Prius Sales To Fall Short Of Expectations

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Talk about timing: On the day Toyota announced that cumulative sales of the Prius passed the 3 million mark, Reuters says Toyota may fall short of its goal to sell 250,000 of the Prius in the U.S. this year.

“The 240,000 to 250,000 range is kind of where we’re settling our sights for the Prius family,” Toyota’s U.S. sales chief Bill Fay told the wire.

U.S. sales of all Prius models fell 5.1 percent during the first six months of 2013, while Toyota’s overall U.S. sales rose 6 percent. The Prius usually gets a lift from rising gasoline prices. The reverse is also true.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Rutt Rutt on Jul 04, 2013

    The claim (in those "I know someone who had a friend who knew someone who......" stories) that the Prius only gets good mileage around town is false. I've taken two long highway trips now ( 52+MPG for 5000+ miles from Massachusetts to New Mexico,and and back,and 50+MPG for 2000+ miles from MA to West Virginia and Chicago and back), and got over 50 MPG on both. Speeds were whatever traffic was doing - over 70 regularly, and over 80 some times in the West. The trip to New Mexico included driving in the mountains, where I had no difficulty keeping up with traffic, while mileage dropped into the high 40's. I regularly get over 50 MPG on shorter highway drives of 100 or so miles. My fuel consumption figures are actual calculated numbers: the figures shown on the Prius display is optimistic by about 2 MPG

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    • Cwschl01 Cwschl01 on Jul 08, 2013

      @Big Al from Oz Not true - I have a 2006. I drive 100+ highway miles daily. I have 236K on the clock. Never needed a repair or replacement. I still average 46 mpg. I have found that the car is better on the open highway then in town even though thats the opposite of what people think. The car has excellent drag coefficient and is heavy so it's not pushed around from semis and cross winds like most other vehicles. Also I went on vacation a couple of years ago and drove the car 1200 miles each way. At furthest point from home my wife found ceramic tiles she wanted. We bought as much as we could load into the car. It worked out to just under 600lbs. The shocks were pressed almost all the way down. Drove the car back home 1200 miles and got 48 mpg! I did drive slightly slower but that meant 65-68 rather than 70-75 mph.

  • SilverBullett SilverBullett on Jul 04, 2013

    I have had my Prius for two years and drive it 50/50 city/highway. I can say for certain that I get better fuel economy on the highway than city driving by 3-4mpg. This may be due to many of the hills of the area I live in as well. As far as acceleration, that is a non-issue. No problem getting on or keeping up with quick drivers on the freeway and getting around 52 mpg.

  • CelticPete CelticPete on Jul 04, 2013

    Prius is fast enough - I mean it takes a big rig forever to hit 60 and they can get on and off highways. The problem with Prius is the drivers they attract.

  • Lynn Ellsworth Lynn Ellsworth on Jul 04, 2013

    I am one of those missing sales. I really wanted one of the new longer 2013 Pri. I was all set to trade in my 2006 Prius but when I saw the new Pri with the same mileage figures I was pissed. Toyota hadn't made any advancement in miles per gallon in 7 years.

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