[got-rice]

Chart Of The Day: Peak Prius?
By Edward Niedermeyer on July 19, 2010

What’s that? We still haven’t plumbed the depths of our bag-o-automotive-sales-data thoroughly enough to have published annual sales for the Toyota Prius? Well, here it is, my truth-starved friends: ten years of Prius sales, culminating in two consecutive years of falling sales. And granted, most nameplates are down over the last two years because the market has been down for a solid two years now. Also, if you think the downturn is due to gas prices, you’ve got a surprise waiting for you after the jump. So has the Prius lost its luster? Could the most culturally significant passenger car of the last ten years be running out of steam (or whatever it runs on), or is this just a natural drop in demand in line with a weak market?

The Prius was one of the hottest selling cars during Toyota's rise to the top. Now sales seem to be losing steam. It seems that they correlate with gas prices...

 

[Bakemono]

Id say its more a weak market and a bad economy than gas prices. If you look at the charts, Prius sales started to drop off before gas prices peaked.

 

[got-rice]

Id say its more a weak market and a bad economy than gas prices. If you look at the charts, Prius sales started to drop off before gas prices peaked.

People wanted them more when there were more subsidies and tax breaks. There's a lot more competition now then there was in 2004, when the Prius' popularity really took off. In California, people bought the car just so they could get the sticker, but that will go away soon. Still, it is the top selling Hybrid.

 

[84Cressida]

I'm pretty sure Prius sales will rise and fall just as the gas prices do.

 

[rolla-XRS]

There's definitely a correlation between US gas prices and Hybrid sales - particularly when it hit +$3/gallon. And definitely a correlation between economic conditions since the only people buying in the recession where the "my crap Chevy compact died so I bought a cheap Hyundai". Interest in the environment dies when the economy drops.

But as proven time and time again, American's have short memories about the pains of gas price spikes and usually within 6 months of price declines the driver for fuel efficiency changes.

Look at things today - truck segment sales are up massively - and people feel less guilty about their wasteful monster truck purchase (as a 1 person commuter vehicle) because manufacturers make claims their current models are xx% more efficienct than their previous models - which makes me laugh because it's either a) referencing the entry-level 4cyl model that no one will buy; or b) a honking huge engine that's still wasteful with negligible improvements to mileage.

 

[PhatRoyale]

Recent trends within the last 3 years are indicating that more people are finally coming to their senses. :lol:

To me it seemed more like a flavour of the moment type thing. As soon as they feel that they have done their little part to save the world by buying a Prius, they'll just dump them and go back to driving gas guzzling SUV's and sports cars. Gas prices still spiked another dollar in early '08 about a year after Prius sales started decline for over a year. The market just lost interest in the car IMO.

 

[silver04rollas]

It was invevitable. More like a trend and a fad rather than a step forward. People just followed the trend in hollywood when Leonardo Dicaprio, Cameron Diaz etc. were buying hybrids.

New generation and technologically advanced Turbo diesel cars are killing hybrids that give dismal improvement in fuel economy. Apparently, the RX 450h does not give any better gas mileage than an RX350 in the real world. Not many environmentalists ever mention the pollution that is created by the battery manufacturing companies, issue of acid rain etc. All of these are far more detrimental to the environment if compared on the same mass scale as production of oil and gas.

Gas engines today are 95% more efficient and cleaner than they were in 1971. Many of today's supercars emit less pollution than a 1.x liter Yugo back in 1970s. Now that tells how far we have come.