Honda Insight first hybrid to top Japan auto sales

So price is a major factor for buyers. Imagine that.

 

Great news for Honda. It seems they are on target with the sales projection in Japan.

BTW, that picture is of the concept car. The production version does not look as good.

 

Sounds impressive until you realize a few things:
1. Japanese auto sales recently fell to a 37 year low. Taking the top spot with a new model is considerably easier than it was a year or two or three ago.
2. Since the primary hybrid competitor is releasing its new model and its existing model is at the end of its production life, there is reduced competition even in the niche at the moment.

We'll start getting an idea of what is really going on in late summer, when both vehicles have been on the market a few months in Japan and the U.S. Then we well have an idea whether this result is trivia or trend.

 

Good for Honda Japan. Love to see more hybrid competition even though we need a few months to make sense of the head-to-head sales.

It'll be interesting to see the May sales of the U.S. Insight. I've only seen one on the road in Los Angeles. Thought I'd see at least a dozen by now, but this is Prius Town, and I'm sure people are waiting to test drive the Gen III.

 

Yea but the point is that its the first ever Hybrid to attain first place. That's the big news. Just face it, the Insight is a hit in Japan. Good for Honda.

 

Big news? It's little more than trivia if that momentum is not sustained. Topping the sales chart in an epic weak economy carries a big asterisk.

It's not even clear that it is really a hit. How many movies come out with a big opening weekend, then sputter? Happens a lot for overhyped pictures. In a few months we will have some context. While I expect the Insight to do well, the pricing is not going to help it much against the Prius with its lowered pricing. It is going to have more of a Honda/niche appeal to those really only needing a 2+2.

 

The Japanese market is quite different than the American market in that the smaller the car the better the sales. Obviously in this economy pricing becomes much more of a value proposition.

Honda of course gets all the kudos for great marketing and a great product.

 

Well, I guess if you have Prius colored glasses. You'd think gadget crazy Japan would have had a hybrid as a best seller before the Insight.

 

Not really, it looks like you have the welding goggles on. The Gen II Prius went came out before the most recent oil price run up, and while the global economy was surging. Prius was production constrained during the actual oil price spike.

What matters is staying power, not a short term blip. And that remains to be seen, whether it is Japan, the U.S., etc.

So what are you planning to say if the Prius takes the number one spot in a few months? I wouldn't see it as any more relevant than this or any other new vehicle launch in this environment.

 

I would say: "Good for Toyota!"

 

The 2010 Insight has the same price as the original Insight and Prius (priced $19,995) in the US. I am not sure about in Japan but it would probably be the same.

The 2010 Insight gets about the same MPG as the Classic Prius (41 MPG). They even have about the same interior room. They both have gas powered A/C. etc...

Why are hybrids popular in Japan now? I believe the Insight is cashing on Iconic Prius' success with the Iconic look-alike plus the "hybrid for everyone" hype.

2010 Prius should put an end to that hype.

 

It looks like there was also a massive drop in 660cc kei car sales in April. The top 3 kei cars still outsold the Insight, but their numbers are well down. One of the tax advantages of kei cars, the weight tax levied on non-kei cars, has been drastically reduced as part of an economic stimulus package, so maybe that is why. The weight tax is now zero for hybrids (Gen I Prius aside !???) so the Insight has arrived at a fortuitous time to achieve high sales, i.e., when there are this and other tax breaks for hybrids and when Prius sales drop off before the new model appears.

Still, more eco cars on the road can only be a good thing.

 

Then...
The top seller was Suzuki Wagon-R kei car, 12,926 units sold.
The 2010 Prius will be the top, 20,000 units mark, in a few months.

Ken@Japan

 

Yahoo Japan say Toyota got 30,000 orders for the new Prius in the first week May 18 to 25 of sales(!) This is on top of 80,000 pre-orders. The head of Aichi Toyota, the area around Toyota itself that includes the Nagoya metropolis said that demand is absolutely exceptional.

?????????11????????????1???????? - Yahoo!????

The Insight had the same problem at first, but I think you actually have to deliver the cars to get top auto sales spot in Japan. It may take a while for the Prius to do that.

 

In our country, we have story about a farmer who was unhappy with the calves his bulls were producing. So he went to the market and came back with a huge Brama bull, twice as big as his other bulls and hoping mad to get out of the cattle trailer.

The three bulls standing on the hill looked at the Brama bull and said:

Biggest bull,"Well I guess I can share some of my females with him.

Middle bull,"I see your wisdom and will share some of my females with him."

Smallest bull began snorting, pawing the ground, and shaking the horns on his head.​

The biggest bull said,"What are you doing? That Brama bull is so large he will kill you!"

The smallest bull said,"I just want him to know I'm not a female."

I'm not sure if the three bulls were named GM, Ford or Honda but I'm sure the Brama was called Toyota.

Bob Wilson

 

Impulse buy for movie tickets and committing to buy a car are 2 totally different things. But I see your point that this only a dot in the graph and not a trend. Honda's move to sell a cheaper hybrid was a smart one. While Toyota definitely has the superior hybrid, price matters. Many would be prius buyers who don't have same devotion as board members here, will become insight buyers. Many priced out prius buyers will become insight buyers. A few thousand dollars makes a difference. Good for Honda.

 

once again, the insight grabs headlines but only because they released their product a bi t earlier, just like the NA intro back in 2000. we all know what happened after that. i dont think we will have to wait long to see the trend that should emerge by the end of June despite the fact that there will not be full availability for most areas until July.

 

OT: everytime i see your user name I want Mexican food