Toyota nearly matches price of Honda Insight with new 2010 Prius in Japan
Click above for high-res image gallery of the 2010 Toyota Prius
The hybrid pricing wars in Japan appear to be heating up very rapidly. According to a report on AutoWeek, Toyota is planning to nearly match the price of Honda's latest Insight with its brand new 2010 Prius, setting a base price of 2.05 million yen ($20,750), which is just about the same as the mid-level Insight. From there, though, the price of the Prius can rise all the way up to 3.27 million yen ($33,100) as options are piled on while the Insight tops out at 2.21 million yen ($22,370).
In addition to the aggressive pricing strategy for the new Prius, Toyota will indeed keep the old model around for a little while as a price-leader to go head-to-head with the base model Insight at 1.89 million yen ($19,130). Too keep things current, the current-gen Prius will reportedly get an updated interior and be called the Prius EX.
At this point, none of the above prices for the redesigned 2010 Prius are official, as Toyota has yet to release or confirm MSRP for Japan or America. Still, the information is said to be sourced from Japanese dealers, so we hope it portends good things to come in the not-too-distant future from the the automaker.
Gallery: 2010 Toyota Prius - First Drive
[Source: AutoWeek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gordio 4:17PM (4/02/2009)
Yikes. Not sure what Honda could do besides drop the price even more. Or even sell a base-ier base insight or a cheaper manual tranny.
I hope this pressures honda to hurry the CRZ. I really want that car. That's the only car I'd trade my Fit for.
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Noz 4:31PM (4/02/2009)
Honda was dumb. I like Honda but the Insight was a very dumb move...especially when they already had a much more functional, more utilitarian, better looking car called the FIT.
All they had to do was hybridize that instead of coming up with a new car that frankly looks horrendous.
No matter how much I try to like the Insight, it's absolutely hideous. If the FIT had a real START/STOP system in it, the Insight would be a loser.
Snowdog 4:43PM (4/02/2009)
Noz, that is a matter of opinion. I Want the opposite. I would rather have a de-hybridized Insight, than a Hybrid Fit.
The fit is not a very good efficiency platform because it isn't that aerodynamic. Make a Fit aerodynamic and you have the Insight.
Insight = Aerodynamic Fit.
A Hybrid Fit would cost just as much as an Insight and put up worse numbers (than an insight)
A De-Hybridized Insight would be as cheap as a Fit and put up better numbers (than a Fit)
In the style versus supbstance contest, I will choose substance. It isn't like the Fit is going to win awards for looks, it is a standard econobox hatch.
Noz 5:49PM (4/02/2009)
I'm not sure if I agree. The Fit gets excellent MPG numbers...well above the publicized values. It's more sporty, has far better practicality, has much more room. With a simple start/stop system it would probably match the Insight easily.
Where the Fit loses is probably emissions...which is obvious.
The Fit's Cd is around 0.3...the Insight's is about 0.28...not a significant enough difference to give up the amenities of the Fit.
If anything, the Fit has always been known for substance and practicality before style. It just happens that it looks so much better than the Insight without practically any penalty.
Snowdog 7:30PM (4/02/2009)
The Fit gets adequate MPG for a tiny car with tiny 1.5L engine, but its economy is nothing special, esp on the highway. Heck a Chevy with a 2.2L engine beats it on the highway. The larger civic beats it on the highway. I am seriously unimpressed with the Fits highway MPG.
Forget anecdotal nonsense of my neighbors-brothers-barber gets xx MPG. EPA is the best comparison we have and Fit is unimpressive. A big part of this is mediocre aerodynamics.
What I don't get is why more of the players who are pretty much out of the running in the Hybrid game don't build some serious economy setups without the hybrid. Aerodynamics, low resistance tires, tall gearing. Essentially everything hybrids get minus the hybrid. They would get great MPG for much less money.
Noz 9:25PM (4/02/2009)
I guess we won't agree on the Fit but I do agree with you about other things.
I don't know either why more manufacturers are really putting more effort to make more efficient cars. Instead, while companies like GM, for example, are going bankrupt, they're only too proud to flood magazines like REAL SIMPLE, OPRAH, etc with their oversized SUV and crossover junk.
Can't say much better things for the other manufacturers either. My guess is they simply want to milk the profits as much as possible...damn change and environmentally responsible things to do.
Gordio 11:52PM (4/02/2009)
I disagree that EPA is the best approximation. I'l be damned if a chevy 2.2L can get 34 mpg mixed, which is my personal average. The revised EPA system is still off. For smaller cars like smart, it underrestimates the mileage, whereas bigger cars, they overestimate the mileage.
Noz 1:46AM (4/03/2009)
By the way Snowdog, while I know this isn't perhaps the something you'd necessarily believe I achieved, but I drove the Fit over a 10 mile test drive about 50% mixed driving.
It was a 5 speed manual sport and I reset the trip specifically for the test drive. I managed to get an averaged 48 MPG. Granted, some say the trip is over-optimistic....but even if you subtract 10% in error...that's still 43 MPG.
The biggest disappointment about the Fit frankly for me is the rather lousy emissions score it gets. For the life of me, I can't understand how a 2L turbo GTI can get a SMOG RATING of 0.09 and the Fit gets one of 0.39 with the average 2009 rating being 0.37.
It gets a SMOG score of 5/10 but a greenhouse gas score of 8/10.
Snowdog 5:27AM (4/03/2009)
I completely ignore self reported MPG because it isn't a rigorous test, it is swayed by personal driving habits, it isn't repeatable,comparable etc... And yes the MPG meter in the car is hopelessly optimistic. It helps to sell cars.
EPA numbers are the only thing that you can compare to EPA numbers. It might not be a perfect test but it is done with scientific rigor, it is repeatable, comparable etc...
This is also why I think we should ignore such nonsense MPG post from ABG. You know "Insight first drive-63.4 MPG" or the recent Prius junket where the average was near 70 MPG.
Those numbers are likewise meaningless twaddle. Everyone on both sides of every argument tries to ignore EPA. Like the hybrid haters claim EPA is bogus and the Prius will only get 40 MPG, the hybrid fans will point at ABG type tests and say EPA is actually too low... and so it goes.
So no I don't care, what you or your hairdresser got for MPG on a test drive. It isn't useful data in any way shape or form.
Noz 11:34AM (4/03/2009)
That's too bad...because for the longest time, we've been fed the wrong MPG's for all cars. So I'm not about to believe the EPA's new standards either. And frankly, I get better MPG's in my current car than what the EPA ever reported either before or after their ratings methods.
I know you're going to argue consistency...but why would I believe an organization that's consistently wrong in reporting MPGs.
Noz 2:04AM (4/03/2009)
I actually saw the new Insight this evening in the flesh. I have to say...it was even worse in real life than in the pictures. The concept was so much better.
But for laughs, the dealer was asking for a $4500 markup...making the total price around $28K with dealer added crap. Ridiculous.
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