Toyota to cut Prius production by 10 percent

[Right Lane Cruiser]

“The outlook for Prius demand is uncertain."

Robert Lea - TIMESONLINE - March 15, 2010

Can this be anything but a temporary setback? --Ed.

A worldwide fall in sales of the Toyota Prius has prompted a significant cut in production of the best-selling green car by the Japanese motor giant.

Uncertainty over future Toyota sales after a global recall of 8.5 million Toyotas including nearly 450,000 Prius hybrid models over braking defects, appears to be to blame.

Reports out of Tokyo indicate Toyota is to cut production of the Japan-made hybrid by 10 per cent. Since the third-generation, electric-petrol Prius was launched last May, output had been ramped up to 50,000 vehicles a month. That, said reports, is to be pared back to around 45,000 per month.

The production cut follows an estimated 40 per cent fall in sales of the Prius in the US - its most important market - since their peak last October.

The sales fall and production cut follow the multiple recalls issued by Toyota since the end of last autumn.

The Prius recall was issued after it was found that the brakes may fail to work when cars move between electric to petrol power and especially in bumpy or icy conditions.

Nearly 9,000 Prius cars in the UK were affected. Since then there have been claims that Prius vehicles have suffered from the runaway accelerator problem of sticking throttle pedals responsible for the... [Read More]

[chibougamoo]

" The previous Prius model is also the subject of recall in the US for the risk of floormats trapping drivers' feet under their accelerator pedals."

Gee, maybe there should be a warning sticker on the Prius --- "Anyone with size 12 feet should not apply".

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Uh oh... I've got 13s.

[MikeD]

And yet, I just saw a report saying Toyota was at least considering opening the plant in Tennessee. Right now, they are under pressure to open because of politics, rather than demand. Also, the demand in Japan is still so high and unless there's a ton of cancellations, every Prius they build has been pre-sold for months.

[Butterfly Mage]

I'm sure the 10% unemployment rate in this country probably has something to do with flagging Prius sales. It's not exactly an el-cheapo econobox.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

They could mean:

"Right now we're taking a hit on PR so are struggling to sell them at the usual level of profit. The economy may or may not be picking up so let's cut back on production to help maintain margin and avoid overselling before gas prices pick up and more people beat a path to our door."

[msirach]

I'm not sure if it's related to the media hit or not. A friend with a motorcycle dealership said that new sales are nearly non existent. Parts sales and service are through the roof though. People are not buying new units yet.

[xcel]

Hi Mike:

___The motorcycle market through February was abysmal with sales off something like 40% compared to an already floundering 09. The new car market is still more than 30% off its 06/07 pace which is one heck of a lot of cars and trucks not being built.

___Regarding the Prius, whenever they go on sale as somebody reported today, buy them because the sale or deal will be short lived with future fuel cost price spikes…

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[ALS]

Hi Wayne,
I agree, plus with the lowered production and sales also means less 2010's will come onto the use car market in future years. That of course will mean higher resale values since less units will be available in the used car market.