Buoyed by near-record fuel prices, the new Toyota Prius C is exceeding initial sales expectations.
Toyota’s new Prius C is proving to be the little hybrid that could – and that’s leading the automaker to ramp up production of the newest member of its Prius “family.”
The C is a compact gas-electric model that went on sale earlier this month, joining the original Prius hatchback and the larger Prius V introduced last year – with a plug-in version of the original Prius to follow later this year.
With a base price of $19,710, the Prius C is the least-expensive full hybrid on the market and the only compact to share the familiar Prius badge. That’s significant in a market that has – despite near-record fuel prices – so far been reluctant to embrace hybrids, the technology last year accounting for less than 3% of total U.S. new vehicle sales, but the Prius badge emblazoned on one of every two hybrids purchased in the country.
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The timing of the Prius C launch could not have been better, analysts say, and the new model generated 1,200 sales in just its first five days on the market – albeit many of those customers had placed orders some time back and were simply waiting for delivery. While it remains to be seen if the momentum will be maintained, Toyota appears to be quite optimistic.
Until now, it had been planning to keep the majority of Prius C models produced at the Iwate, Japan plant for sale in the home market. And production was being kept to a modest 20,000 a month, with just 20%, or 6,000 designated for the U.S.
Production is now expected to increase to about 30,000 a month and the U.S. is likely to get more, according to an Automotive News report. “We are looking at ways to satisfy the demand of all our customers,” said Tetsui Hattori, president of the Toyota unit producing the Prius C, during a plant tour.
The situation isn’t as simple as it might seem, however. The Iwate facility produces other products that may have to be shifted to other plants.
And then there’s the issue of exchange rates. The yen has risen to record levels against the dollar, in recent months, though it has fallen back slightly in March. That is making it increasingly difficult to export cars from Japan to the U.S., especially low-end vehicles with limited profit margins built in.
Toyota officials told TheDetroitBureau.com earlier this year that they are considering the possibility of bringing Prius production to the U.S., something they announced – then postponed – in 2008. The potential for the Prius C is expected to be one of many possibilities that will be discussed during a corporate manufacturing summit in May.