Toyota reported earnings - PRIUS Sales skyrocketed!

12,555 Priuses were sold. 1,880 Insights were sold. That's 6.7: 1 ratio.

Prius outsold Fit, S2000, Insight, Element and Ridgeline combined!

Prius outsold Odyssey.

Prius outsold the entire Acura brand!

 

With Gas on the rise again, they will see bigger numbers for May also.

 

I know I just bought a 2008 on Friday.

 

<AHEM>April 2009 was a dismal month for USA Prius sales. The last of the NHW20s (aka., 2009) were on the lot and everyone knew the 2010 was about to hit the streets:

Using the 'way-back machine:'

Don't get me wrong, 12,555 Prius in the USA are excellent numbers. But I suspect our friends in Japan saw nearly twice that many. The rest are going to our Canadian cousins and other international markets.

What I'm looking forward is to hearing monthly Prius production has doubled to 100,000 per month from the ~50,000 per month now. Those kind of numbers would put a chill in Wolfsburg, Stuttgart . . . and few others.

Bob Wilson

 

Couple ways I look at things ...

'2nd Gen' Prius sold in huge numbers. '3rd Gen' Prius is flat out a notably better car.

'nother way to look at things...

Joe wants a

* 4 door car, must have hatchback O. K.
* Nothin' huge, no CUV, SUV, must average 25 MPG's
* Not too expensive, $25k give or take please.


What's out there?

VW Golf - kinda fits the bill, short cargo length, not a good reliability reputation, did you know the base Golf has no center console or armrests? L A M E

Jetta Sportwagen - warmed over station wagon, blech

Toyota Matrix - better be under 6ft. to drive this one ... cramped

Subaru Impreza - could they have mounted the rearview mirror lower? It's almost down to the dash

Outback - maybe, but the fuel economy is suffering

Kia Spectra? eeek. Rondo - oooogley

Mazda3 - Warning, better be under 6' for sure to live with this car.

Scion xB - maybe if you like a box

Honda Fit - anyone over 6ft. need not apply

2010 Toyota Prius - we have a winner tall folks up to 6'3" ish come on over, this one was made for you too.

 

Them hybrid things will never be any good. They are just a fad and Toyota lose money on every one they sell.

 

Does this mean that it's time for Prius manufacturing to start up here in the U.S. ? That would be WAY cool.

.

 

After the first round of incentives ended at the end of April, Toyota has, at least for the Prius, pushed the cost up a bit, but not so much as to put people off. The first round offered a Gen II for $199/mo with $1999 cash for a three-year lease. Now it's $219, still with $1999 cash, which equates to 2.9% vs 1.8% before.

For purchase, there's a $750 rebate. I don't see any low interest rate, but hope I'm just not seeing it.

So, it looks to me as though Toyota will still put number of cars sold over profit per unit.

 

Rebates are paying off.

 

I would rank these cars from top pick to bottom:

Outback - Symmetrical AWD and also 24mpg combined (29 hwy). Top notch AWD with respectable fuel economy and decent interior.
VW Golf - Fit and finish, great looks
Mazda3 - Handling
Subaru Impreza - Smaller than the Outback, but still same great AWD
2010 Toyota Prius
Honda Fit
Jetta Sportwagen
Scion xB
Toyota Matrix

But.. honestly these cars are all over the spectrum. Different sizes and different classes. What's best for Stan Smith may be different from what Joe Black wants.

 

p.s. I'm pretty sure the Honda S2K has not been in production for a while.