Toyota's Prius hybrid tops Japan's February car sales despite automaker's recall woes

I expect to see sales start to come down in May and June (if not even in April)... All the current ones being sold are those that were reserved last June and July. Those were the peak months for orders, but after the projected production date passed April 1st the number of orders went down. At the time, cars purchased after April 1st 2010 would not be eligible for tax rebates, etc. They later decided to extend it (I think) but most of the people who were going to buy due to those incentives jumped and did so before the cutoff.

 

By the sound of it, come April there'll be no one left in Japan who doesn't own a Prius

 

For those of you from Japan, including Tamyu:
How do you measure sales--by orders placed, or by cars delivered, or by something else?
This would let us know if Tamyu is right that the effect of the recalls is not yet being felt in the sales numbers from Japan.
I would make the distinction on the basis of when the contract to pay for the car becomes binding--when you order, are you bound to buy?
However, what I (an American lawyer) might count is not necessarily the counting tradition for anyone else.

 

They are measured by cars delivered and finalized. The car isn`t considered sold until you show up and fill out the final sales papers after it has been delivered to the dealer.

The order is not binding. Until the car goes on to the line it`s not even really called an order. They confirm whether you still want the car before it goes onto the line. This is usually a week or two before delivery. If you say to cancel it, then they will and you will have any deposits etc that you make returned to you (and the cars following yours will be moved up a spot in the list). After the car is on the line, you can still cancel but I believe the agreement is that you don`t get part of your deposit back. The car is rerouted to someone else later in the list who has ordered the same configuration or one with something less than what was on that order (the addition will be free to them).

I believe that there have been some cancellations, but not significant enough to move people up much on the list. We received our car last Saturday, and it was right on schedule.
I think it`s important to remember the only Toyota recall going on in Japan right now is that of the Prius. There haven`t been reports of unintended acceleration, and Toyota does not have that hanging over them. Japanese news loves hounding a story too, so if there were issues in those sold in Japan they`d be all over it... They were with the Prius recall, and Toyota issued commercials apologizing for that.

But I really don`t think the effects of the huge recall is being felt much in Japan because Japan simply isn`t a part of it - and as the problem isn`t really happening here, I think that when it is reported people are happy to believe it was a problem with the US produced part.
When I say I expect the number of sales to go down after April, it isn`t because of the recall fiasco. It`s because the special deals they were giving to people buying new fuel efficient vehicles originally ran out then. They were later extended - but all the people who were looking into changing cars to one like a Prius hurried and put in their order in the period when it would arrive in time to be eligible (delivered and sold before April). Those who were too late but still wanted a Prius likely placed their orders after the extension, meaning their deliveries would be April and May. After that, I imagine the backlog will be reduced and sales numbers will go down. Once most everyone who wants the car has it, sales will go down.

 

It is based on vehicle registration.
The official announcement site is...
vehicle registration statistics - JAPAN AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION (Japanese only)

There are still a lot of back orders remained in Japan.
Toyota is informing the current back order status (weekly update) at following site.
expected Prius delivery schedule (Japanese only)
The latest one says "The delivery schedule will be late June for the orders after February 24th".

Ken@Japan

 

We had a similar slump after the "Cash for Clunkers" program ended. We're both going to enjoy the benefits of a more fuel efficient vehicles ... although the USA has a lot further to go.

Bob Wilson