Prius Price Increasing by $400 in February

Wonder if this will reduce inventories somewhat again? (although, I admit, this is not a bank-breaking increase)...

But $400 is $400. I quibbled about $200 in my negotiations, cheap-skate that I am.

 

I suspect it is exchange rate, the price of the Yen vs dollar.

Bob Wilson

 

....and no more competition from the Insight.

 

Has Honda increase the price of the Insight since the launch? They would be also affected by the exchange rate.

The Prius has been proven the winner in the best bang for the buck.

 

So does this mean the early buyers got a bargain ? Toyota is adjusting for the supply and demand most probably and the rising dollar.

The price is still very competitive but won't make the this a mass market vehicle anytime soon like the Camry or Corolla.

 

Anyone know what the change in invoice pricing will be? That may be the more important number for buyers to focus on.

For the $400 MSRP October increase, I believe that the II-level invoice went up $150 or so--giving the dealer a $250 greater difference between MSRP and invoice.

When the original Prius Gen III prices were in force, it seemed to me that the % difference between invoice and MSRP was small for the auto industry. Am I right about that? Is that a general Toyota practice?

 

+++++++++++ :d

 

This probably mean the resale value will increase too. Hopefully for the Iconic and Classic models as well.

 

Yes, This^^^

And This^^^

As the 3rd or 4th best selling vehicle in Toyota's lineup it's already a best seller. It also pulls sales from February into the very very slow month of January ( the worst sales month of the year ).

 

I guess they haven't heard about the recession...sheesh...they should cut the price.

 

the recession (low volume sales) and the strong yen w/weak dollar are what's killing them

Sure, we would ALL love a lower cost, but as evidenced by Insight sales falling FAR short of Honda's projections and being a tiny fraction of Prius sales, I think Toyota doesn't see them as much of a threat.

The dollar is very weak against the yen and per Toyota exec fears yen strength, not recall cost - Yahoo! Finance "For every yen the dollar falls, Toyota loses 30 billion yen ($340 million) in operating profit"

Take a look at the dollar to yen chart at USDJPY=X: Basic Chart for USD/JPY - Yahoo! Finance. When I visited Japan in 2001, 2003, and 2005, it was usually ~107 to 118 yen to a dollar vs. the 91.415 right now.

Per Toyota reports surprise profit - Nov. 5, 2009 "Toyota now expects an operating loss of ¥350 billion ($3.9 billion) for the year to March 31, closer to an average projection of a ¥293 billion loss in a poll of 22 analysts by Thomson Reuters.

It expects a net loss of ¥200 billion instead of a loss of ¥450 billion."

Depending on which reports you look at, Toyota's either never reported a loss as a publicly traded company until 2009 or they haven't since 1950 or 1941.

 

The difference did seem small, and I believe it was part of their competitive positioning as they played hardball against the new Insight. The original MSRP of the version I bought was $1k lower than I was expecting.

Now that the Insight is not providing much competition, Toyota doesn't need to fight a price war, so the price is being raised to get back in line with industry norms.

 

They did. Between the 2009 Gen 2 and the 2010 Gen 3 they cut the MSRP prices by $1500 to $2500 but then we the buyers indicated that not only were the new prices fair but we'd pay more.

Price increases are not done in a vacuum. They are a reaction to supply and demand, among other factors.

 

I view it very simply, Toyota feared competition from the Insight and lowered the price of the 2010. The Insight has sold about 1/4 the expected volume and really has not taken significant numbers away from the Prius. Now seeing no real competition in the segment Toyota is free to Prius higher.

 

After February Toyota begins to offer rebates and dealer incentives on their model-year cars. So, you will still get a better deal after February, even the MSRP slightly increases. Therefore, don't hurry to buy a 2010-model-year. You will be at least a few hundred bucks better off on a Prius after February, if not a thousand.

The recent increase in price is just Toyota's adjusting of their prices based on their estimated supply and demand -- it has little to do with the competition.

 

In Germany the prices have been increased across the board of 500€. Since October 5th. My dealer told me they would have raised the prices already back in August. And it did happen as he predicted.

Why the raise? no competition, selling like crazy.
Exchange rate? for EU I doubt - the Yen to the Euro was 134 in June and 135/136 in October when the change of price came - so no real difference.

 

According to industry pundits, Toyota is still loosing money on every Prius sold. Development costs have to be recoup'd.

 

Toyota is making a ton of money on each Prius. While there is no way to prove it, it should be pretty easy to say that Toyota paid for the development cost a year or two into 2004 version as they had cut production cost and made the car in large volumes.