European Prius info

Hi all,

a few comments from Germany. I am Italian but live in Munich since 10 years.

First of all - all prices seen for EU include some kind of VAT and not additional fees to get the car on the road - i.e. shipping.
In Germany the VAT is 19% and shipping is about 500€, registration via dealer and related license plate another 100€.

The prices in Italy are "distorted" by the Eco-Incentive - the state gives you 3.5k€ if you buy an eco-friendly car like the Prius - an additional 1.5k€ if you give in a 10 years, or older, car. Similar offers available likely in other EU countries. The VAT in Italy is 20%.

So VAT needs to be deduced to make a comparison to the US prices which are shown on Toyota's website without any sales tax.
Moreover, the base model typically has more standard equipment than the base US version. One small item for all, in Germany fog lights are standard. LED headlights are not standard and are not available as an option. They are available only on the most expensive "Executive" trim, whose base price is 28250€.

In Germany there are no incentives whatsoever if you buy eco-friendly, unless you gave back a car that is more than 9 years old. I say "gave back" because this was in place until last week, to my knowledge. You would get 2.5k€. Now you are out of luck.

So if you take the base model of the Prius and take out 19% VAT, the base model in Germany would cost

24950*0,81=20209€+500€ (shipping)+registration 100€=20809€

In $ means at today's exchange rate of 1.43 is 29800$ - yes, the Prius is damn cheap in the US. ALL cars are CHEAP in the US - end of story.
BTW: You should check the prices of BMWs in EU compared to the US.....that's a real scandal!

The price of the Prius in EU is not so far away than the average, considering the base offering and the technology that no one else is offering.

Regarding Germany (specifically in Munich!) and the Prius. In Munich I have seen so far no Gen 3 and I can count the Gen 2 on the fingers of my hand. I was recently in Cologne, and I saw NO Prius at all.

In Germany, and Munich especially, people tend to buy German - in Munich, a very rich town, there are a lot of BMWs, Audis, Mercedes and VW (but not the cheap ones...). You do see many Opels and Fords, quite a few French and Italian cars (especially the smaller, cheaper and more fuel friendly versions). Yes, you do see a couple of US cars here and there. Key is - to look good and fashionable - convertibles here are very common. There are also, for sure, many cost conscious drivers, who don't have (that much) money or cannot have a company car, and therefore cheaper and less flashy cars can be seen. This is more the case outside of Munich - any other big town in Germany will display a trend towards cheaper cars (ie. far less BMWs, Audis and Mercedes; more Opel, Ford, VW)

Diesel is pretty popular and as I read in a previous post, many EU diesels offer a lot of HPs and consume very little (in comparison to their power) out of town. In town, all cars behave equal (except the Prius! ) and consume a "lot". The only way to consume less is to buy a Smart Cdi (diesel) or something similar, a car with start/stop (ie. newer BMW with Efficient Dynamics) - or a Prius, that is.

The Prius has also a design that is not well accepted (honestly speaking the Gen 2 was a punch in the face), Gen 3 might have more success as it has a more aggressive style and the new 17" alloy wheels do look good.

A lot of people here are not, IMHO, cost conscious and drive to show off, especially on the weekend. They can also use public transport during the week to go to work - so the car is more a status symbol than considered a commodity to "survive". (In Italy for example it is a commodity to survive because public transport is often terrible, AND a status symbol/fashionable item to show off, even with a small car).

Moreover, many big cars you see during the week here are company cars, which means people are not really dishing out 30-40-50k€ for them...fuel included. So it "easier" to drive "fancy" and looking good with a car that is not yours...

Diesels do consume less, but the difference in price per liter vs. gas is getting smaller. Currently 1L diesel is 1.10€ and gas is 1.40€ (yes, in the US gas is DAMN cheap!). Diesel was also more expensive than gas about 1 year ago and it is expected to be steadily higher than gas in the next couple of years (mainly due to higher demand and lower production in EU - EU exports gas, but imports diesel).

Another point is that Diesel is considered in Germany more "un-healthy" (due to gas exhaust particulate) but the reality, IMHO, is that the state wants to compensate for the lost earnings from diesel at the pump (the same is in Italy; taxes on the 1L of fuel are typically 60-70% of overall price), so the yearly tax is 10x that of a gas car. With the new CO2 related taxation, the Prius will pay 36€/year, my Polo - with CO2 of 121.5g/km (not bad at all for a 7 year old engine design!!!), will still pay 231€ (and this is because I installed a particle filter; therefore I get a tax break of about 100€/year).

The Prius in the EU, IMHO, and more particularly so in Germany, is not considered a cool car, considered underpowered and not fun to drive, for old people/retired, and simply, not German - it is also considered "big" especially for towns (but it is not problem in Munich), etc.

I believe that the new Gen3 has a bigger chance for success, also because its price is not that more expensive than a comparably equipped Golf or BMW 1 (BTW - Automatic A/C is never standard on German cars sold in Germany, not even on a 30k€ BMW 3!!!!; Japanese manufacturers are the only ones that offer it standard). And Toyota quality is likely superior...

The more aggressive and appealing styling and the amazing fuel consumption in the cities will be also a key factor. Another thing is that highways in Germany and elsewhere in EU are getting more and more clogged and all the HPs in the planet will not help you getting anywhere any sooner.

Sorry for the long post!

 

Finnish Prius info

Hi everybody, I thought I'd chime in with the information about packages and pricing in Finland.
Make sure you are sitting down before continuing: :faint:

Base 305880 €
- audio with 6 speakers
- HUD
- 1-door SKS

Sol 34199 €
- rain sensor
- 17" wheels (if no solar roof)
- Cruise Control
- leather steering wheel
- front sill lights
- audio system with 8 speakers
- Bluetooth hands-free
- 3-door SKS
Premium 38404 €
- LED headlights
- water-repellant windows
- light sensor
- NAV with HDD and Bluetooth
- IPA and backup camera
- leather seats

Sol has everything Base has and Premium has everything Sol has.

Solar roof and remote A/C are available with Sol And Premium packages.

Intelligent CC, pre-crash system and leather are available with Premium package only.

 

Dutch car sales for August:

Prius is de the most sold car in the Netherlands! 1364 Prius' were sold. Total carsales in august are 28.000 cars(-25% compared to august 2008!). Second is the Toyota Aygo, 3rd is the Ford Fiesta, 4th is the Ford Focus, 5th is the VW Golf.

The Prius is very popular as a company leasecar because of the big tax advantages. In the Netherlands you have to pay incometaxes when using a company car as a private car. When you have a car whit low emissions (< 110 grams CO2 per km) the taxes are lower. This means driving a Prius is about 100-200 euro's cheaper per month, compared to driving a similar priced car like the VW Golf or Ford Focus! That's why the Prius is so popular in the Netherlands.

 

You can clearly see the effects of the tax advantages. There are a lot of hybrids in the Netherlands. These new rules were introduced in 2008 and since then the Dutch hybrid market has exploded, I was told Honda Netherlands had to buy Civic Hybrids in Germany, Sweden and France to be able to get enough cars for the Dutch market.

You can see the same thing happening whit the Prius, the only downside is that you won't stand out because you drive a Prius! Well, at least I'll have a lot of people to talk about how great our Prii really are!

Ps. Changed my profile, saw you updated it whit the Dutch modellines! Thanks!

 

This is my first post after reading these forums for months (since the first info about 2010 became available).
I live in Belgium and will probably soon place an order for a Solar Premium (this is the top model in Belgium, with solar roof and all the high tech goodies).

Last year a new law was introduced that changed the taxing system for company cars to a system based on CO2 exhaust levels. Companies can deduct their car expenses for a higher percentage if the car emits less CO2 (introducing CO2 level in accounting!).

CO2- diesel CO2 benzine Deducation rate%
< 105 g < 120 g 90 %
between 105 and 115 g between 120 and 130 g 80 %
between 115 and 145 g between 130 and 160 g 75 %
between 145 and 175 g between 160 and 190 g 70 %
> 175 g > 190 g 60 %

As a small business owner I find it financially very attractive to buy a Prius, but I'm probably an exception because I've seen very few Prius cars on the roads in Belgium (and to be honest, most of them were actually Dutch cars (see post above)). For the price of a fully equiped Prius, I can buy a BMW 3 series with 4 wheels and no other options.

For private persons a different CO2 discount is used: every car up to 105g/km CO2 get a governement rebate of 15%.