The Gauntlet is Down: Toyota Drops Prius Price in Japan to Match Honda Insight

[msirach]

2010 Honda Insight II vs. 2010 Toyota Prius III.

Scott Evans - Motor Trend - April 2, 2009

If Toyota brings the same deal to America, what will Honda's next move be? -- Ed.

When Honda re-launched the Insight last year, it decided to hit the Toyota Prius in the one place where it could do the most damage -- price. Not willing to take that lying down, Toyota has hit back by dropping the price of its all-new 2010 Prius to match the Insight.

Last week, reports emerged suggesting Toyota was working to drop the price of the new, third-generation Prius to better combat the bargain-priced Insight. Toyota had originally planned to raise the price of the new Prius, but after hearing that the Insight had outsold the Prius in Japan in the month of February and that Honda had signed-up twice as many orders as it was expecting, Toyota changed its mind.

Toyota told its Japanese dealers last week that it would cut the base price of the new Prius to $20,750 in Japan, just barely above the mid-range Insight's $20,470 price and effectively negating its biggest advantage. While U.S. pricing for the new 2010 Prius hasn't been announced yet, it is expected to follow the same aggressive strategy... [Read More]

[chibougamoo]

Wow! (What else can you say?)

That's going to be a game changer for new cars AND used Prius prices, too, making them more affordable than ever.

Can Honda afford NOT to respond, and try to slash prices even more? And if you DON'T have to buy "right now", could there be even better buys, just around the corner?

What an exciting time to be in the wings, ready to buy a new/newer-used hybrid.

[psyshack]

If you want a utterly boring cookie cutter car look out Yota and Hondo have the market cornered. The real fun will start when the coupes and roadsters show up. Then we might see real transmissions, brakes, sway bars, tires that have some grip and better mpg. Not to mention better emissions.

Not everybody wants a 5 door ugly fest for a daily driver or needs one. Even if the greenies and dumbocrats think we need them. And are lining there ducks up to tax folks into them. Watching a old chevy rust is more entertaining than driving the current hybrid offerings in the US market.

[GreenVTEC]

Instant torque sports cars

[Vooch]

Psyshack,


A car is an appliance, nothing more. The differences between different cars are trivial these days. Quality, Performance, styling, and safety all fall within a rather narrow band - compared to a generation ago.

A generation ago the range of quality was simply huge. It made a difference whether you drove a Bentley or a Dodge Dart. These days, I see Bentleys all the time (I live in Manhattan). Today's Bentley looks like a well cared for Chevy Malibu. It is difficult to tell the difference. Sure the Bentley has more gadgets and is bigger - but that is about where the difference ends.



In addition, Madison avenue spent a fortune convincing people to waste their money on their vehicle, because it gave them status. Those days are over.

[ksstathead]

I'd be very excited, nay giddy, to obtain one these boring cars in a price war.

[bullwinkle428]

WOW! I wonder what this is going to do for the price of the Prius II, which according to reports, will still be sold alongside the new Prius III. I don't think anyone will be able to use the "hybrids are WAY too expensive" line anymore, assuming they're in a financial position to purchase a new vehicle.

[Earthling]

Originally Posted by psyshack

If you want a utterly boring cookie cutter car look out Yota and Hondo have the market cornered.

Sounds like you need a Dodge Ram Daytona pickup truck.

Not everybody wants a 5 door ugly fest for a daily driver or needs one.

Your Prius-bashing grows tiresome. Some of us actually think the Prius is a nice-looking car.

Harry

[deezle]

It does make sense that prices are falling on these state-of-the-art vehicles (same for the dinosaurs ---- but for very different reasons).
1. Raw materials costs are falling as resource prices drop.
2. Economies of scale (higher production numbers) bring down costs per unit.
3. Labor costs are falling as available labor increases.
4. Energy costs of production and getting the product to market have fallen.
5. More competition among producers and fewer consumers able to buy.
The big winners will be those able to purchase a new car that will have low operating and depreciation costs.
The big losers will be those who think that fire-sale fuel-sucking pigs are a good bargain now that gas prices have fallen (very temporarily).

[Indigo]

Buy a Cadilac Escalade Hybrid then. It's a *paltry* $90k, so you might as well buy two. And it gets 20 MPG, so it beats an Abrams M1 *battle tank* for fuel economy.

Originally Posted by psyshack

If you want a utterly boring cookie cutter car look out Yota and Hondo have the market cornered. The real fun will start when the coupes and roadsters show up. Then we might see real transmissions, brakes, sway bars, tires that have some grip and better mpg. Not to mention better emissions.

Not everybody wants a 5 door ugly fest for a daily driver or needs one. Even if the greenies and dumbocrats think we need them. And are lining there ducks up to tax folks into them. Watching a old chevy rust is more entertaining than driving the current hybrid offerings in the US market.