Toyota: there is "no way" we can sell more Priuses than last year
Toyota says hybrid sales will be lower in 2008 than 2007, not because people don't want them, but because Toyota simply can't make any more. Bob Carter, general manager of Toyota Division, told Ad Age, that Toyota sold 181,000 Priuses in 2007 and that's simply the best they can do right now: "We can't repeat that [181,000 Prius sold in a year], no way, even though the demand may be there. We just can't keep up. So you will see much more moderate growth because of the supply," Carter said.Carter then added something ominous: "We are very committed to hybrids but it's not our position that hybrid is the solution to the future." He continues with, "We're looking at high-efficiency gasoline, clean diesel, fuel cells and the plug-in hybrid" which is a little more comforting. Toyota has said battery production is a hurdle for the introduction of plug-in cars. Batteries may be keeping more hybrids from reaching customers as well. Carter (and Toyota's Jaycie Chitwood) described Toyota's plans in great depth with ABG recently.
So, Toyota, the #1 maker of hybrids is saying that, while there is hybrid demand, they have reached the limit of production. For everyone who wonders why hybrid market penetration can't go above a certain percentage of car sales, there's your reason. We've done your part and driven up demand, but apparently more work needs to be done to be able to make more hybrids.
UPDATE: Typos and style edited
UPDATE: Toyota responded by clarifying that Mr. Carter's quote was misinterpreted. The automaker can and will, in fact, produce more Priuses than it did last year. What it likely won't be able to do is match or exceed the rate of growth Prius production had in 2007.
Related:
- Did Toyota hybrid sales peak in 2007?
- Toyota tells Popular Mechanics battery production is the "biggest hurdle" to plug-in cars
- Toyota still apprehensive about lithium ion in spite of PHEV plans
- Malibu, Vue hybrid Superbowl ads might not air because of low inventory
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike 5:48PM (2/18/2008)
Is it that they "can't" make them or is it that the price of the materials in the battery is too high. There are estimates that the price of just the materials in the Nickel Metal hydride battery have risen from $1000 in 1999 to $8000 in 2008. This one of the reasons the OEMs are pushing so hard for a Lithium battery.
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Lascelles Linton 5:56PM (2/18/2008)
Mike, So? I am not talking about 1999. I am talking about last year and this year. If they make more than 181,000 Priuses, the price will go above $8,000? Why don't they just let it go up then?
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Throwback 6:07PM (2/18/2008)
Perhaps they can't afford to subsidise more than 180K Prius per year? We assume they are making money on each one, maybe they are not.
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Lascelles Linton 6:21PM (2/18/2008)
A few things. I recall Toyota recently said they no longer had delays on orders. Also, they lowered prices recently and they say prices are going down. I just think it's odd.
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TomtenT 7:05PM (2/18/2008)
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War over oil ?
I certainly hope so.
It's MY World !!!
I refuse to take this BS lying down !
I'll fight ev'ry way I can
for the SUND way to construct and produce wehicles! !
IT'S MY WORLD !!!
How dare you let your profit obsession waste the Nature that was given to man !
* * * STOP burning things to get power ! * * *
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rgseidl 9:50PM (2/18/2008)
I wonder if Toyota cannot source enough NiMH batteries or if this is really an admission that sales for the Prius could not be sustained at higher levels in the medium term - especially considering the credit crunch in the US.
Maybe Toyota could install its 148hp 2.2L diesel from the European Avensis plus T2B5 aftertreatment system in the US Camry to give customers an alternative if and when the Prius sells out.
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bolhuijo 9:58PM (2/18/2008)
Or maybe Toyota just isn't willing to expand their current production facility to produce more Priora while they work on the next gen version?
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TomtenT 6:01AM (2/19/2008)
A profound infrastructure rebuild is inevitable to achieve sustainable transportation.
As always, some prefer "business as usual", since they're the ones at the top of the pyramid.
The worlds largest carmaker reluctant to produce environmentally friendly propulsion ? Go figure...
Little people at the bottom of the pyramid often get told : "Solve the problem !!" Period.
-> What if Toyota were told: "Solve the problem!"
* * * STOP burning things to get power ! * * *
- - There's Wind, there's Water, there's Sun - -
We got to solve the problem(s) a bit more enlightened than the stone-age man at his camp-fire.
( P.S. Excuse me for misspelling 'SOUND' in the post #5 above "War over oil ?" )
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Mike 1:21PM (2/19/2008)
Lascelles:
My point is that if the cost of the battery was a small portion of the vehicle in the beginning, its now a huge portion. There is no other single component of the vehicle that even comes close to costing $8,000. The OEMs will kill to save a few pennies, if you are suggesting that Toyota will continue to eat the cost of the battery you are dreaming. There is no way they can absorb these costs forever. They need a solution to the ever rising costs(so does GM)either a different battery chemistry or something else.
Keep in mind that Toyota is being challenged on all fronts like never before. GM is becoming very competitive, so are the Koreans and soon the Chinese. They are taking some profitability hits and need to limit their exposure to risks like rising battery costs in their loss leader products.
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JM 7:19PM (2/19/2008)
This is actually just an excuse - most likely Toyota is starting to scale down the production of the current Prius model.
Sometimes a company will actually start to dwindle, or altogether stop production of a particular make and model if they actually have a newer generation coming down the pipeline.
Of course, they will probably make a decision not to disclose this new generation Prius coming down, otherwise people might hold off purchasing the existing model -- making Toyota accumulate unsold inventory and lose money. So they employ funny reasons, like they can't manufacture as much Priuses like the way they did last year, or that they're still far away from supporting lithium-ion batteries -- even though some enterprising small businesses has already achieved this feat. What makes you think that Toyota, which has billions of dollars worth of research funds, can't even replicate these efforts inside their own laboratory? They have all the money in the world to hire the best scientists and engineers after all.
Guys, looks like we're about to see a new generation of Prius in a year or two. After all, other companies (*ahem* Honda) have 'special' deliverables coming down the pipe as well in the 2009/2010 model year.
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Marc 12:00AM (2/20/2008)
Mike,
If it actually cost $8000 for the nickel in the batteries, the Prius would be #1 on the car thieves list. Check out how people are stealing catalytic converters for a few hundred dollars of recycled metal.
Nickel may be rising, but I doubt the batteries cost $8000. Or even close.
What was your source of the $8000 figure?
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Bob Wilson 4:03AM (2/21/2008)
Fix the first sentence,"Toyota says hybrid sales will be lower in 2008 than 2007, . . ." It is and remains a lie or evidence of an extreme lack of skills and reading ability. Lascelles Linton has joined the ranks of those who would post a lie than deal with the truth. - Bob Wilson
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Lascelles Linton 6:51AM (2/21/2008)
Bob Wilson, It's not a lie.
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Bob Wilson 4:36PM (2/21/2008)
Interesting because the January 11, "January Market Dashboard: Are Hybrids Recession-Proof?" report indicates: "Prius sales 01/08 are up 37.1% over 01/07." In fact, the January 08 sales are down from December 08 by -19.95% while all vehicles are down by -23.8%. Furthermore, all hybrids are up by 24.9% compared to January a year ago where as all vehicles are down by -2.9% compared to January a year ago. The point is the sales figures for January underline that the _rate_ of growth won't be as much but the sale figures are going to be higher than 2008. Still, in 12 months we'll have the summary for 2008 . . . I'm betting more than 181,000 Prius will be sold. The clock is ticking.
Bob Wilson
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LaughingTooHard 9:37AM (2/22/2008)
Bob,
My take is Toyota is looking at increasing overall sales without having to increase production of the Prius. 181K out of a stated 200K max production sounds like growth in other markets might mean they will have less for US market.
Add in that other makes are offering alternatives to the Prius, the idea Toyota would like to bump owners to higher profit offerings/hybrids and you can see why if they miss beating 181K, Toyota will not cry at all.
Do I personally think they will try to beat 181K? Sure. Do I think they will succeed? No, but I can hope it not because gas has fallen a dollar and people want big new CUV's rather than their 4 year old Prius. Let's just hope there are more than one good option for '08.
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Jef 12:50AM (3/02/2008)
Toyota should be the first to offer a full plug in option to help complicate potential sales of GM's Volt concept- whenever that will ever gonna' happen. More like reviving the EV-1 concept destroyed by GM, proving to Bob Lutz that he doesn't really know what people really want-and why. That would help guarantee faith in Asain Toyota corporate leadership- unlike GM's great public faith building concepts as in Who killed the electric car, as well as their former president being in Bush's cabinet and part of the corporate machine running the USA economy into the ground right now.
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