Toyota launching ad campaign for hot-selling Prius; mainstream buyers targeted
JAMIE LAREAU | Automotive News
Posted Date: 2/22/05
Even as waiting lists persist, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. is launching a marketing campaign this month for its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid.

The ads, which will run globally, will emphasize the car's performance and high mpg more than its environmental benefits. The campaign will target "mainstream" buyers, says Steve Jett, Toyota's national car advertising and events promotion manager.

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101858

Toyota has sold the Prius in the United States since July 2000, but it advertised the car on TV only briefly in fall 2003. Company executives said it made little sense to market the car broadly while demand greatly exceeded supply.

Toyota says it expects to build 100,000 Priuses for sale in the United States in 2005. It sold 53,991 of the cars to U.S. buyers in 2004. The car's base price is $21,415, including destination.

The wait time for a Prius in the United States averages two to three months, a Toyota spokeswoman says. That's down from a peak of six months, she adds.

Super Bowl tease

Toyota showed a 60-second "teaser" TV commercial for the Prius during the Super Bowl. It will air a 30-second version of the spot in several major markets during the Academy Awards telecast Feb. 27.

The national TV campaign is scheduled to run Feb. 28 through March 13, Jett says. Toyota will buy time on such network series as ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" and NBC's "Medium."

Print ads for the Prius will follow in May. Jett says the campaign will include billboards and "interactive activity."

Ron Napoli Sr., a Toyota dealer in Mount Kisco, N.Y., says he sells about 20 Priuses a month. "We have a commitment from Toyota for more vehicles," Napoli says. "The marketing campaign will certainly get the message out to additional folks. It's still in high demand, and I see the demand only increasing."

Rising gasoline prices

Napoli speculates that rising gasoline prices this year could elevate demand for the Prius, causing buyers' waiting times to rise again.

Kurt Sanger, senior analyst at Macquarie Securities in Tokyo, says a marketing campaign is the "most obvious" way for Toyota to keep the Prius a market leader among hybrid vehicles.

The field is growing crowded with the Ford Escape Hybrid and other competitors, Sanger adds.