Bringing Down the Price of the Prius

[erpowers]

I understand that selling cars is a business whose purpose is to make money, but is there anything Toyota can do to reduce the price of its Prius? It would be nice for more people to buy Priuses, but they can go up to $30,000. That is a great deal of money to pay for a car just to reduce the amount of gas a person uses. I realize people could just buy cheaper cars that have higher gas mileage, but I still wonder if Toyota could reduce the price of its Prius to possbily allow more people to buy them.

[yurbud]

1. it might be better to ask is there anything government can do to reward Toyota

or punish those companies dragging their feet on getting real hybrids out to market (some American efforts have added pathetically little to their models overall mpg).

[papau]

8. I'd favor a gov reward to Toyota for any plug in Prius' they make

[iamjoy]

2. Why Would They

Hybrids are already in hot demand, why should the car companies lower the prices when they don't even stay on the lot at the current price?

One would have to wonder if the car companies did lower the price if you wouldn't have speculators coming up with a scheme for grabbing them up and turning around and reselling them at a profit.

[NMDemDist2]

9. our local Chevy dealer can't keep the new Aveos or even Malibus

on the lot either

we went in to look at one the other day and they didn't have any.

plenty of BIG trucks and SUVs still hanging on the lot though......

[yurbud]

11. If they took the engine out, you could use them as guest or greenhouses in your backyard

[sellitman]

3. I've heard of 6 month waiting lists for Priuses.

2-3 months for the Civic Hybrid.

[hobbit709]

4. New Car! What's that?

I drive a 1992 Toyota truck-the AC died and I can't afford to fix it. My wife drives a 1986 Subaru with the same problem. Even before she got dumped from her job of 32 years we couldn't afford a new car. Last year she made 25K, I made about half that as self-employed. I'm not physically capable of full time work and not disabled enough to qualify for disability.

[yurbud]

12. I teach college and can't afford a new car. I drive a 1990 crx that gets 34-43 mpg

[dipsydoodle]

5. I'm not trying to be funny

but it might be worth your while getting a book on basic economics to see what "price" really is.

[flamin lib]

6. GM, Ford and Toyota are all lobbying the government to give

tax incentives for the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles to offset the higher cost to the consumer. They're asking for $5-7k.

[Beausoleil]

7. There were tax incentives

I believe they ran out for the Prius last October.

We purchased ours last year, paid <$25000, got in on the tail end of the tax credits for $787, and since you get to deduct sales tax from your federal taxes in Texas, we deducted about $1300 for sales tax.

Now increased demand has really affected the drive-off price and there are no more tax credits.

[melm00se]

10. Price fixing

Folks, toyota's only influence on the dealer's selling price is with their MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price).

In most, if not all, states, automobile manufacturer's are prohibited from selling directly to the public (and that includes employees, they have to purchase from dealers) so the transaction is the consumer is buying the vehicle from the dealer and the dealer sets the final price to the customer.

As an employee of a manufacturer (different industry but the same rules apply), I am strictly prohibited from publishing any price other than MSRP when a dealer/reseller/wholesaler is involved in the transaction. Any other activity on my part is considered, until state and federal law as price fixing and that is a "lose-your-job" type of offense as the legal penalties for this are quite severe (it is a criminal felony offense under the feds). The ONLY time I can set a price is when I am dealing directly with the customer with no middlemen in between.

I am sure that you are asking yourself "but moose, what about coupons, rebates and freebies that are part of consumer transactions?" Good question, the answer is in the disclaimers: retailers do not need to accept coupons or provide the freebies, it is entirely up to them as is their pricing to the end customer. Rebates are the same, those can be applied to the dealer's price to the customer (price minus rebate = buying/selling price) or it can be used to change the baseline cost (cost from wholesale source minus trade in plus mark up = buying/selling price). It is entirely up to them.

And there are extra credit points for those of you thinking "minimum advertised price" requirements, what about them? Well, that just applies to the advertised price, not the sale price. This is why you see the "add the item to your shopping cart to see your super deluxe, too low to advertise pricing".

Now, how can/should Toyota lower their price? There are several ways that Toyota can influence their wholesale pricing, the most notable is by making more of them and have them available. Dealers can charge more for the product when demand outstrips supply. Once the unit supply/demand ratio begins to even out then dealer pricing will drop as dealers will be forced to compete amongst themselves. Until them, the limiting factor upon demand will not be supply but rather price. Remember: price is a throttle on both supply and demand.

OK, so Toyota decides to make more - it is not an instantaneous event. They need to change their manufacturing lines, adjust their supply chains and the like.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. The Honda CVCC got 40+ mpg in the 70's.

Damn Detroit automakers to Hell!