Does Toyota See the Future?

Does Toyota See the Future?

This biggest problem with that question is most people see it from the perspective of 2018. Recognition of how different the market will be in 2019 is key.

Tesla scrambled to get ahead of tax-credit phaseout, building production capacity to dramatically reduce impact. With investor capital and an unusually large early-adopter audience, their effort seems to have established opportunity for sustainability. That's great, but doesn't really apply to anything the legacy automakers must do.

GM is finding out the hard way what that actually means. Even though it should have been obvious that dealers were GM's true customer (know your audience), that fact was clearly not understood. GM's message of conquest conveyed a feeling of disinterest to change the status quo. Dealers could continue to focus on the push of high-profit guzzlers.

What did that mean for Toyota? It meant a mess to deal with. Legacy automaker push to abandon cars in favor of SUVs and Trucks meant an especially hard push from Toyota to get their dealers to embrace change... which sent a message of "no interest" toward plugging in. Toyota's push to deliver an extremely efficient Camry hybrid and RAV4 hybrid meant delay for Prius Prime promotion.

That left Prius hybrid in a very awkward position. The decision to give it a standout look didn't help in a market with rapidly declining gas prices. Fortunately, timing of mid-cycle updates provided an opportunity to change that look and introduce AWD. Transforming Prius to deal with market change is confirmation of Toyota seeing and responding. Holding off on full rollout of Prime further confirms recognition of the need to adapt.

Long story short, the answer is "yes".

 

When someone builds an EV that can do what my Prime can do - go 640 miles on a charge, charge almost anywhere in a few minutes, and cost me $23,400 out the door, I'll look into it. Heck, I'd even look into it if the range were only 450 miles, and it could charge almost anywhere in 15 minutes. But nothing is even close yet.

I've already had my Prime in 10 states (Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona and New Mexico), and I've already driven it on four legs no current EV could do at any cost or with any reasonable amount of time inconvenience. And I did it all with no inconvenience at all, and at a very low cost.

What current EV supporters don't realize is that the model 3 is currently popular because there are almost no competitors in the market and that early adopters that want a car like that are willing to pay for it. When those early adopters are saturated, there's almost no market for a low-range ultra-expensive car like that. They're going to have to get better and way, way cheaper. The last two cars I bought were $17,000 and $23,400, and I"m a top 10%'er, easily.

 

I tend to agree with the above but there is more to it.

Tesla is very much an image brand, despite crazy nonsense from the leader it continues to create and maintain an image and a tribal fanboy attitude.

Brands that have a cult following and an image or charisma among a large swath of people remain inspirational making people do things they normally would not, like spend $65000 on a fast economy car with a sometimes questionable fit and finish.

I never expected Tesla to last as long as it has which means it may have become a facit in society.

How long can a brand last on image alone?
No idea but I can think of several examples that are pushing a 100 and their products aren’t all that reliable or economical

 

Shucks that's what I thought normal prices on Hybrid versions. We getting close to needing to update.

I do not know why Toyota is directing shiploads of Prime to the Northeast, but it is reminiscent of 2012 with PiP as you might agree. We do have a lot of CARB states here, so I do not know if there is an incentive due to that. The other thing Northeast is heading for $2 gaso and Cali is punishing gaso with heavy taxes, so I'd be looking for a 50 MPG vehcile there for sure.

The earlier poster seemed to say regular Prii are short supply too in Ca. and RAV4.

 

I ran a check on one of the online car sites and it looks like there are only 112 Prii within 100 miles of Chicago and Prime is rare. No pun intended.

 

Ah, well done!

 

I hate to say it but that is what I've seen ( not only online but from local owners ). It seems to me the 'luxury car' attitude taken to the next level. Maybe when they truly release a 'reasonably priced' vehicle this will change...but until then I doubt it muchly.