Following the launch of the first hybrid car in the country, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) Corp. is now seeking incentives from the government to enable it to cut the price of the environment-friendly vehicle.
TMP president Hiroshi Ito said the Toyota Prius was heavily taxed, so incentives could really help bring down the price from the current P2.2 million.
“We’re still discussing with the government. This vehicle is not under the incentives program. If there are incentives, then the price can go down,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Prius launch Friday evening.
He explained that more than 30 percent of the car’s price, or around P600,000, was composed of three layers of taxes: import duty, excise tax and value-added tax.
But with or without incentives, he said TMP was targeting to sell 100 units of the Prius this year.
So far, 30 units of the Prius were already in-country, he said. TMP had yet to start commercial selling of the hybrid vehicle.
The Toyota Prius runs on either or both gasoline and electricity via the company’s Hybrid Synergy Drive technology.
It has been selling in more than 40 countries worldwide, its biggest markets being the United States and Japan.
This third-generation Prius will be marketed in more than 80 countries worldwide to promote the use of hybrid vehicle technology.
In an earlier interview, TMP vice chair Alfred Ty said that in many of its markets, Prius buyers were treated to a host of incentives, including tax reductions, subsidies and even parking priorities, to stimulate the use of environment-friendly vehicles.
He said TMP could use similar incentives.
Meanwhile, Ito said TMP expected overall vehicle sales for the year to be about the same as in 2008, or 45,915 units.
The company closed 2008 with a market share of 36.9 percent.
As of end-May, TMP continued to hold the top spot in the local auto industry with sales reaching 17,080 units for a 34.9-percent share of the market.
Showing posts with label Toyota Prius Hybrid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toyota Prius Hybrid. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Buy 2010 Prius or 2010 Fusion Hybrid or 2009 Prius?
Question: I have three hybrid cars with commensurate pricing: the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid base, 2010 Toyota Prius base and a loaded 2009 Toyota Prius. The latter seems like the best deal, but now I’m reading of braking and seat problems. Any advice?
Answer:
The 2010 Prius is a significant improvement over the 2009; it benefits from increased gas mileage ratings, a higher quality interior and an MSRP that isn’t significantly higher than the 2009’s. In fact, the entry-level 2009 and 2010 Prius both start at $22,000; the pricing differences come in the higher trim levels.
The current generation Prius has had complaints about the brake-pedal feel associated with its regenerative braking, but it’s a characteristic of the car and not a problem. You’ll be able to judge if it’s a deal-breaker when you test drive one. The same goes for the seating, which Toyota has upgraded for the 2010 Prius.
The 2009 Prius might be more attractive with its current incentive of zero-percent financing for up to 60 months in your area. Between the financing offer and the arrival of the 2010 Prius, you could find a good deal on a new 2009 Prius or even a used 2009 from current owners that are looking to trade-in for the new model. Orders are already being placed for the 2010 models, so it might be a while before you can take delivery of one.
The Fusion Hybrid is a little out of place in this comparison as it starts at $27,270 and is a larger, more traditional sedan compared to the hatchback Prius. The Fusion Hybrid competes with Toyota’s 2010 Camry Hybrid.
+ 2010 Toyota Prius, Would It Be U.S. Top Model?
+ Best Selling Car May 2009 of Japan: 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
+ 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid Tax Credit is Good!
+ 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid Tax Credit Updates
+ 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid Road Test
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
Answer:
The 2010 Prius is a significant improvement over the 2009; it benefits from increased gas mileage ratings, a higher quality interior and an MSRP that isn’t significantly higher than the 2009’s. In fact, the entry-level 2009 and 2010 Prius both start at $22,000; the pricing differences come in the higher trim levels.
The current generation Prius has had complaints about the brake-pedal feel associated with its regenerative braking, but it’s a characteristic of the car and not a problem. You’ll be able to judge if it’s a deal-breaker when you test drive one. The same goes for the seating, which Toyota has upgraded for the 2010 Prius.
The 2009 Prius might be more attractive with its current incentive of zero-percent financing for up to 60 months in your area. Between the financing offer and the arrival of the 2010 Prius, you could find a good deal on a new 2009 Prius or even a used 2009 from current owners that are looking to trade-in for the new model. Orders are already being placed for the 2010 models, so it might be a while before you can take delivery of one.
The Fusion Hybrid is a little out of place in this comparison as it starts at $27,270 and is a larger, more traditional sedan compared to the hatchback Prius. The Fusion Hybrid competes with Toyota’s 2010 Camry Hybrid.
+ 2010 Toyota Prius, Would It Be U.S. Top Model?
+ Best Selling Car May 2009 of Japan: 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
+ 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid Tax Credit is Good!
+ 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid Tax Credit Updates
+ 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid Road Test
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
See Who Buying 2010 Prius
Just find some u.s. guys have bought the 2010 Toyota Prius:
Owner Reviews: My new 2010 Prius:
The new Priuses are in. I got one of the first three that got into this dealer (Marin Toyota). I test drove it. Tons of geek toys. The lane keep assist is a trip (uses a camera to keep you in the lane and wakes you up with an alarm if you go out of bounds).
Owner Reviews: My new 2010 Prius:
The new Priuses are in. I got one of the first three that got into this dealer (Marin Toyota). I test drove it. Tons of geek toys. The lane keep assist is a trip (uses a camera to keep you in the lane and wakes you up with an alarm if you go out of bounds).
Sunday, June 7, 2009
2010 Toyota Prius, Would It Be U.S. Top Model?
Memo to the beleaguered U.S. car industry: As the recession eases, torment from Toyota may increase.
Designers of the Prius, the curiously shaped hybrid that since 1997 has allowed up-to-the-minute Americans to advertise their eco-correctness, are going after the Average Joe.
The third-generation Prius is not just for "some special people," said Wahei Hirai, Toyota's managing officer for design. "This is a mainstream car."
The new model is more powerful than its predecessors, with more headroom, a bigger trunk, better gas mileage and a lower price. It is only now being rolled out in the United States, but judging from exceptionally brisk Japanese sales and effusive early reviews, the car looks like a hit. In May, the Prius was Japan's best-selling car.
To keep up with surging domestic demand, overtime has been brought back at the two plants that assemble the car. Workers have been transferred in from factories around the country. Production has grown to 50,000 cars a month, but customers in Japan must wait three to four months to drive home a new Prius.
The car's sudden popularity comes in a country where the recession has been roughly twice as severe as in the United States and where car sales have been slumping for years. Sales here have been helped by new tax incentives.
Yet, the real test for the new Prius is the United States, where sales of earlier models have historically dwarfed sales in Japan or Europe. As Toyota executives, engineers and designers explained to reporters during a two-day tour here, the world's largest car company has spent 4 1/2 years tweaking the Prius so it can become much more than merely an "eco-icon."
"We are not forsaking the people who want to make an environmental statement," said Paul Nolasco, a Toyota spokesman who helped lead the tour in and around Toyota City. "But the objective of the Prius is to get the family to the mall, not to see how far you can go on so many drops of gas."
The car is hardly a gas hog. It is rated at 50 miles a gallon, 10 miles better than its principal hybrid competition, the Honda Insight. The Insight was the best-selling car in Japan in April, costs less than the Prius and also seems likely to bedevil Detroit's comeback hopes.
A legion of Toyota brass explained during hours of PowerPoint presentations that the new Prius has been designed to elbow its way into the upper ranks of the U.S. passenger car market, where the No. 1 and No. 2 bestselling cars last year were the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
Toyota sold about 437,000 Camrys last year, while sales of the second-generation Prius lagged well behind, at about 159,000. Its buyers were mostly Americans in their 50s and 60s.
But even the new larger Prius faces tough challenges in the United States this year. Gasoline prices are running about $1.50 a gallon lower than last year, making hard-pressed consumers less likely to pay extra for a hybrid. And sales across the industry have been plunging. Prius sales in the United States fell to 10,091 in May, down 30.1 percent from May 2008. For the year to date, sales of the Prius in the United States have skidded to 42,753, down more than 45 percent from the first five months of 2008.
Moreover, Honda has crafted an ad campaign designed to appeal to younger car buyers, an audience Prius has had trouble reaching. The campaign -- whose slogan is "The hybrid for everyone is here" -- features popular music and images young people driving to an outdoor music concert or to the beach.
Prius engineers and designers said that cracking open the family-sedan market in these environmentally stressful times is not yet a job that an all-electric car can handle.
Battery technology has not developed to the point where it can provide most commuters with the range, acceleration and comfort they demand, said Masatami Takimoto, an executive vice president in research and development.
"Fundamental issues are unsolved," he said, noting that Toyoto sees gasoline-electric hybrids like the Prius -- not all-electric, plug-in cars -- as the "core" of its future, at least until there are significant breakthroughs in battery development.
The company, though, is hedging its bet by investing heavily in a joint battery project with Panasonic, and it plans to sell a small all-electric car by 2012.
While Toyota sees the hybrid as its main meal ticket for the medium-term, General Motors is hoping to move beyond hybrid technology with the Volt, which it calls an "extended-range electric vehicle."
Its batteries can take the car 40 miles between charges and a small back-up gasoline engine can take it more than 300 miles. But the estimated cost of the Volt, which GM expects to bring to the market late next year, is about $40,000. The third-generation Prius is selling for between $22,000 and $28,000, depending on options.
In its all-electric mode, the Prius can go 1.2 miles.
Toyoto, in effect, says so what?
Its designers say they have made a gas-sipping, low-emission car that's fun to drive, accommodates large people in the back seat and has room in the trunk for three golf bags.
If the Prius proves as popular in the United States as it seems to be in Japan, Toyota does have a problem, company officials acknowledged. Collapsing U.S. car sales in the past year forced Toyota to put off plans to open a factory in Mississippi that could assemble the Prius.
"Yeah, supply is going to be an issue," said Nolasco, the company spokesman.
Designers of the Prius, the curiously shaped hybrid that since 1997 has allowed up-to-the-minute Americans to advertise their eco-correctness, are going after the Average Joe.
The third-generation Prius is not just for "some special people," said Wahei Hirai, Toyota's managing officer for design. "This is a mainstream car."
The new model is more powerful than its predecessors, with more headroom, a bigger trunk, better gas mileage and a lower price. It is only now being rolled out in the United States, but judging from exceptionally brisk Japanese sales and effusive early reviews, the car looks like a hit. In May, the Prius was Japan's best-selling car.
To keep up with surging domestic demand, overtime has been brought back at the two plants that assemble the car. Workers have been transferred in from factories around the country. Production has grown to 50,000 cars a month, but customers in Japan must wait three to four months to drive home a new Prius.
The car's sudden popularity comes in a country where the recession has been roughly twice as severe as in the United States and where car sales have been slumping for years. Sales here have been helped by new tax incentives.
Yet, the real test for the new Prius is the United States, where sales of earlier models have historically dwarfed sales in Japan or Europe. As Toyota executives, engineers and designers explained to reporters during a two-day tour here, the world's largest car company has spent 4 1/2 years tweaking the Prius so it can become much more than merely an "eco-icon."
"We are not forsaking the people who want to make an environmental statement," said Paul Nolasco, a Toyota spokesman who helped lead the tour in and around Toyota City. "But the objective of the Prius is to get the family to the mall, not to see how far you can go on so many drops of gas."
The car is hardly a gas hog. It is rated at 50 miles a gallon, 10 miles better than its principal hybrid competition, the Honda Insight. The Insight was the best-selling car in Japan in April, costs less than the Prius and also seems likely to bedevil Detroit's comeback hopes.
A legion of Toyota brass explained during hours of PowerPoint presentations that the new Prius has been designed to elbow its way into the upper ranks of the U.S. passenger car market, where the No. 1 and No. 2 bestselling cars last year were the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
Toyota sold about 437,000 Camrys last year, while sales of the second-generation Prius lagged well behind, at about 159,000. Its buyers were mostly Americans in their 50s and 60s.
But even the new larger Prius faces tough challenges in the United States this year. Gasoline prices are running about $1.50 a gallon lower than last year, making hard-pressed consumers less likely to pay extra for a hybrid. And sales across the industry have been plunging. Prius sales in the United States fell to 10,091 in May, down 30.1 percent from May 2008. For the year to date, sales of the Prius in the United States have skidded to 42,753, down more than 45 percent from the first five months of 2008.
Moreover, Honda has crafted an ad campaign designed to appeal to younger car buyers, an audience Prius has had trouble reaching. The campaign -- whose slogan is "The hybrid for everyone is here" -- features popular music and images young people driving to an outdoor music concert or to the beach.
Prius engineers and designers said that cracking open the family-sedan market in these environmentally stressful times is not yet a job that an all-electric car can handle.
Battery technology has not developed to the point where it can provide most commuters with the range, acceleration and comfort they demand, said Masatami Takimoto, an executive vice president in research and development.
"Fundamental issues are unsolved," he said, noting that Toyoto sees gasoline-electric hybrids like the Prius -- not all-electric, plug-in cars -- as the "core" of its future, at least until there are significant breakthroughs in battery development.
The company, though, is hedging its bet by investing heavily in a joint battery project with Panasonic, and it plans to sell a small all-electric car by 2012.
While Toyota sees the hybrid as its main meal ticket for the medium-term, General Motors is hoping to move beyond hybrid technology with the Volt, which it calls an "extended-range electric vehicle."
Its batteries can take the car 40 miles between charges and a small back-up gasoline engine can take it more than 300 miles. But the estimated cost of the Volt, which GM expects to bring to the market late next year, is about $40,000. The third-generation Prius is selling for between $22,000 and $28,000, depending on options.
In its all-electric mode, the Prius can go 1.2 miles.
Toyoto, in effect, says so what?
Its designers say they have made a gas-sipping, low-emission car that's fun to drive, accommodates large people in the back seat and has room in the trunk for three golf bags.
If the Prius proves as popular in the United States as it seems to be in Japan, Toyota does have a problem, company officials acknowledged. Collapsing U.S. car sales in the past year forced Toyota to put off plans to open a factory in Mississippi that could assemble the Prius.
"Yeah, supply is going to be an issue," said Nolasco, the company spokesman.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Best Selling Car May 2009 of Japan: 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
Toyota Motor Corp's Prius hybrid was Japan's best-selling car in May, a dealers' group said on Thursday, attesting to robust demand for low-emission cars helped by government incentives amid flagging auto sales.
Competition is also heating up between automakers as the Prius, of which a new model hit the market last month, grabbed the top slot for the first time after Honda Motor Co's new Insight became the first hybrid to head the best-seller list in Japan in April.
"I think a green car tax break and other incentives helped the sales performance (of the Prius) quite a bit," Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer for the new Prius, told reporters in Toyota City, home to the automaker.
The third-generation model Prius, which went on sale on May 18, was priced about $3,000 less than the previous version and there were more than 80,000 advance orders for it.
Toyota said on its web site that factory shipment would be mid-November or later for orders made after May 31.
"The Popularity of hybrid cars will undoubtedly continue as their prices have come down to affordable levels and will be more so in coming models," said Kazutaka Oshima, CEO of Rakuten Investment Management. "In addition, oil prices have been rising again lately," he said.
A ranking of Japan's top 30 excluding 660cc minivehicles by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association showed the Prius selling 10,915 cars in May, followed by Honda's Fit compact with sales of 8,859 cars. The Insight was in third place with 8,183 cars.
Gas-sipping hybrid cars have become a rare bright spot in an industry hit hard by recession, and Toyota and Honda are locked in a fierce battle in the category.
But some analysts have pointed to a growing challenge for Toyota to strike a balance with sales of gasoline cars, which have higher profit margins.
+ 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid Tax Credit is Good!
+ 2010 Prius Hybrid Sales is a Bright Spot in Gloomy Market
+ Prius vs. Insight: Better and Wores
The 2010 Hybrid line-up has a great outlook and some meaningful gas savings for consumers.
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
Competition is also heating up between automakers as the Prius, of which a new model hit the market last month, grabbed the top slot for the first time after Honda Motor Co's new Insight became the first hybrid to head the best-seller list in Japan in April.
"I think a green car tax break and other incentives helped the sales performance (of the Prius) quite a bit," Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer for the new Prius, told reporters in Toyota City, home to the automaker.
The third-generation model Prius, which went on sale on May 18, was priced about $3,000 less than the previous version and there were more than 80,000 advance orders for it.
Toyota said on its web site that factory shipment would be mid-November or later for orders made after May 31.
"The Popularity of hybrid cars will undoubtedly continue as their prices have come down to affordable levels and will be more so in coming models," said Kazutaka Oshima, CEO of Rakuten Investment Management. "In addition, oil prices have been rising again lately," he said.
A ranking of Japan's top 30 excluding 660cc minivehicles by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association showed the Prius selling 10,915 cars in May, followed by Honda's Fit compact with sales of 8,859 cars. The Insight was in third place with 8,183 cars.
Gas-sipping hybrid cars have become a rare bright spot in an industry hit hard by recession, and Toyota and Honda are locked in a fierce battle in the category.
But some analysts have pointed to a growing challenge for Toyota to strike a balance with sales of gasoline cars, which have higher profit margins.
+ 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid Tax Credit is Good!
+ 2010 Prius Hybrid Sales is a Bright Spot in Gloomy Market
+ Prius vs. Insight: Better and Wores
The 2010 Hybrid line-up has a great outlook and some meaningful gas savings for consumers.
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
Toyota to Lease Greener Plug-in Hybrids by end of 2009
Toyota said Wednesday it will start leasing plug-in hybrid cars, which are even greener than its hit Prius, by the end of this year in the United States, Japan and Europe.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top automaker, will start leasing 200 plug-ins in Japan, 150 in the United States and 150 in Europe, mostly for rental, such as through special government-backed programs, it said in a news release.
Toyota will for the first time use lithium-ion batteries in the plug-ins.
The batteries are already used in some cars but more common in laptop computers and other gadgets.
Toyota hybrids now use nickel-metal hydride batteries. Using a lithium-ion battery will produce more energy, allowing the car to run more as an electric vehicle, but there have been some technological hurdles.
A plug-in recharges from a regular household socket. When the battery runs low, it will start running as a regular hybrid so drivers don't have to worry about running out of juice on the road.
Automakers around the world are working on plug-in models. Recharging stations are expected to proliferate in the cities of the future, much like gasoline stations, for recharging.
The booming sales of the revamped Prius, which went on sale last month, have been a rare bright spot for Toyota.
Battered by the global slump and the strong yen, the maker of the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models recorded its worst loss in its seven-decade history for the fiscal year ended March.
Toyota dealers have received 110,000 orders for the Prius in Japan.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world's top automaker, will start leasing 200 plug-ins in Japan, 150 in the United States and 150 in Europe, mostly for rental, such as through special government-backed programs, it said in a news release.
Toyota will for the first time use lithium-ion batteries in the plug-ins.
The batteries are already used in some cars but more common in laptop computers and other gadgets.
Toyota hybrids now use nickel-metal hydride batteries. Using a lithium-ion battery will produce more energy, allowing the car to run more as an electric vehicle, but there have been some technological hurdles.
A plug-in recharges from a regular household socket. When the battery runs low, it will start running as a regular hybrid so drivers don't have to worry about running out of juice on the road.
Automakers around the world are working on plug-in models. Recharging stations are expected to proliferate in the cities of the future, much like gasoline stations, for recharging.
The booming sales of the revamped Prius, which went on sale last month, have been a rare bright spot for Toyota.
Battered by the global slump and the strong yen, the maker of the Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models recorded its worst loss in its seven-decade history for the fiscal year ended March.
Toyota dealers have received 110,000 orders for the Prius in Japan.
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