Disaster effect on Prius availability....

A friend told me he went to look at Siennas yesterday and was told what he saw was it, no ordering, no trying to get the color he wanted from other dealers, and pay the sticker!

 

Interesting given that the Sienna is supposedly made in Indiana per Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc. (TMMI).

However, per the April 2011 issue of Car and Driver, the Sienna has 75% US/Canada content. Any portions solely or primarily sourced from Japan could be a problem...

edit: I found http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Subaru-Toyota-curb-output-at-apf-73278280.html?x=0&.v=6.

 

Hmm..raises the question if dealership's service departments will be affected if they can't get parts for certain car repairs?

 

I did stumble across Toyota to restart some parts production Thursday | Reuters.

 

The news of Japan's Fukishima reactors sounds quite grim tonight. Team of 50 in last ditch effort to prevent meltdown of reactors. Radiation near reactors like 10,000 x-rays in 1 hours. Even people in Tokyo are panicking. Store shelves are going empty and things are crazier at the airport.

 

Halts on Japanese Auto Output Are Extended - WSJ.com
Toyota Will Open Parts Factories Tomorrow After Quake Halt; Shares Rebound - Bloomberg

From the WSJ article:

 

I did not see this posted anywhere. If this is a duplicate, apology...

Newsroom : Updated Toyota Statement Regarding Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan / Toyota

Posted to: Corporate, Toyota
Updated Toyota Statement Regarding Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

NEW YORK, NY (March 16, 2011; Posted at 3:15 PM EDT) Regarding Toyota's North American operations, so far the impact is limited. All 13 North American vehicle and engine plants are running normally, although overtime has been curtailed for now to assure we maintain adequate inventories of parts that come from Japan. In addition, since most parts and materials for Toyota's North American-built vehicles are provided by suppliers in North America, this helps insulate Toyota's North American plants from production interruptions in Japan.

Regarding dealerships in the US, inventories are good with adequate levels of supply. Toyota now makes 12 different models in North America, including high-volume vehicles such as Camry, Corolla, RAV4, and Lexus RX 350, and nearly 70 percent of all Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold in the U.S. are made in North America. Prius vehicles are built in Japan, and thus impacted more by the production halt there. But for now inventory levels of the Prius at U.S. dealerships are generally still adequate.

Regarding battery production in Japan, while future production plans are to be determined, only one of three hybrid battery plants in Japan sustained limited damage from the earthquake. The other two plants are located in central Japan and were not affected. The company is making every effort to minimize any long-term impact on Prius availability.

Meanwhile, Toyota employees in the U.S. are very interested in contributing to relief efforts in Japan. To make their support go further, Toyota Affiliates in the U.S. will match their personal relief donations to the American Red Cross.

This is in addition to Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan donating 300 million yen (approximately $3.75 million) to support relief efforts.

We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available.

(see link for other related news from Toyota)

 

Toyota to resume production of Prius, Lexus hybrid models; Honda extends production shutdown

I'm not sure which thread to post in since there are so many on the effects of production of cars and everything else in Japan due to the disaster.

Prius factory to restart, Honda extends shutdown - Yahoo! Finance

From toyota global - Announcement

 

supply of Japanese cars - not Prius specific

Wasn't sure which of the many threads to add this to but today on Nightly Business Report there was the below. Here's a portion of the transcript of the ep at NBR for April 4, 2011 - Full Episode | Nightly Business Report | PBS.

I also found this which mentions a different interview w/the same CEO: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42414699.

 

This just in; Toyota is restarting some Japanese factories at half capacity as parts shortage problems lessen.

Toyota to resume output at half capacity - Business - Autos - msnbc.com

 

Incentives are cut back, though. I read that in an article and my local places that have had incentives for at least a year none have them that I've gone to (3 toyota, 1 honda).

 

I searched Google News yesterday and there are numerous articles quoting Toyota spokespeople that although 11 Toyota plants are indefinitely shut down, there are three Japanese plants still running, and all hybrids, Prius and Lexus are still coming off of the production line right now. I saw a new shipment of ct200h on a truck yesterday, and although I've seen numerous brand new Prii (dealer cardboard plates) over the past week, the dealers here in Orange County, CA do not appear to be experiencing any shortages.

I'll post links when I get a chance, but these are direct quotes from Toyota spokespeople.

 

A week back I looked locally and three places had, for new prius stock: 8,11,8 or maybe it was 9,11,9, respectively. Anyway. Today they are 6,12,2. One of them at least that has dropped has gone up again so I presume they are still receiving some stock, but I thought the real cutback in stock wasn't quite supposed to happen yet, but who knows.

I do know that incentives don't seem to exist right now, at least not advertised.

 

This also means shortage of parts .... so warranty and repair services will encounter delays.

Unfortunately, Prius parts are sole sourced from Japan so they will be directly impacted by this shutdown.

 

Anybody quote a Prius lease in the last week? I am wondering what they look like. A year back I got a 2010 about $180 month with $1750 out of pocket to cover taxes, first payment, etc. What's it look like now?

 

Source?

 

He got this from tacticsandstrategyfortrashingtheprius.com

 

Here are the quotes and links:

Toyota Production In Japan--Including Prius--To Resume At Half-Speed

Toyota plans to reopen one more automaking plant in Japan - CNN.com

AFP: Toyota to restart all domestic production April 18

Toyota Production In Japan--Including Prius--To Resume At Half-Speed

I'm assuming the "annual spring break" refers to when all the Japanese autoworkers go down to Cancun to get wild and crazy. Perhaps "spring break" has a different connotation in Japan than it does in popular media.

 

Called two dealerships this morning. Both quoted a .000023 money factor (or .00023 or whatever it was--similar to 6% interest rate anyway, one guy said). On a Prius II purchase price $24k, residual $14,500 on a 12k/year 3 year. $400-450/month with little money down. $9500 capital cost.

Terrible.

Last year I got a prius II, 2010 model at just under 23k with residual at $16,900 ($6k capital) for 36k and lower money factor. In fact, we signed up for 18k/year and its residual is $15000--higher than residual now on a 12k/year, and we paid less for it. And money factor was better.

One guy said they're doing 7-8 Corollas every two weeks now. They used to get allocated 70-80, so he's down 90% on what he is getting. There are still Priuses around, but absolutely forget any attractive lease rates.

 

What's the 18k/yr and 12k/yr ? Are you talking about miles and leasing?
The reason I buy a high mpg car is because I know I'm going to be putting A LOT of miles on it per year. From a purely economic standpoint, why buy a 50mpg car if you are limited in how many miles you can drive and you are paying an exorbitant finance/rent/lease interest rate, and then you have to give it back after three or five years?

My 2004 Corolla has 170K miles on it right now, when I bought it new, I put $10K down, financed $3K (paid off within 12 months, very little interest), and it's cost me practically nothing since then. Meanwhile, I have friends that have these $500/month car payments with interest finance charges and some are leasing and have to give the car back. Sheesh!!! My Corolla's odometer and my bank account will be ready when the PHV Prius is on dealer lots.

True fact: the fiance of a $20K auto loan costs a buyer about $4K in interest over the life of the loan. What do you get for the $4K? The executives and investors of the bank get to eat your dinner. You can buy A LOT of food for $4K. Get your calculator and do the math - how much food is that? Let's assume you eat out and spend $8 on a meal. $4000/$8 = 500 meals! There are only 365 days in a year. Think about that.
Okay, let's look at it a little differently: Let's say you delay the purchase of a new car by three years and put your $400 per month (or whatever) into a savings account and then buy your car. You save finance charges and now for the rest of your life, if you keep putting $400 month into savings, every 3 or 5 years, you will have money for a new car without having to pay evil finance charges. Really, all you have to do is skip one cycle and then you will be on the correct frequency. I've had my 2004 Corolla for about 7 years now. Do the math. My PHV Prius will incur no finance charges, and the banker will not be eating my dinner.