Toyota Books 180,000 Prius Orders Month After Debut

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Toyota has slashed production costs for the new Prius by 30 percent, short of its 50 percent cost reduction goal.

Makiko Kitamura and Tetsuya Komatsu - BLOOMBERG - June 19, 2009

2010 Toyota Prius inspected as it is coming off the production line.
AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi

A fantastic vehicle with tremenous value for the price (at least here in the US). Imagine the reduction in fuel use if a large population adopts it? -- Ed.

Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest automaker, said it booked 180,000 domestic orders for the new Prius gasoline-electric hybrid within a month of the car’s debut.

The company had set a sales target of 10,000 units a month in Japan, it said in a statement today. The tally includes 80,000 orders placed before the car went on sale on May 18.

The third-generation Prius was Japan’s bestselling car last month, surpassing Honda Motor Co.’s Insight. Hybrid sales have surged on the introduction of new models and government purchase incentives aimed at stemming a 19 percent plunge in domestic vehicle sales last month.

“Demand has shifted from Insight to Prius,” said Yoshiaki Kawano,　an analyst at auto consulting company CSM Worldwide in Tokyo. “The tax incentives are definitely boosting purchases.”

Customers placing orders for a Prius as of today face a seven-month wait before taking delivery, Paul Nolasco, a spokesman for the Toyota City, Japan-based company said today.

Toyota has transferred about 1,000 workers to its Tsutsumi factory in Aichi prefecture from other factories and implemented overtime shifts in April to meet demand for the Prius. It will build... [Read More]

[Gordon]

Gee, thats alright that! Hitting your yearly sales target within a month!

7 month wait?! Oy ve.. Oh well, lets me save up more for the deposit

[xcel]

Hi Sean:

___I have the feeling this one is going to be one of those special vehicles that not only hit the ground running in Japan and the US but everywhere else too. Given the Prius-III is not even on the lots in many US locations and the sales numbers are this wildly out of control overseas, it will be very interesting to see the sales figures in two months. I bet they will be severely constrained due to supply

___Imagine when the Yaris w/ HSD-III hits our shores at $16 to $17K or thereabouts. It will be absolute pandemonium at the Toyota dealerships!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[bnther]

Toyota slashed their production costs by 30%

Wouldn't you just love to see an American car company be able to do that.

[JusBringIt]

Way to go Toyota!! I guess it's called moral and ethical customer service. Knowing your customers wants and needs and meeting them.

How many volts are on order??

GM...this could have been you...

[drimportracing]

Originally Posted by bnther

Toyota slashed their production costs by 30%

Wouldn't you just love to see an American car company be able to do that.

Chrysler is doing it........of course they are only producing the Viper. - Dale

[bnther]

Originally Posted by drimportracing

Chrysler is doing it........of course they are only producing the Viper. - Dale

LMAO

Thank you. I needed that laugh today.

[Gordon]

Yeah I honestly don't know what the hell Chrystler is thinking by doing that. Them, and GM need all new models to be honest. Everyone should be replaced there, including the engineers.

Two best American car companies right now are Ford and Tesla Motors. They've grasped the future and know how to make it happen. Whereas GM and Chrysler are stuck in a 20th century "OIL IS KING" mentality...

[xcel]

Hi Gordon:

___You hit the nail on the head with Ford and they are working their tails off trying to get out of relying on the P/Us and SUVs to carry them.

___Regarding Tesla... They have their eye on the target but I believe their implementation is quite crude with respect to an OEM. We saw this at EV Innovations as well. I cannot find the pics but at one of the Autoshows I took some interior shots and there are few that would say the interior is anything as good as an inexpensive subcompact.

___The issues they had with the two-speed transmission early on was a PR nightmare and using off the shelf Li-Ion’s based on Cobalt chemistry and the need for the SS water jacket in case they go thermal. Inexpensive, available by the hundreds of thousands at a time with nothing more than a phone call and excellent energy density but it is not a sustainable Li-Ion pack imho.

___As the BEV manufacturers develop, these oversights will be taken care of in short order I am sure.

___Good Luck

___Wayne