Toyota considering battery production in Europe

The cost of building the car in Japan and shipping it here is much higher than it would be to simply build it here. Building the cars here also shortens lead time and inventory. From the time toyota made the decision to cancel US prius production, dollar denominated costs in Japan have gone up a great deal. Toyota is now talking about building the gen IV here, but they may cancel those plans again.

 

In effect, all Toyota cars built in Japan could be considered "loss leaders." I assume the same is true for Scion and Lexus. I just enjoy the irony that the Prius skeptics were proven right but for the wrong reason . . . dollar-vs-yen value. <GRINS>

Bob Wilson

 

I think you are seeing a point, that I am not trying to make.

I don't have any idea if the prius is sold here at a loss. Both Toyota and Honda lose money on exports from Japan to the US. This is not being a loss leader, it is taking a loss to keep the home factories running and not lose market share. Losing money for a number of years for a foreign manufacturer is considered dumping, but this is rarely enforced. The way to avoid dumping is by building production in the same place as sales. Honda is taking the action of moving fit production to north america. Prius would be less expensive for toyota if produced here, and before toyota goes chasing some low possibility of European sales, it should invest where it can make cars profitably.

Toyota's goal is 400K hybrids per year starting in 2015 in North America. That is large volume to invest in profitable north american production. I have no idea what toyota's europe hybrid goals are but any battery production there is just a teeny blip compared to the real markets.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120910/OEM01/309109959/as-japan-ends-sales-subsidies-exports-to-u-s-could-surge

As to those that thought the prius lost money initially, they were right. But this is true of all inovative concepts. The first generation lost money, but it became profitable in the second generation.