Toyota reportedly expects 40,000 pre-orders for new Prius
2010 Toyota Prius – Click above for a high-res image gallery
The well-publicized battle for hybrid sales supremacy between Honda and Toyota has taken yet another intriguing turn. According to Japan's Nikkei newspaper, Toyota is saying that it expects to take 40,000 preorders in Japan for its new 2010 Prius hybrid ahead of its official rollout in May. For the sake of comparison, the Japanese automaker sold a total of 73,100 Prius hybrids in all of 2008.
More importantly, rival automaker Honda managed to sell about 18,000 copies of its latest Insight hybrid in its first month on sale. By all accounts, Honda was delighted to move that many Insights – the automaker had predicted that it would only sell about 5,000 units for the first month the hybrid was available in Japan.
A few months ago, Honda made a big splash by pricing the smaller, slightly less fuel efficient Insight a few million yen (or a few thousand dollars) below the starting price of the standard-setting Prius. In response, Toyota announced it would keep the previous generation Prius around for at least another year and dropped that model's price to match the Insight.
But that wasn't enough for Toyota – earlier this month, the automaker set the starting price for the new 2010 model at 2.05 million yen ($20,750), which is just about the same as the mid-level Insight. The next chapter: U.S. pricing for the 2010 Prius has yet to be announced. Let the games continue.
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius - First Drive
[Source: Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sam 4:35PM (4/15/2009)
I'll pay you $100 if you don't ever make another post about a Prius.
Reply
TyWright 4:42PM (4/15/2009)
I'll match that. (in Canadian currency, though)
Noz 4:51PM (4/15/2009)
Wow what a complex.
HotRodzNKustoms 4:58PM (4/15/2009)
I'll math it with 3,745,677,700 Zimbabwe dollars
HotRodzNKustoms 4:59PM (4/15/2009)
*match
I really need to learn to take time to proofread.
Big Rocket 5:02PM (4/15/2009)
@Sam, TyWright: Autoblog is not a newspaper or magazine, in which coverage of one story means less coverage of another story due to limitations in page count. If you don't like Prius stories, Mustang stories, etc, etc, you have every right to skip it and move on.
zamafir 7:01PM (4/15/2009)
at least not using that main pic, god it looks awkward!
BoxerFanatic 9:09PM (4/15/2009)
@zamafir,
The main picture does look awkward, due to the odd headlight shape.
The far side headlight sticks out so far that you can see it across the car, and how it protrudes from the bodywork. It is an odd surfacing technique.
plus the prominent chin underbite look that is prevalent anymore, and the lump-ish profile doesn't help.
Vetmstr 4:36PM (4/15/2009)
te question is are these dealer orders or are these customers with cash in hand orders
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mapoftazifosho 4:55PM (4/15/2009)
Cash is in their hands when the car is in mine. These are serious buyers who have the financial means to purchase or the available financing.
Mazda FTW! 4:39PM (4/15/2009)
Thats all the employees at New York Times.
Reply
TyWright 4:41PM (4/15/2009)
Haha, and cab companies. And Kyle from South Park's parents.
homunculus 8:15PM (4/15/2009)
lol libruls
Taglane 4:47PM (4/15/2009)
...And San Francisco cheers.
Reply
davido 4:54PM (4/15/2009)
I'll match the $100 if AUTOblog never makes another post about trucks or anything built on a truck chassis.
Reply
Mazda FTW! 4:56PM (4/15/2009)
You just ruled out half the Toyotas and 80% of the BMW line-up.
What? Too soon?
Rich 4:56PM (4/15/2009)
That's "shed-on-a-sled" mate.
John 9:02AM (4/16/2009)
I'll give $100 to autoblog to delete all the whiny Truck and SUV haters that post here...
Rich 4:55PM (4/15/2009)
Ahh, this is good. I don't want either of them, but this means there's finally some competition for the demand, which will itself increase demand a little. It also means the technology will become cheaper, which means there will be further R&D into existing technology, resulting in cheaper, lighter, more efficient Li-Ion cells; plus there will be R&D money sunk into newer technologies, for the next generation of hybrids and pure electrics (including plug-ins and H fuel cell).
This is a good thing, you see, because it hastens the end of this stand-in technology, and answers the question, WHYbrid?
Reply
PJ 5:33PM (4/15/2009)
Ding-ding-ding! Finally, somebody gets it.
The whining and macho posturing this car provokes is not only tiresome, but incredibly misplaced. These cars--and the R&D advances and supplier bases they're building up--are the reason you'll be able to drive your $40K, 4-seconds-to-60, zero-emissions sports car after a four-hour plug charge in 20 years.