Toyota putting Prius production before all other vehicles

Rybold · Sep 12, 2011

Two weeks after Japanâ€™s March 11 earthquake knocked out more than 650 of Toyota Motor Corp. (7203)â€™s suppliers, halting worldwide production, the automaker had to decide where to focus its resources. It picked the Prius.
â€œWe were rapidly burning through cash,â€ said Atsushi Niimi, head of production, in an interview. â€œWe decided we had to get things going bit by bit to survive through this, so we prioritized the cars our customers wanted most.â€
The carmaker started calling suppliers across the country to find parts for the Prius and luxury-brand Lexus hybrids. By March 28, Toyotaâ€™s Tsutsumi and Kyushu factories were producing the models again at 30 to 40 percent of capacity, Niimi said.
By choosing the Prius ahead of the Corolla and Camry sedans that enabled Toyota to become global No. 1 by 2008, President Akio Toyoda is staking the future of Japan Inc. on hybrid technology as the solution to the nationâ€™s worst disaster since World War II and the companyâ€™s initial indifference to customer complaints that prompted its biggest recall.

Toyodaâ€™s effort to win back market share, which includes three new versions of the Prius, the worldâ€™s top-selling hybrid, and electric or dual-power versions of other models, is as much about the companyâ€™s strategy to regain its lead as it is about the Japanese economyâ€™s failure to return to prosperity after two decades of anemic growth.

â€œBack in the 80s, if someone said Toyota, the first thing that popped in your mind was Corolla,â€ said Jim Lentz, president of Toyotaâ€™s U.S. sales, in an interview. â€œThrough the 90s, it was probably Camry. If you ask someone middle of this decade and beyond, it will be Prius.â€

Toyota is focusing on fuel technology to gain sales in developed markets like North America -- where the company earned about 70 percent of its operating profit last fiscal year --even as the quake dented its efforts to catch up in expanding markets such as China, which overtook the U.S. in 2009 as the worldâ€™s biggest car market and where growth is still dominated by all- gasoline powered vehicles.

â€œPrius is going to be the backbone of our powertrain philosophy going forward,â€ said Toyotaâ€™s U.S. sales chief Lentz. â€œThe vast majority of vehicle sales weâ€™re going to have are going to be hybrids.â€
The new $25,900 Camry Hybridâ€™s 41 miles per gallon average tops the Hyundai Sonata Hybridâ€™s 37 mpg and Ford Fusion Hybridâ€™s 39 mpg, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data.
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Read A LOT MORE, all about Toyota, globally, and with statistics:
Toyota Losing No. 1 Makes Prius Priority- Bloomberg

I have noticed that three Toyota dealers along my commute are now LOADED with Prius inventory, perhaps 50% of their new vehicle inventory.

efusco · Sep 12, 2011

Thanks, interesting

Toyota putting Prius production before all other vehicles

Rybold globally warmed member

efusco Moderator Emeritus
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Toyota putting Prius production before all other vehicles

Rybold globally warmed member

efusco Moderator Emeritus Staff Member

efusco Moderator Emeritus
Staff Member