Automotive News (sub) reports that ToMoCo is increasing prices on 11 Toyota and Lexus models by the end of the month. The hot-selling Yaris will see a $200 jump in base price, The sedan ascends to $13,085 while the hatchback's sticker rises to $12,210. The Prius' price will reverse its downward trend, adding $400 to the Moroni, for a new base MSRP of $22,160. The FJ Cruiser will see the biggest increase, adding $500, for a new base price of $23,730. All Toyota-branded vehicles will increase by comparable amounts– with a few notable exceptions (Sequoia, Tacoma, 2009 Corolla and Matrix). Lexus models will increase even more (expect to pay an extra $900 for an LS460) except for the new IS-F, which will remain unchanged. Why the price bumps during a period of weak sales? "Price changes were made to keep up with current economic conditions and the rising cost of major components," A ToMoCo spokesman demurred. "Materials in global markets have gone up. We have made an effort to absorb some to the cost while still protecting our price position." Hmm, weak sales and rising costs? Get the band back together, 'cause it's looking like good ol' stagflation all over again.
12 Comments on “Toyota Bumps Prices For 11 Models...”
Latest Car Reviews view all
Latest Product Reviews view all
Recent Comments
- Art Vandelay: Yeah those guys that wrote the Declaration would have never had political discussions online. And yeah,...
- EBFlex: “But this is the pain we must endure to create a green, more sustainable economy that welcomes all who...
- Jeff S: @Art–You tell me what Skye is referring to because I don’t see what the hidden meaning is? I...
- Skippity: Maybe they just got a good deal and their credit scores are fine.
- Jeff S: @CaddyDaddy–Have a Happy Fourth and God Bless you and your family.
Car Reviews By Make view all
New Car Research
Who We Are
- Tim Healey
Managing Editor - Matt Posky
News and Social Media Contributor - Timothy Cain
Sales Analyst - Murilee Martin
Junkyard Finds Author - Matthew Guy
Contributor - Chris Tonn
Contributor
- Adam Tonge
- Bozi Tatarevic
- Corey Lewis
- Jo Borras
- Mark Baruth
- Ronnie Schreiber
Guess I was lucky in that I have just purchased a 2008 RAV 4, I would expect all vehicles to rise in price due to the high price world wide of Steel and other components, even though some countries are in a depression or recession, it doesnt matter to Manufactures.
Hmm, weak sales and rising costs? Get the band back together, cause it’s looking like good ol’ stagflation all over again.
Don’t tell the crowd at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave…
Someone has to pay for all those buybacks of rusted out 1995-2000 Toyota Tacoma trucks…
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/mt-bashes-tomoco-on-rust-related-warranty-extension
Was told by my Ducati dealer that fancy pants add-ons made from billet aluminum and carbon fiber were heading up up up in price – one of the main reasons was that these materials were being gobbled up to be used in Iraq.
The tanking dollar doesn’t help either.
Snap. Me too. My 2008 Prius just turned 10,000 miles and I got it in September. I tried timing it to get the newest year I could, before prices went up, and tried to time it to get what tax relief I could before that ended. Got the car in September, tax relief ended for Prius at the end of the month, ended up with the first ’08 Prius in town because I’d put my name on a waiting list. At least I only had to wait about 6 weeks instead of 9 1/2 months as I had for the 2005 Prius.
Food prices, oil prices, steel prices, copper prices, you name it – it’s going up faster than wages. We can whine and fuss but at least we aren’t in a complete jam as probably 25% of the world population are, where they were spending 1/3 of their income on food, and suddenly food prices have doubled. Literally.
So we should not whine about small price increases in Toyotas (and soon other successful car manufacturers, too), since they aren’t even as high as the real inflation rate! Or commodity price increases, for that matter.
But what we can be concerned with is how this will make it even more difficult on the Detroit 2.8 to survive, since they really can’t raise prices on the oversized, overweight, over-engined junque they have been passing off to the public, and likely, may not be able to convert to smaller cars quickly enough to avoid the grim reaper. For GM and especially Chrysler, the Grim Reaper is breathing down their necks, and has sprinting shoes on (as opposed to their steel toed boots).
Good thing Toyota limits the steel they put in their vehicles. Lighter, cheaper to make and they still raise prices. They have the market nailed.
Still don’t repsect the Merican consumer’s intellect.
Oh wait…
US$ related. Get used to it because it is coming to all retail pricing.
gsp :
May 7th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
US$ related. Get used to it because it is coming to all retail pricing.
Dead on.
We notice it in cars, but anything that requires raw materials is going to get more expensive.
When you factor in the dollars fall against the yen the price rise isn’t shocking.
This has nothing to do with rising price of materials. It’s all about supply and demand. Notice the vehicles that are mentiones are fairly new in the Toyota line-up, the Yaris, FT cruiser. These cars are consider by many as gas savers, so of course toyota will raise the price to make more profits. Prices of materials has been on the rise for years know. Toyota was just waiting for the right time to have enough demand for the vehicles to increase the price. Just look at the prius, when it first came out it was around 17-18k, now of because of the demand it’s up to 22k for a base model….Lexus has always been more expansive, people really don’t care if it’s $900 more.
This is the value of a quality brand reputation. People will pay more for it. I don’t think this will help Detroit. Toyota shoppers would buy Hyundai or switch to a smaller Toyota model rather than buy GM or Ford.
casper00:
I don’t want to refute your whole argument but toyota’s FJ Cruiser is no gas saver. It’s a gas pig like any other SUV on the market (maybe worse than some) … And for whatever reason this particular one has seen the biggest price increase. It may be after all the raw material prices since this one has more steel in it than a regular car.
Toyota often adjusts the price on many of their models by a couple hundred dollars every so often. This is routine, and probably is actually related to the price of materials. I’m sure the weak dollar doesn’t help-the four Toyota models listed with no price increase are built in America, so they are less affected by the weak dollar.