New York 2008: will Prius sales make up for slowing Tundra sales?
At the New York Auto Show, Toyota U.S. General Manager Bob Carter spoke with Bloomberg about high fuel prices and the full-size truck market (see video below the fold). Carter said "we are not immune to what the current market conditions are and many full-size truck owners are delaying their purchases, waiting to see exactly where the market is going to go in fuel prices." Not to worry, Carter said, because "we may sell a few less Tundras but we will transfer that reduction in sales to our more fuel efficient models like the Prius and the hybrids." Can Toyota hybrids make up for a decrease Tundra sales? It's unclear. Toyota has predicted that they will sell fewer hybrids this year than last year and Prius sales are already showing declines. It's not totally clear on how Carter predicts hybrids will make up for slowing Tundra sales when Toyota is also predicting its hybrid sales will decrease.
[Source: ClipSyndicate]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Trev 5:24PM (3/20/2008)
i always read it as pirus not prius, i dunno why?? :-/
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JH 11:13PM (3/19/2008)
You've compounded an error by repeating an incorrect fact: Toyota says they will sell more prius in 2008 than they did in 2007; just not 67% more.
See http://blog.toyota.com/2008/03/a-small-clarifi.html for the Toyota rebuttal.
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Lascelles 2:47AM (3/20/2008)
JH,
I don't think I am wrong but it does not matter what I think anymore.
Lascelles
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spwolf 11:29AM (3/20/2008)
L,
dont write articles then.
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steven 11:39AM (3/20/2008)
So Toyota inferring that folks that come in to by a Tundra with its high profit margin are some how going to be swayed into buying a Prius with its low profit margin? (I know Prius owners don't believe that Toyota is actually IN business to make money...). Or are they saying that they will some how magically transfer the resources that had been used to produce the slow selling pickups into hybrid production? Lord only knows the reaction if this type of quote had come out of the mouth of Lutz. To me (maybe not to Toyota lovers), it simply defies logic.
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Lascelles 12:47PM (3/20/2008)
spwolf, I should not report the truth? The rebuttal was not to this article anyway. Also, Toyota did not take back the lower hybrid guide. They just say Prius sales will be higher.
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