyota will use to recover from a LOW unexpected base !..
Anyway...lets wait and see

Exactly. Keep in mind, the Prius has never been a cash cow for Toyota. It's all about image. In fact, the Gen III may never turn a profit.

I expect Toyota will try to blow the Insight out of the water with a low MSRP for the base model, maybe even a bit less than the current MSRP for a base Gen II.

Toyota will then attempt to recoup some of the loss with pricey upgrades. The sunroof and advanced tech packages are going to cost big bucks. I hope Toyota really milks those options, but they'll probably do the same for the 17s and LED headlights on the Model V.

The myth that the Prius isn't profitable doesn't seem to want to stay dead.

2010 Prius blurs the line between econobox, high volume mid-size family car and luxury car markets. It is the hybrid of those three markets and it carries all the benefits in one package!

The new Prius

• has econobox like MPG. In fact it has the best in class MPG, even more than the smallest econobox Smart and Tata Nano (Nano is not available in US).
• drives and handles like a normal mid-size cars. It can be comparably equipped and priced like any other mid-size cars.
• can also be equipped with extended options only available in luxury cars. Even with the loaded options, the Prius can still be at a bargain price (compared to Lexus). Some of the Lexus can't be equipped as high tech as the 2010 Prius.

This car offers so much in one package that never before possible in the history of automobile.

Prius is the hybrid of the hybrids! This is true in the marketing sense as well as technical sense because Hybrid Synergy Drive has the advantages of both parallel and series hybrids. HSD is a hybrid of the two architectures.

Honda Insight only blurs the line between an econobox and a compact car. It can get high MPG only achievable by the micro-size Smart with the interior space of a compact car. The available options are nothing special (GPS and Bluetooh... *yawn* Prius offered it 6 years ago).

Maybe you missed this news from 7.5 years ago.