Toyota raises prices on 2012 Prius by between $480 and $1,045

They definitively want a price spread. I almost think they did not put the 1.8L liter into the prius c, because higher performance and mpg and lower price might not fit a Toyota marketing plan. There are some cheap parts in the gen III that seem out of place, and it may have been that they were building to a price point or to save weight. I do not know. But competition from the camry hybrid and its competors - fussion and sonata - will keep somewhat of a lid on prius prices as they rise. The genIII really adjusted for inflation has grown and gotten better but not had the price rise versus the GenI. This is partially because costs have fallen with volume.

I borrowed an old camry for a little while when I totalled my last car. It was smaller than the prius, but had some better materials inside.

I don't don't remember that, but today's corolla is huge compared to the first one I bought used in college. They sold the tercel back them dirt cheap, and it looked it.

 

Good point.
It will be interesting to see how much of a market overlap and competition there is between the Prius and the Fusion and Sonata hybrids. For some buyers, there's competition. For others, that don't like the looks of the Prius but like the Sonata, there is no competition. There are some people that only want the best mpg, and Prius will be their choice with no competition. There is some market overlap and there are many people that don't see it as the same market. Like the two circles of the mastercard logo - what do they call those charts?

 

IMHO its the prius c/aqua that will take these mpg and low cost hybrid portion of the market. That leaves the prius liftback to float up, but here it will compete with these other cars. Some want a liftback so you can set up your venn diagram with the c and regular prius overlapping mainly but c extending more for mpg and low cost. There are want a trunk, want better seats that will move people to that other class (this is why my brother bought a '08 tch in '07. The gen IV can add better seats, more acceleration, and better materials to grab some of these customers with the prius c staying at best mpg.

 

I don't think they should raise the base liftback price much, because the 'c' is a subcompact car (157" long, that is 3" longer than a Yaris 5 door!) in no way a 'replacement' for liftback Prius, and liftback Prius is the same length as much cheaper..

Corolla, Civic, Elantra, Cruze, Matrix, and so on, and will often be shopped against those cheaper options.

2012 Prius Two is already going to be $24,960 sticker w/ mats. That's high enough!!

(edit - however, I recall the 2008 Prius pack2 was about $24.5k sticker, so maybe '12 Two is coming up where it ought to be, I do not know)

Customers get a whiff of $25k sticker and the size of Prius, and say 'for that'?? Average Joe and Janes don't care about environment, they care mostly about size and price.

Yesterday, saw a couple come in with a Honda Pilot. Husband ogling the Prius v, wife talked him out of it, next thing they're looking at Sienna minivans, likely for 'just a little bit more money'.

Vehicle size and price - biggest criteria for average buyers.

 

That's what they need to do in 3 1/2 years, refine, refine.

btw, Yaris is all new for 2012. Nice looking pair of new front seats in that (saw the S model which is about $20k as I recall. Everything's going up.

 

imho, for me price would be going down, as I couldnt imagine getting new Toyota without new multimedia interface .

but you know, with Yaris now mostly selling at 19k-20k (check dealer stock), this is basically nothing.

 

isnt Camry Hybrid cheaper than both Fusion and Sonata? So an Toyota buyer would pick between Prius and Camry hybrid. Price difference is $1.5k.

 

Yep. Between the PiP and the Leaf, I'd buy the Pip made in the USA in a heartbeat over the Leaf, despite its drawbacks. Conversly, the Leaf made in Tennessee is more appealing over the import PiP. I wonder if the Manufacturers account for those sentiments.

.

 

Except you need to take a years depreciation (~3k) into this. The 2012 is a much better bargain. In effect, Toyota has lowered prices on the Prius, for it now includes some very useful options

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/99827-prius-price-increase-coming.html

I posted this in November. Glad to see my calculations were a bit high, but not by much...