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Hybrid Vehicles Does the current situation affect hybrid sales more?
108 messages, Last post on May 20, 2009 at 1:35 PM
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 04, 2008 7:39 am) Lots of stuff. You get what you pay for. A $12K car is a $12K car, and a $26K car is a $26K car. Never the twain shall meet.
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 04, 2008 7:39 am) Well, by the time you equip a Yaris nicely, that $12K car is more like a $16K car. And it's easy to get a Corolla up over $20K these days. The Prius, even in base form, is pretty well-equipped, so once you factor in the added content that narrows the gap. Then consider the fact that the Prius, despite its awkward proportions and small-ish dimensions, actually is a midsized car. It doesn't have the shoulder room that your typical intermediate would, so forget about squeezing three across in back and having them comfortable. But for four good-sized people, it's probably about as comfortable inside as most intermediate cars, and better than the Corolla or Yaris. And the Prius's trunk volume, at 16 cubic feet, is actually generous for a midsize car these days. Some of them are only 13-14! As for fuel economy, a Prius and Yaris might be close out on the highway, but in local driving, I'm sure the Prius would win out by a fairly wide margin. So yeah, it comes at a price premium. But the Prius also gives you more standard equipment and more interior room, in addition to the improved economy.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Dec 04, 2008 8:11 am) I would say hybrids have peaked and are headed down hill. Nothing from GM is worth buying. Ford Escape is a decent over priced hybrid.
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 04, 2008 8:22 am) Wishful thinking, Oh Great Diesel Sniffer. (LOL) Hybrid sales are not directly linked to lower gas prices. Hybrids were selling just fine with low gas prices three years ago. What has changed is "the ECONOMY, stupids." (Stupids with an "S" on the end to include all of us, myself included.) Not just hybrids, but ALL vehicle sales are basically on the downturn. People are just not buying new cars when their homes are in foreclosure or they just got laid off or are worrying about keeping groceries on the table and a roof over their kids heads. The downturn in sales will happen to the Jetta TDI also, once all the initial Diesel Worshippers get their cars. |
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I don't think VW has shipped a lot of tdi cars over from the motherland this year. I have yet to see a new golf/jetta tdi on the road and I live in the birkenstock central of the eastern seaboard. One thing the yaris can do and the prius can't: heel and toe shifting! And for that I will take a yaris 5 dr over a prius any given day. Car sat a prius for 3 months and hated every minute when I have to drive it. |
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Replying to: larsb (Dec 04, 2008 7:55 am)
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Ready to buy a 2009 Prius Pkg. # 6. Got a price in So. Cal. of $27,900. Anybody do better? If so, dealer?
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 04, 2008 7:39 am) As regards the currency issue here is the data. See for yourself. A $25000 Prius MSRP is shipped from Japan and sold to TMS here for about $20000 ( round numbers ). When that sale was made over the last 5 yrs with the Y/$ at about 110-120 : 1. That sale in the US returned about 2.3 MM JY to Toyota in sales revenue. Today at 94 JY / US$ that same sale returns 1.9 MM JY. That's about a 20% loss in sales revenue. Why ship these to the States when they can be sold at home or in Europe or SE Asia with no currency loss?
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 04, 2008 8:22 am) Under no circumstance will I ever consider owning/driving a Yaris given my personal situation. Thus in this case it is not even an option. The new Corolla, with certain amenities, is as small as I will go. If I want to hold down purchase costs to be in the Yaris price range than I'm looking at a 3-4 year old Prius with 40000 miles or so on the clock. In this case I get the best of all options. The problem is finding one now. After getting 48 mpg in relative comfort these past 3 yrs there is no way I can go backwards in room, amenities, safety features and fuel economy. |
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Replying to: joshuag (Dec 04, 2008 4:55 pm) Are you speaking of buying only NEW vehicles? Then yes the base model Elantra is a bargain and a logical choice. Personally I will not drive in anything that small. Just a personal choice. But if your priority is minimizing the total cost of transportation then you have to open up the possibility of buying a used (xxx) ( Civic, Corolla, Prius, Elantra, Fusion ). Then it's just a matter of how cheap do you want to go? The baseline choice is a bicycle. Why not in good weather for short distances. I do that here on the Outer Banks in summer. |
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