xcel
09-06-2006, 03:06 AM
"Our Priuses don't last 24 hours." (http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/09/03/f1.bz.hybrids.0903.p1.php?section=business)
Tim Christie - The Register-Guard - Sept. 3, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/toyota_prius.jpg
Prius’ are a scarce commodity on the dealership showrooms nowadays.
The cost of buying Toyota and Lexus hybrids is about to go up.
Dealers aren't changing the prices, but a federal tax credit is about to be phased out for the Prius and other Toyota-made hybrids, which means buyers of those popular vehicles no longer can shave up to $3,150 off their tax bills. Tax credits for other makes, meanwhile, remain intact for now.
But demand for hybrids is so high, the disappearing tax credit is unlikely to slow sales by much if at all, experts say.
"I think it will have a fairly minor effect on demand," said Gabriel Shenhar, senior auto test engineer for Consumer Reports magazine.
The bigger problem confronting dealers is just getting their hands on enough Priuses, Honda Civics, Ford Escapes and other cars powered by gasoline-electric drivetrains to meet the burgeoning demand. Selling them is the easy part.
Consumers can expect to put down a deposit and wait a month or more for delivery for the Prius and Civic hybrids, which get about 50 mpg. If a Prius or Civic that is not already spoken for does land on a dealer's lot, it doesn't stay there long, dealers say.
"I don't have any (Civic Hybrids) - and I haven't really had any," said Charles Freeman, general manager of Kendall Honda in Eugene. "There aren't enough Civics, period, and there are even fewer Civic Hybrids."
"Our Priuses don't last 24 hours," said Rick Brown, a salesman at Coos Bay Toyota. "It's an instant sell."
The new Camry Hybrid is even harder to get because it's new and Toyota is not building them as fast as the Prius, he said.
Brown, for one, isn't worried about the disappearing tax credit for Toyotas. He said the only effect might be that people don't order quite as many options on their hybrids.
As hybrid cars and trucks have gained ground in the marketplace in recent years, consumers have had to pay a premium for the right to drive a vehicle with great gas mileage. But the sting of paying thousands more for a gasoline-electric powered car has been eased by state and federal tax credits.
Federal tax credits are based on a model's fuel efficiency and its tailpipe emissions. The amount ranges from $3,150 for a Prius to $250 for Chevrolet and GMC pickups. In addition, the state of Oregon offers a tax credit of $1,500 to buyers of eight hybrid vehicles.
Under federal tax law, the hybrid credit will start to phase out once sales exceed 60,000 for a single manufacturer on vehicles purchased after Jan. 1, 2006.
And nobody sells more hybrids than Toyota.
From January to July, American consumers had purchased 59,270 Priuses, 20,893 Toyota Highlanders, 12,413 Lexus RX400s, 12,409 Camry Hybrids and 823 Lexus GS450s, for a total of 105,808 Toyota-made hybrids, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank.
Sales of Honda hybrids, meanwhile, reached 22,757 from January to July: 18,428 Civics, 3,749 Accords and 580 Insights, according to Ward's.
With Toyota hitting the 60,000 threshold in the second quarter, consumers who buy a Toyota or Lexus hybrid before the end of September will get 100 percent of the tax credit. Hybrids sold in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 will be eligible for 50 percent of the original credit.
Buyers who get a hybrid in the second or third quarter of 2007 will get a 25 percent credit, and the credit would go away for vehicles purchased after Sept. 30, 2007.
Overall, sales of hybrids increased 27 percent from the first six months of 2005 to the first six months of 2006, from 112,016 to 142,620.
As a percentage of all cars sold, though, - about 17 million a year, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association - hybrids remain a distinct minority.
Paul Taylor, NADA's chief economist, said hybrids represent an evolving technology that is still catching on in the marketplace.
"Some of the demand is among early adopters of technology and some of the demand is among people who want to be seen driving politically correct vehicles, and a lot of the sales are to consumers who want to do the right thing and conserve energy," he said.
Whether it pays to buy a hybrid is another question. Consumer Reports concluded that in most cases, it does not.
The magazine calculated that if you keep your Civic or Prius hybrid for five years, you would recover the premium paid over a similar model with a standard drivetrain. But for other hybrid models, owners won't recover the premium, which runs about $4,000 or more.
And hybrid owners who keep their vehicles for a long time may be confronted with a costly repair bill: Replacing the battery pack, which Consumer Reports estimates will cost $3,000 or more.
Manufacturers say the batteries have a life of 150,000 to 180,000 miles, and most will cover the hybrid parts, including the battery, under warranty for eight years or 80,000 miles.
But Shenhar, the magazine's senior auto test engineer, said, "There's a lot more to hybrids than saving money."
Just as some people are willing to pay more for performance or for luxury in a car, some people are willing to pay a little more for a car that burns less gas and emits less pollution, he said.
The hybrid technology allows motorists to drive a reasonably sized vehicle with acceptable levels of performance and amenities and still get better fuel economy than with other small cars such as a Toyota Yaris or Hyundai Accent, he said.
"Just like you might be willing to pay for luxury or acceleration or quietness in another car," he said, "you might be willing to pay for great gas mileage."
Tim Christie - The Register-Guard - Sept. 3, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/toyota_prius.jpg
Prius’ are a scarce commodity on the dealership showrooms nowadays.
The cost of buying Toyota and Lexus hybrids is about to go up.
Dealers aren't changing the prices, but a federal tax credit is about to be phased out for the Prius and other Toyota-made hybrids, which means buyers of those popular vehicles no longer can shave up to $3,150 off their tax bills. Tax credits for other makes, meanwhile, remain intact for now.
But demand for hybrids is so high, the disappearing tax credit is unlikely to slow sales by much if at all, experts say.
"I think it will have a fairly minor effect on demand," said Gabriel Shenhar, senior auto test engineer for Consumer Reports magazine.
The bigger problem confronting dealers is just getting their hands on enough Priuses, Honda Civics, Ford Escapes and other cars powered by gasoline-electric drivetrains to meet the burgeoning demand. Selling them is the easy part.
Consumers can expect to put down a deposit and wait a month or more for delivery for the Prius and Civic hybrids, which get about 50 mpg. If a Prius or Civic that is not already spoken for does land on a dealer's lot, it doesn't stay there long, dealers say.
"I don't have any (Civic Hybrids) - and I haven't really had any," said Charles Freeman, general manager of Kendall Honda in Eugene. "There aren't enough Civics, period, and there are even fewer Civic Hybrids."
"Our Priuses don't last 24 hours," said Rick Brown, a salesman at Coos Bay Toyota. "It's an instant sell."
The new Camry Hybrid is even harder to get because it's new and Toyota is not building them as fast as the Prius, he said.
Brown, for one, isn't worried about the disappearing tax credit for Toyotas. He said the only effect might be that people don't order quite as many options on their hybrids.
As hybrid cars and trucks have gained ground in the marketplace in recent years, consumers have had to pay a premium for the right to drive a vehicle with great gas mileage. But the sting of paying thousands more for a gasoline-electric powered car has been eased by state and federal tax credits.
Federal tax credits are based on a model's fuel efficiency and its tailpipe emissions. The amount ranges from $3,150 for a Prius to $250 for Chevrolet and GMC pickups. In addition, the state of Oregon offers a tax credit of $1,500 to buyers of eight hybrid vehicles.
Under federal tax law, the hybrid credit will start to phase out once sales exceed 60,000 for a single manufacturer on vehicles purchased after Jan. 1, 2006.
And nobody sells more hybrids than Toyota.
From January to July, American consumers had purchased 59,270 Priuses, 20,893 Toyota Highlanders, 12,413 Lexus RX400s, 12,409 Camry Hybrids and 823 Lexus GS450s, for a total of 105,808 Toyota-made hybrids, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank.
Sales of Honda hybrids, meanwhile, reached 22,757 from January to July: 18,428 Civics, 3,749 Accords and 580 Insights, according to Ward's.
With Toyota hitting the 60,000 threshold in the second quarter, consumers who buy a Toyota or Lexus hybrid before the end of September will get 100 percent of the tax credit. Hybrids sold in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 will be eligible for 50 percent of the original credit.
Buyers who get a hybrid in the second or third quarter of 2007 will get a 25 percent credit, and the credit would go away for vehicles purchased after Sept. 30, 2007.
Overall, sales of hybrids increased 27 percent from the first six months of 2005 to the first six months of 2006, from 112,016 to 142,620.
As a percentage of all cars sold, though, - about 17 million a year, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association - hybrids remain a distinct minority.
Paul Taylor, NADA's chief economist, said hybrids represent an evolving technology that is still catching on in the marketplace.
"Some of the demand is among early adopters of technology and some of the demand is among people who want to be seen driving politically correct vehicles, and a lot of the sales are to consumers who want to do the right thing and conserve energy," he said.
Whether it pays to buy a hybrid is another question. Consumer Reports concluded that in most cases, it does not.
The magazine calculated that if you keep your Civic or Prius hybrid for five years, you would recover the premium paid over a similar model with a standard drivetrain. But for other hybrid models, owners won't recover the premium, which runs about $4,000 or more.
And hybrid owners who keep their vehicles for a long time may be confronted with a costly repair bill: Replacing the battery pack, which Consumer Reports estimates will cost $3,000 or more.
Manufacturers say the batteries have a life of 150,000 to 180,000 miles, and most will cover the hybrid parts, including the battery, under warranty for eight years or 80,000 miles.
But Shenhar, the magazine's senior auto test engineer, said, "There's a lot more to hybrids than saving money."
Just as some people are willing to pay more for performance or for luxury in a car, some people are willing to pay a little more for a car that burns less gas and emits less pollution, he said.
The hybrid technology allows motorists to drive a reasonably sized vehicle with acceptable levels of performance and amenities and still get better fuel economy than with other small cars such as a Toyota Yaris or Hyundai Accent, he said.
"Just like you might be willing to pay for luxury or acceleration or quietness in another car," he said, "you might be willing to pay for great gas mileage."