The Crank: Toyota’s Prius no longer niche
By John LeBlanc
Remember when the original Prius went on sale in the late 1990s? As one of the first, mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid cars, the quirky Toyota was considered a cult car at best. Today, 15 years later, the Prius family—consisting now of four models, the original Prius hatchback, the Prius plug-in hybrid, the larger Prius V, and smaller Prius C—is the third best-selling car in the world.
For the first four months of 2012, Prius sales have more than doubled compared to last year at this time, up to 247,230 copies. Only Toyota's Corolla (300,800), and Ford’s Focus (277,000) were more popular around the world.
South of the border, the United States has traditionally been the Prius’ best market, and that trend continues. Sales jumped 42 per cent in the first quarter, and 56 per cent through April, to a record 86,027.
Here in Canada, the Prius has been the best-selling hybrid every year since its launch in 2001, except between 2006 and 2008 when it was outsold by the first generation Camry Hybrid, according to Toyota Canada. With the addition of the Prius V and Prius C earlier this year, the Prius family has seen total sales of over 26,000 through March.
As well, the new Prius C (sold as the Aqua in its homemarket) has become a hot commodity in Japan, helping more than triple Prius family sales in the country to 175,080 in the first quarter, from 52,507 last year.
The global success of Prius family is also helping Toyota’s comeback plans. Sales of Toyota, Lexus, Scion, Hino and Daihatsu vehicles were up 18 per cent to 2.49 million in the quarter, Toyota said in a U.S. regulatory filing this month. That puts Toyota ahead of General Motors’ 2.28 million and Volkswagen’s 2.16 million in the race for the world’s largest automaker, according to data put together by Bloomberg.
Of course, much of the Prius’ success is based on what gas is selling for at the pumps on any given day. But by adding different products within the Prius family, Toyota may have protected itself from the vagaries of the oil market.
What do you think? Do you feel Prius is here to stay? Has it become the defacto brand for hybrid buyers? Or will it always be seen as a quirky alternative to “real”, gas-only cars?