Re: Toyota ECHO

Ray O wrote:
[color=blue]
> Echos did not account for a large portion of Toyota's sales, so dealers
> don't want to stock them. If dealers don't want to stock them, then the
> folks who sell the cars to the dealers end up spending a disproportionate
> amount of time trying to get dealer to buy something they don't want.[/color]

That is really a pity, because "us poor folks" can't afford
the pricier cars that these dealers want to sell. Methinks
what is actually happening is gentrification of the region.
Everywhere I look nowadays I need Lexuses, Audis, etc.

I also noticed that Honda has dropped their cheap hatchback,
at least in this region.

I think I'll just wait for the Smart car. At least that's a company
that cares about customers' needs.

"Bush is a Fascist" <z333r@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1125527872.819457.221380@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>
> Ray O wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Echos did not account for a large portion of Toyota's sales, so dealers
>> don't want to stock them. If dealers don't want to stock them, then the
>> folks who sell the cars to the dealers end up spending a disproportionate
>> amount of time trying to get dealer to buy something they don't want.[/color]
>
> That is really a pity, because "us poor folks" can't afford
> the pricier cars that these dealers want to sell. Methinks
> what is actually happening is gentrification of the region.
> Everywhere I look nowadays I need Lexuses, Audis, etc.[/color]

There is still a healthy demand for very small gas sippers, as evidenced by
brisk sales of the Aveo. In order for consumers to want small cars, the
cars need to outstanding class gas milage, interior space, or style.
Unfortunately, the Echo's style did not appeal to a big enough group of
consumers to warrant continued efforts for Toyota to sell. I think Scion
sales also robbed some Echo sales.

I read somewhere that Toyota will begin to sell the Vitz in the U.S., and
discontinuance of Echo sales is probably a precursor to Vitz sales.
[color=blue]
>
> I also noticed that Honda has dropped their cheap hatchback,
> at least in this region.
>
> I think I'll just wait for the Smart car. At least that's a company
> that cares about customers' needs.[/color]
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply[color=blue]
>[/color]

Ray O wrote:
[color=blue]
> There is still a healthy demand for very small gas sippers, as evidenced by
> brisk sales of the Aveo. In order for consumers to want small cars, the
> cars need to outstanding class gas milage, interior space, or style.
> Unfortunately, the Echo's style did not appeal to a big enough group of
> consumers to warrant continued efforts for Toyota to sell. I think Scion
> sales also robbed some Echo sales.
>[/color]
Too bad the Aveo is a gas guzzler in its class. EPA rated it as 27/35 with
a 5-speed manual. Even the larger Corolla gets better mileage than
that--with an automatic.

The Echo actually sold well here in Canada, where gas costs a lot more than
in the U.S. even after you do imperial-to-metric and currency conversions.

[color=blue]
> I read somewhere that Toyota will begin to sell the Vitz in the U.S., and
> discontinuance of Echo sales is probably a precursor to Vitz sales.[/color]

Would this be similar to the Yaris that Toyota is bringing to Canada?

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:30:37 -0400, High Tech Misfit wrote:
[color=blue]
> Ray O wrote:
>[color=green]
>> There is still a healthy demand for very small gas sippers, as evidenced by
>> brisk sales of the Aveo. In order for consumers to want small cars, the
>> cars need to outstanding class gas milage, interior space, or style.
>> Unfortunately, the Echo's style did not appeal to a big enough group of
>> consumers to warrant continued efforts for Toyota to sell. I think Scion
>> sales also robbed some Echo sales.
>>[/color]
> Too bad the Aveo is a gas guzzler in its class. EPA rated it as 27/35 with
> a 5-speed manual. Even the larger Corolla gets better mileage than
> that--with an automatic.
>
> The Echo actually sold well here in Canada, where gas costs a lot more than
> in the U.S. even after you do imperial-to-metric and currency conversions.
>
>[color=green]
>> I read somewhere that Toyota will begin to sell the Vitz in the U.S., and
>> discontinuance of Echo sales is probably a precursor to Vitz sales.[/color]
>
> Would this be similar to the Yaris that Toyota is bringing to Canada?[/color]


I'll go with a Vitz! There are a lot of tuner parts available in Asia for
the Vitz. It's like the Starlet Glanza that's sold in a lot of other
countries, particularly Oz and NZ. There's a whole Boy Racer culture built
around the car.

"High Tech Misfit" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:1pqh7c4s8sgqq$.dlg@hightech.misfit...[color=blue]
> Ray O wrote:
>[color=green]
>> There is still a healthy demand for very small gas sippers, as evidenced
>> by
>> brisk sales of the Aveo. In order for consumers to want small cars, the
>> cars need to outstanding class gas milage, interior space, or style.
>> Unfortunately, the Echo's style did not appeal to a big enough group of
>> consumers to warrant continued efforts for Toyota to sell. I think Scion
>> sales also robbed some Echo sales.
>>[/color]
> Too bad the Aveo is a gas guzzler in its class. EPA rated it as 27/35
> with
> a 5-speed manual. Even the larger Corolla gets better mileage than
> that--with an automatic.[/color]

That's what I mean about style being a major factor in a young person's
buying decision.
[color=blue]
>
> The Echo actually sold well here in Canada, where gas costs a lot more
> than
> in the U.S. even after you do imperial-to-metric and currency conversions.
>
>[color=green]
>> I read somewhere that Toyota will begin to sell the Vitz in the U.S., and
>> discontinuance of Echo sales is probably a precursor to Vitz sales.[/color]
>
> Would this be similar to the Yaris that Toyota is bringing to Canada?[/color]

toyota.com has a picture of the 2007 Yaris to be sold in the U.S. Toyota's
Japanese web site has a picture of the Vitz: [url]http://toyota.jp/vitz/[/url]. Looks
they're the same vehicle with a different badge.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

Ray O wrote:
[color=blue]
> Unfortunately, the Echo's style did not appeal to a big enough group of
> consumers to warrant continued efforts for Toyota to sell.[/color]

I have to admit, Toyota did slightly "feminize" the Echo's look after
the first year or so. That was dumb of them. Of course, this is my
subjective interpretation but I'm not the first to say it.
[color=blue]
> I read somewhere that Toyota will begin to sell the Vitz in the U.S., and
> discontinuance of Echo sales is probably a precursor to Vitz sales.[/color]

If so, that would be excellent. It gets 25.5 km/L which I calculate as
about 60 mpg.

Link for the curious:
[url]http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/environmental_rep/03/kaihatu02.html[/url]

In article <1125579952.653222.237550@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"Bush is a Fascist" <z333r@yahoo.com> wrote:

[color=blue]
> If so, that would be excellent. It gets 25.5 km/L which I calculate as
> about 60 mpg.[/color]

Well my my aren't we getting smart here, "25.5 km/l which i calcullate
as about 60 mpg" what kind of calculator did you use.

rocky wrote:
[color=blue][color=green]
>> If so, that would be excellent. It gets 25.5 km/L which I calculate as
>> about 60 mpg.[/color]
>
> Well my my aren't we getting smart here, "25.5 km/l which i calcullate
> as about 60 mpg" what kind of calculator did you use.[/color]

The above conversion is correct, and yes, those are U.S. gallons. The
question is, how did he arrive at 25.5km/L in the first place?

High Tech Misfit <me@privacy.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>rocky wrote:
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> If so, that would be excellent. It gets 25.5 km/L which I calculate as
>>> about 60 mpg.[/color]
>>
>> Well my my aren't we getting smart here, "25.5 km/l which i calcullate
>> as about 60 mpg" what kind of calculator did you use.[/color]
>
>The above conversion is correct, and yes, those are U.S. gallons. The
>question is, how did he arrive at 25.5km/L in the first place?[/color]

Not hard to do in most of the world where the service station
pumps are graduated in litres and car speedo/odo are in Km's

Sure as hell beats that stupid "litres per hundred kilometer"
crap.
--

-Gord.
(use gordon in email)

Gord Beaman wrote:
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>>> If so, that would be excellent. It gets 25.5 km/L which I calculate as
>>>> about 60 mpg.
>>>
>>> Well my my aren't we getting smart here, "25.5 km/l which i calcullate
>>> as about 60 mpg" what kind of calculator did you use.[/color]
>>
>>The above conversion is correct, and yes, those are U.S. gallons. The
>>question is, how did he arrive at 25.5km/L in the first place?[/color]
>
> Not hard to do in most of the world where the service station
> pumps are graduated in litres and car speedo/odo are in Km's
>[/color]
After looking back at the preceding posts in this thread, I realize that I
was in error. I had thought he was talking about the Echo, when in fact he
was referring to the Japanese Vitz. I was skeptical that an Echo could
achieve 60mpg (50mpg is realistic, though), but the Vitz' 25.5km/L (60mpg)
claim came from the Toyota Japan website.

[color=blue]
> Sure as hell beats that stupid "litres per hundred kilometer"
> crap.[/color]

No argument here. Even though I am in Canada, I always convert to miles per
gallon anyway. :-)

High Tech Misfit <me@privacy.net> wrote in
news:1qk7yhr6lkdbs.dlg@hightech.misfit:
[color=blue]
> Gord Beaman wrote:
>[/color]
[color=blue]
>
>[color=green]
>> Sure as hell beats that stupid "litres per hundred kilometer"
>> crap.[/color][/color]


Don't you know it.

[color=blue]
>
> No argument here. Even though I am in Canada, I always convert to
> miles per gallon anyway. :-)
>[/color]


Me too. And I use US gallons in my calculations, since about 90% of my
discussion of such matters is with Americans anyway.

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
[url]www.tegger.com/hondafaq/[/url]

"TeGGeR®" <tegger@tegger.c0m> wrote:
[color=blue]
>High Tech Misfit <me@privacy.net> wrote in
>news:1qk7yhr6lkdbs.dlg@hightech.misfit:
>[color=green]
>> Gord Beaman wrote:
>>[/color]
>[color=green]
>>
>>[color=darkred]
>>> Sure as hell beats that stupid "litres per hundred kilometer"
>>> crap.[/color][/color]
>
>
>Don't you know it.
>
>[color=green]
>>
>> No argument here. Even though I am in Canada, I always convert to
>> miles per gallon anyway. :-)
>>[/color]
>
>
>Me too. And I use US gallons in my calculations, since about 90% of my
>discussion of such matters is with Americans anyway.[/color]

Yes, I do too, I'm kinda old to 'think' in metric, although I'm
pretty well converted to the metric temperature scale...it makes
more sense to me than Fahrenheit, Water freezes at 0, boils at
100, 25C is a nice day etc..
--

-Gord.
(use gordon in email)