x2


my 89 fiesta is still kicking

↓↑report

agreed, for all the talk of how much it looks like a prius, it certainly looks a lot better in person. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that it's smaller, and cheaper as well.

↓↑report

Well it's the shape that is very Prius-like... and as they said, there are only so many aerodynamic designs.

But it's amazing what a different front end can do for the look of a car.

↓↑report

Well the old Prius is dead, let's compare this Honda to the New Prius. I believe beginning today Toyota will launch its ad blitz for the new Prius.

Also for the ultimate PR, in CA and few other states, Toyota will outfit few bus waiting stations with solar panels, which in turn will power fans on the station cooling people waiting for the bus. And the writing in the station will explain that this is exactly how the new Priuses solar roof works, using suns energy for cooling of the vehicle.

Hope the link works and you can read a little and see the video

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124199018707904593.html#articleTabs%3Dvideo

warning, if you hate the environment the video is not for you, you WILL be offended.

↓↑report

The bus stop stunt is a bad idea. You can't get enough power from solar panels on a bus stop to make a difference in the temperature in a bus stop.

On the Prius also, the value of the fans isn't that they can make it pleasant inside, it is that they keep heat from building up due to the greenhouse effect of the glass. So when you get in your car it is only 10 degrees hotter than ambient in there instead of 30.

I also find it odd Toyota is going to roll out a marketing blitz for a feature that was available in 2000 in my Audi A6.

http://www.cars.com/go/crp/research.jsp?makeid=4&modelid=22&year=2000§ion=reviews

(search for solar sunroof)

↓↑report

I think toyota rolling out the blitz is like hyundai when the elantra gt came with leather and a sunroof, sort of the 'me-too' customers who don't care what brand it is they just want the features kind of advertisement. Plus, I'm betting the vast majority of Americans have never heard of the option even though it's been one on the A6 for 9 years and the A8 longer than that.

↓↑report

when can GM and ford got sth like this?

↓↑report

Hey, at least they`re only receiving subsidies rather than "emergency funds for drastic company restructuring to ensure viability".

↓↑report

I Misread your post, I thought you were giving Honda flack because its government has reportedly provided funding for hybrid development. I took it as Japanese hate, something that a LOT of posters participate in. So, I apologize.

↓↑report

@ronEbear

Nonsense, the Japanese companies got their bailout as well, in the form of devalued currency. 6 months ago, when the Japanese auto companies asked for a weaker yen, the yen:dollar exhange was 88 yen for 1 dollar, now the exchange is 98 yen for 1 dollar, look here:

http://www.google.com/finance?q=USDJPY

this means that the yen lost 12% in 6 months. Let's take a look at one company too seen the impact of this measure. Toyota exports about $100 billions in cars from Japanese plants in an year, so in last 6 months they have received about $3 billion from currency devaluation, and if the current exchange rate is maintained they will receive another $5 billion - therefore a total for this year of $8 billion.

Considering that all Japanese auto companies received money this way, the Japanese bailout is actually more expensive than the US one. And this practice repeats quite often in Japan, whereas in US only Chrysler has received a bailout before.

↓↑report

@ Dondonel

Well if that is the case US companies have had the devalued dollar for a few years agains Euro and from the looks of will have the same for another 10 years.

Weak currency is not always good, because when country imports a lot, like Japan who has no natural resourses, they end up paying thru the nose.

↓↑report

Wow, '8 billion'. Chrysler alone got at least 15 + Billion, your banks 1000 + Billion.

↓↑report

No need to equivocate. Toyota applied for a $2B bailout loan from the Japanese government in March.

↓↑report

Seaurchin aka brainwave.

The devalued yen is applicable due to them exporting parts and cars, which the domestics tend not to do... brainwave.

↓↑report

@Sea Urchin
US car companies do not export cars produced in US in any significant numbers.
A devalued US dollar worked against US based companies because they had to import raw materials at higher prices.

↓↑report

@Dondonel, are you sure about the currency thing?

Let's take a look at the currency value over a longer time period.

The Yen may have devalued slightly in the past 6 months, but if you rewind that currency chart even further, you'd see the Yen trading at 98 to a dollar still gives the yen an extremely high value when compared to just two years ago (say, 2006-2007), or even back to 2003-2004, when the yen traded at well over 120 yen to a dollar. Throughout the past 10-15 years, you've been able to get many more yen for your dollar than you can now -- this is hurting the bottom line in all of Japan's export industries, which is seen as pretty bad, as exports are the backbone of the Japanese economy. So as long as the yen is ~100 yen/dollar or less, it's been a real hurt to all of Japan's export industries. The 88 yen/dollar rate you referenced was the lowest yen value per dollar since the currency has been traded. I would hardly call 98 yen/dollar the equivalent of a bailout.

But back to the Insight, of course the Insight would outsell the Prius in Japan, as the Prius is already considered too big to be a midsized vehicle in virtually every market outside the US, let alone in Japan, where kei cars rule in the cities.

↓↑report

@James

It is not normal that in a time of great financial distress in US, the dollar to climb faster than the yen. It is true that when the markets crush the currency can increase in value, but the relative increase between the currencies cannot be greater in the country the most affected affected by the crisis, namely the US. Be realistic about it, the Japanese auto makers asked for devalued currency in November and got it a month later. Juggling with the currency is common practice in Asia, but I don't see many embracing this kind of bailout here in US.

↓↑report

@Dondonel,

Okay, time for a longer response...

First, the country hardest hit by the financial crisis? Well, according to The Economist, that's arguably Japan, not the U.S. Japan's economy has actually netted almost 0 growth in the past 16 years from the current economic situation, and its industrial production (not just the auto industry) has fallen by almost 40%.

While that's certainly debatable, you are correct that the yen had been appreciating quite rapidly. This is widely attributed to the "yen carry trade," in which currency traders who had generally taken advantage of the yen's low interest rates by borrowing against the yen for higher yield foreign assets, but this started to change as the crisis hit hard and the "yen carry trade" started to unwind over the past year. The Bank of Japan did decide to cut its interest rates to stabilize the currency markets at the end of 2008, but to say that Japan did this to appease the auto industry as a form of "bailout" is a harsh oversimplification of the economic situation, and currency values are not solely based on the U.S. financial and economic situation. The yen's appreciation at the end of 2008 was being attributed to the entire economy, including the Nikkei stock market, and overall GDP growth, as Japan's economy is hugely based on exports, and devaluing the currency was merely good economic policy, especially given that its interest rates are already rock bottom.

Sorry if I'm rambling, but I just disagree with your statements! Adjusting currency markets is not a bailout! Nothing personal.

↓↑report