REPORT: Toyota already has 75,000 orders for 2010 Prius
2010 Toyota Prius: Click above for the high res gallery
Toyota finally has some real hybrid competition with the new Honda Insight, but 2010 Prius orders show that the darling of the green movement is more than game in the battle for hybrid supremacy. The Japanese Nikkei Business Daily reports that Toyota already has 75,000 orders in the books; a number far greater than the 40,000 units the Japanese automaker expected. Toyota has already lowered the price of the Prius to combat the Insight's $19,180 price of entry, and early Insight sales figures show that is likely a wise move. Honda's newest hybrid sold 10,481 units in April, making it the first hybrid to ever top the Japanese sales chart.
The Prius' pre-sale success is a welcome bit of good news for Toyota. The automaker lost $7.7 billion last quarter, and the perennially successful operation expects to lose $8.6 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010. Toyota is also replacing 40% of its executive ranks as company scion Akio Toyoda takes over the company next month. The Prius goes on sale in Japan on May 18.
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius
[Source: Reuters]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
why not the LS2LS7? 12:31PM (5/16/2009)
They never break these down by individual orders versus dealer orders. Does anyone know how to find out if these are orders for customers or just normal orders to stock the channel?
Either way, it seems like quite a lot of orders. Congratulations Toyota.
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A-style 3:41PM (5/16/2009)
Wow over two times as many as the new camaro.
Folksagan 5:48PM (5/16/2009)
It sounds like these are the pre-order numbers for the Japanese market only. Here's the Nikki release-
Nikkei. Pre-orders in Japan for the 2010 Prius have topped 75,000 and are expected to surpass 80,000 by Sunday. The third-generation Prius debuts in Japan on Monday. The pre-release order total is the highest-ever for the auto industry there.
The third-generation Prius starts at 2.05 million yen, making it considerably cheaper than its predecessor. All four of Toyota’s dealership chains will offer the new version, whereas only two carry the current one.
The bullish report reversed a five-day decline in Toyota’s share price.
caddy-v 11:19AM (5/17/2009)
Makes one wonder if they can lower the price this much one may think Toyota just may have been "price gougeing"? Stickin it where the sun don't shine. Ohhh, Owwww what a feeling.
Prius. Because you know down deep there's a little nerd in you.
Quattroporte 12:47PM (5/16/2009)
Are speculators finally moving away from Ferraris?
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why not the LS2LS7? 1:04PM (5/16/2009)
It'd be rather dumb to speculate on this vehicle. Toyota is geared up to produce a lot of them, so there will not be a shortage for very long.
UltimoDragon 12:51PM (5/16/2009)
The Chevy Volt can't get here fast enough. Ford has it's Fusion Hybrid as its salvo into the gas/electric wars, and both Toyota and Honda have just upgraded theirs.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, bailout, dealer shutdowns, shuttering brands, staring down bankruptcy...you aren't dead yet, and you need something more significant than the mild hybrids you've stuck on trucks and SUVs. Come on GM!
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why not the LS2LS7? 12:59PM (5/16/2009)
The SUVs are not just mild hybrids. The large ones are two-mode.
Also note the Honda Insight is a mild hybrid and yet it seems to be poised to be very successful.
JDM Life 1:04PM (5/16/2009)
+1
There all messed up and confused !
Toyota is buliding much better cars and anyone else is not standing still and their just getting more and more behinde the game.....nothing looks good for them right now. Not a damn thing.
tuxchown 3:04PM (5/16/2009)
Toyota can suck it. :-)
JH 6:19PM (5/16/2009)
Unfortunately, given GM's brand problems, I think it's already too late.
In the consumer's eye, the Volt 2 years from now is just going to look like a Prius/Insight clone, only without the 10-year track record of reliability and strong branding of the Prius. Oh, and it's slated to cost $10-20K more.
Even if it's a series hybrid, Volt is still packing a 1.4L engine, which is big enough for a regular family car in Europe! With that, plus the extra battery weight, it's going to be roughly comparable MPG-wise in mixed driving to Prius and Insight, and "real-life" MPG is the big yardstick in this sector, even if GM/Obama get the EPA to put the goosed "pre-charged battery 40-mile test cycle" 100 MPG number on Volt's sticker. True, Volt appeals to the plug-in zealots, but that's a much smaller specialty market than the mass-market car the Prius has become, and there are already Prius plug-in conversions and (in two years) iMiev and other, cheaper competitors in that space.
Now ... that's Volt as a product, Volt as a tech platform is a different story. If GM weathers the storm and Malibu, Cruze and Camaro all sell, while battery prices keep dropping, GM could be in a good spot in 4 years with series hybrids from a Cadillac/Volt variant down to a compact with an actually appropriately small ICE (i.e. < 1L) hybrid that really gets 60-90 MPG. But that's OT, back to Prius.
The Prius is still ugly, but personally I think the new model is a huge improvement, and with the roof hump moved back the profile is a lot nicer, a bit like the Ford Fiesta everyone seems to like. Styling-wise I'd say 2010 Prius > Insight > 2009 Prius.
Road tests seem to mostly be concluding that Prius has a more solid, cocooned cabin, more like a Camry or Lexus where the Honda rides more like a Fit. Personally I prefer the latter, but I would have to think the Prius is more what the typical American sedan buyer wants. That, compared with Prius' huge brand advantage in the U.S., means I think Prius will do *very* well in the U.S. vs. the Insight, compared to the JDM where Insight busted out and scared Toyota. Of course ... Honda will sell a lot of Insights here, too.
All the Prius owners I know are people my parents' (retired) age who have extra cash, like a cushy car with room for 4 and luggage space for road trips, and really like that it is 50-60 MPG, will last 10-20 years like every Toyota, and thereby be about the best car choice environment-wise as well. They're over themselves and don't care that it looks like a bubble, and maybe that even reminds them of a 1960s spaceship. Prius has already created a mass market out of nothing, and they are only going to sell a lot more of these things.
tuxchown 10:53PM (5/16/2009)
"will last 10-20 years like every Toyota...."
You mean like these 3.5 million cars?
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/01/toyota_sludge_settlement.html
tuxchown 10:56PM (5/16/2009)
Or this:
http://www.lemonlawclaims.com/toyota_avalon__problems_lemon.htm
How about these?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=toyota+tundra+problems&btnG=Search
Adis 12:53AM (5/17/2009)
Ok. before posting Toyota issues, post and see how bad it is with other makes.....
enough said.
tuxchown 1:48AM (5/17/2009)
There is no need to post about other makes because nobody will STFU about it while they're praising Toyota and ignoring Toyota's numerous issues. Now, nuff said.
why not the LS2LS7? 3:22AM (5/17/2009)
In hybrid mode, I don't think the Volt will match the Prius on mpg. However, with the plug-in capability added, it could easily exceed the Priug mpg day to day.
Given that the Volt engine can turn on and off as necessary (varying duty cycle), I don't think the high displacement of the motor is an issue. As long as it runs at its most efficient level while it is on and shuts off then the battery is charged, it should be as fuel efficient as a smaller engine would be. It is a bit heavier though.
For example if the engine kicks on when the battery is at 30% and runs 20 mins to charge it to 80%, it will use about as much fuel as if a half-sized engine kicked in at 30% and ran 40 mins to charge it to 80%.
Jrejre 12:55PM (5/16/2009)
Sounds like we need to open an insane asylum. . . with about 75,000 rooms.
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JDM Life 12:57PM (5/16/2009)
Or...we could just open one for you. =P
daniel 1:03PM (5/16/2009)
I have to agree... But Toyota was very clever to make Prius synonymous with hybrid. For my money I'd take a Jetta TDI anyday though. Perhaps not as efficient, but at least it doesn't look like a suppository.
PJ 3:55PM (5/16/2009)
"Sounds like we need to open an insane asylum. . . with about 75,000 rooms."
Oh come now... surely you'd rather have the 4/5ths of our population that doesn't care at all about cars (besides 1. if they're comfortable and 2. what they say about the owner) driving Priuses instead of Tacomas, 4Runners, and Sequoias, as they have for the last decade. They're easy to see over, can go the posted speed through turns, and don't take up two parking spots :-)