{"id":62610,"date":"2013-07-08T10:50:23","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T14:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=62610"},"modified":"2013-07-08T10:50:23","modified_gmt":"2013-07-08T14:50:23","slug":"flood-of-new-hybrids-take-aim-at-toyota-prius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2013\/07\/flood-of-new-hybrids-take-aim-at-toyota-prius\/","title":{"rendered":"Flood of New Hybrids Take Aim at Toyota Prius"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Toyota Prius continues to dominate the hybrid segment...but it is facing some challenges this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once a rare technology limited to a handful of \u2013 mostly Japanese \u2013 manufacturers, the industry is unleashing a flood of new hybrid vehicles for 2014 covering just about every niche on the market.\u00a0 Automakers such as BMW, Ford and Hyundai hope their latest offerings will finally give them the momentum they need to take on the hybrid segment\u2019s best-selling brand, Toyota, which underscored its dominance with the sale of its 3 millionth Prius last month.<\/p>\n

For many potential buyers around the world, in fact, the Toyota Prius is no longer a niche vehicle.\u00a0 The gas-electric hatchback may be the most popular hybrid in the U.S. \u2013 routinely outselling all other hybrids combined — but in Japan it is now the best-selling vehicle overall.<\/p>\n

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Your Auto News Source!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve turned it into an iconic status of fuel efficiency \u2013 whether you love it or hate it,\u201d says Dave Sullivan, automotive analyst with AutoPacific, Inc.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s the benchmark of hybrids.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, 2013 could be a challenging year for Prius. A senior Toyota official cautions that the hybrid might fall short of its sales targets, something that certainly wouldn\u2019t upset competitors like Honda.<\/p>\n

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The newly redesigned 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid could give the Toyota Prius a challenge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third-largest Japanese maker introduced its original Insight hybrid about the same time as the Prius debuted back in 1999 \u2013 and the Honda hybrid actually launched in the U.S. ahead of its Toyota rival. But the original, two-seat Insight generated more headlines than customers and was yanked from the market in 2006.\u00a0 Even a new 4-seater that returned in 2008 has had to take a back seat to Prius.<\/p>\n

As have all the other hybrids that have hit the market since the Toyota model\u2019s debut.\u00a0 Combine them all and they routinely fall short of Prius on the sales charts \u2013 though Toyota has played some marketing tricks.\u00a0 There actually are four different models now designated Prius: the original hatchback, a plug-in hybrid version, a larger gas-electric model dubbed the Prius V, and a smaller Prius C.<\/p>\n

Going into 2013, Toyota had high hopes for what it calls the \u201cPrius family,\u201d predicting sales would jump to 250,000 or more, up from last year\u2019s 236,659. But Bill Fay, the U.S. general manager for the Toyota brand, tells Reuter\u2019s “The 240,000 to 250,000 range is kind of where we’re settling our sights for the Prius family.”<\/p>\n

And even that might be a stretch.\u00a0 U.S. sales of the Toyota Prius family fell 5.1% during the first half of the year, even as the Japanese maker\u2019s overall American sales jumped 6%.<\/p>\n

Certainly, it doesn\u2019t help that U.S. fuel prices have slipped sharply from the near-record levels they hit at the beginning of the year.\u00a0 Indeed, that\u2019s helped propel a surge in the full-size pickup market.\u00a0 But despite declining gas prices, small car sales have remained surprisingly solid.\u00a0 And that may be part of the problem for Prius.<\/p>\n

Toyota gets plenty of credit not only for pioneering high-mileage hybrid technology but also for adopting a distinctive, lightweight and aerodynamic design that has made Prius an iconic stand-out in a market where many motorists want to show off their concern for the environment.<\/p>\n

Of course, it also helped that in its early years, the Prius also qualified for access to carpool lanes, especially in traffic-snarled Southern California, even with just one person aboard.\u00a0 But the Toyota hybrid lost that badge several years ago and many motorists \u201chave moved on to the new status symbol vehicles that zoom by everyone else,\u201d suggests Sullivan.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, he adds, there is a growing list of high-mileage alternatives to Prius that, in many cases, deliver as, or nearly as, good fuel economy along with better features, more lavish interiors, better performance and improved driving dynamics.<\/p>\n

\u201cFull hybrid models are coming one after another,\u201d writes Kurt Sanger, auto analyst with Deutsche Bank, in a study of the high-mileage segment.<\/p>\n

Honda, for example, will add a new version of its Accord Hybrid next autumn that will feature a better-performing two-motor gas-electric driveline. In fact, Honda is in the midst of rolling out three distinct new hybrid drivetrain technologies, one of which will be used on the reborn Acura NSX supercar due to market late in 2014.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now difficult to find a manufacturer that doesn\u2019t offer a hybrid model \u2013 often several, as with not only Honda but Ford and BMW.\u00a0 The German maker has set out to demonstrate that while hybrid technology can save fuel it also can help boost performance when shifted to Sport mode.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there\u2019s growing competition not just from hybrids\u201d but from more conventional technologies, notes Sullivan.\u00a0 The latest Mazda6 and Nissan Altima sedans get as much as 38 miles per gallon on the highway, while the all-new Chevrolet Cruze Diesel is rated at 46 mpg.<\/p>\n

Few expect the Toyota Prius to fade away anytime soon.\u00a0 The fact that it ended June with global sales of 3.67 million since its 1999 debut attests to the nameplate\u2019s power and longevity. But the recent slowdown raises a caution flag that even the most powerful brand names aren\u2019t invulnerable.\u00a0 Toyota plans to amp up its marketing for the Prius family in the months ahead, but you can be sure that the competition will be taking aim, as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been the world’s dominant hybrid since its 1999 debut – and last month Toyota marked a milestone with the sale of the 3 millionth Prius. But sales have taken an unexpected dip this year amidst lower gas prices and increasing competition from a growing list of high-mileage hybrid and conventional alternatives. Is the Toyota Prius in trouble? More from TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62610"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=62610"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=62610"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=62610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}