FAW Toyota are reportedly planning to sell more than 1000 Prius cars in 2008, which is double the paltry 414 Prius they sold in 2007. 2006 was a bumper year for the Prius when it sold over 2000, but sales of the popular hybrid have taken a sharp turn in China.
Toyota will be facing stiff competition over the coming years as homegrown automakers such as Geely, Chery, Chang’an and even Toyotas partner, FAW, are working on low cost hybrid vehicles for the Chinese populace.
To increase sales, Toyota have cut the price on the Prius models. The cheapest Prius is now 259,800rmb, previously it was 282,200rmb. The higher model, the Prius with the navigation system is now 279,800rmb.
As I was commenting in a previous post I really question the wisdom of hybrids for the China market. Unless these can be produced for almost the same price as regular cars I can’t see Chinese consumers buying them. Also hybrids are not all they are cracked up to be. Diesels and some non hybrid petrols often return better fuel consumption. The Chinese driving style of heavy use of the accelerator and brake are though ideal conditions for a hybrid.
I agree with u there, mark. Just look at the Lexus R400h; it gets 26mpg city and 24mpg highway, approximately 9L/100km and 9.8L/100km, whereas my inefficient and ancient C230 gets me around 10-11L/100km on city roads and under 8L/100km on highway. A mere 10% reduction in gas mileage, for a hefty premium. Even better is the Golf GTI’s turbo 2L or even the Golf GT’s 1.4L TSI engine.
Sure, we’re talking about totally different engine technologies, and some people don’t like the quirky behavior of turbocharged 4-bangers compared to the silky v6’s, but if you’re just talking about fuel consumption, the complexity (and potential environmental hazards of the batteries in hybrids) don’t really make sense (to me).
My question is, what is the plural of Prius?
I own two Priai? I own two Priuses?
P.S. Fixed the problem of line spacing for paragraphs in China Car Times V2!