Toyota and Honda attempting to claw back at BYD’s F3 Hybrid
With the launch of China’s prodigal car, the BYD F3DM, both Toyota and Honda are cutting the fat off their own hybrid models, which for too long have been far too expensive.
The Toyota Prius is made in China, but with only 400 being sold last year, we doubt they’re coming down a very busy production line. The Honda Civic hybrid is imported into China, but as with all imported cars its not that cheap.
With the arrival of the BYD F3 DM both Toyota and Honda have had their hands forced into a healthy price cut on both models. The highest specification Prius was originally 280,000rmb ($40,900USD), now that price has been dropped to 250,000rmb ($36,500USD) The Civic Hybrid has also dropped in price, its previous price of 260,000rmb ($38,000USD) to 230,000rmb ($33,647USD)
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I don’t believe that 30k RMB on a 280/260k RMB car will change any buyers minds from 150k for the BYD hybrid.
Not sure if their price margins allow for bigger cuts at this point, unfortunate for them I suppose.
OK, let’ see here……….the american price of the Prius is 150-167,000 rmb, and the american price of the Civic hybrid is 167-184,000 rmb. I wonder how much longer Honda and Toyota will cling on to the absurdity of charging higher prices in China for these cars when the majority of workers in China make a FRACTION of what american workers make. Yes, I know about import taxes, other fees, blah blah blah……..it’s just STUPID. The one thing Honda and DO have going for them…..durability. There is still a BIG question mark when it comes to the durability of BYD’s new technology in the real world…..but only time will answer that question. If Honda and Toyota can get these cars down to the 200,000 rmb price range, they can be competitive………I think.
The Prius is made in China, I’d take a stab and say that its high price is due to the investment in tooling and factory, but low selling rate is what keeps the price up.
The Honda Civic hybrid on the other hand is made in Japan, its high price may be due to import tax.
@Ash
Although I basically agree with you, I think a lot of the pricing schemes is also to not oversell one particular model when their existing sales of other models is still so high – Honda is still one of the top selling brands in China, and dumping out their hybrids at such a relatively low price would kill sales of their other models.
Spotted a Civic Hybrid out tonight, first time Ive ever seen one in China that wasnt in a dealership.
I have spotted a total of 1 Civic Hybrid on the roads here as well.
On the otherhand, I have seen a surprising number of Prius’ and their numbers have been noticeably increasing.