Sales in Japan have put Prius No. 3 in world
“Prius escapes niche, jumps to world’s third best-selling car.’’ That headline certainly caught my eye, and immediately brought two reactions:
1. “Where are they selling all those hybrids?’’
2. It reinforced the realization that Prius is to hybrids what the Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager was to minivans and what the original VW Beetle was to economy cars.
Let’s look at Point No. 1 first.
Figures show the Prius wasn’t even in the Top 10 in US sales during the fi rst quarter of 2012, though it did check in at No. 10 through the fi rst four months of 2012 with 86,027 sales to date this year.
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg News, the worldwide top 3 for the fi rst quarter of 2012 were: 1. Toyota Corolla, 300,800 sales; 2. Ford Focus, 277,000; 3. Prius, 247,230.
The reason Prius reached that point is because it sold 175,080 units during the fi rst quarter in Japan, where the Aqua—the new Prius C (for city) in the US—has become the “in’’ car. Helped by hefty rebates and tax savings, Prius sales in Japan have more than tripled over the fi rst quarter of 2011.
However, the rebate portion of those savings is scheduled to run out in July unless the Japanese government decides to extend them. The tax savings continue through 2015, according to Bloomberg News.
That being said, hybrids now represent a legitimate market segment as opposed to a niche.
Automotive News reported in late May that US demand for the Prius is threatening to outstrip manufacturing capacity. In addition, it quoted used-car service NADA as predicting eye-popping one-year residual values for the top three electric/hybrid vehicles: 95 percent for the Nissan Leaf, 90 percent for the Chevrolet Volt, and 88 percent for the Prius.
The Prius C recently failed to get a “recommended’’ rating from Consumer Reports, which cited a harsh ride, noisy engine and cabin, and slow acceleration as negative factors in the rating.
Changes at Chrysler
Chrysler Group plans to drop the Jeep Compass and Chrysler Town & Country minivan for the 2014 model year.
The changes were expected as part of longrange plans that Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has had since taking over.
That means the Dodge Grand Caravan will continue as the group’s minivan representative. Chrysler is expected to get a new crossover vehicle as a replacement.
Meanwhile, the Jeep move will eliminate the overlap between the Compass and Patriot models.
About that Test Drive
The used-car market has been hot over the past year, mainly because of a shortage of good used cars, the direct result of slow new-car sales for the past three years.
Joe Wiesenfelder, executive editor of Cars. com, offers some tips for testing a used vehicle, starting with keeping notes. His suggestions:
1. Check for anything odd that catches your attention: an unusual or bad smell, sound, or sight.
2. Note anything that seems damaged, repaired, or suspicious and refer to it before fi nalizing a deal.
3. Bring along a second person to be an additional set of eyes and ears.
4. Walk away from the deal if you can’t have the vehicle checked by your mechanic.
5. Also walk if you’re not allowed to test drive the vehicle.
6. Make sure the car (or truck) meets your space needs and “fits’’ you as far as visibility, seat position, and visibility in all directions.
A Hard-hat Donation
An example of dealer-community relations is Westboro Toyota’s purchase of 180 new football helmets for the Northboro/Southboro Youth Football Association.
“A helmet is like the seat belt. It’s imperative that we teach our kids from an early age the importance of playing safe and that we make sure they have secure, well-constructed equipment to protect them against potential injuries,’’ says Peter Tonelli of Westboro Toyota. Tonelli, who has a professional car racing background, was motivated by the safety aspect.
“Our old helmets were 10 years old [and] we had to dispose of them. Without the support of Westboro Toyota, we would have struggled to secure new helmets for this upcoming season,’’ says Ray DeSabato, vice president and fundraising co-chairman of the football and cheer association.
The Future?
Volvo recently successfully tested a “train’’ of autonomous vehicles outside of Barcelona, Spain, with a manned lead vehicle followed by a Volvo XC60, S60, V60, and Volvo truck. The 200-kilometer test was called “highly successful’’ by Linda Wahlstrom, project manager at Volvo. The SARTRE project (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) is a European joint venture. The vehicles in the platoon mimicked the lead vehicle, accelerating, braking, and turning using an autonomous control system. The vehicles drove at 85 kilometers per hour (52.8 mph) with a s ix-meter gap between them.
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