All about the Fourth Generation Prius

[IS-SV]

I've seen it, I dislike styling (exterior and interior).

In comparison, I somewhat liked exterior of last gen.

 

[IS-SV]

Front

 

[mmcartalk]

I have yet to see a new one. How about you all?

The official North American launch is scheduled for this month, so there are not likely to be many on the road yet, if any. I suspect they will probably wait until after the Detroit Show is over (January 24) so they can hype it up there at the show.

 

[mmcartalk]

I've seen it, I dislike styling (exterior and interior).

Some good pictures, Steve......but I agree that, even so, I don't care for the styling either.

 

[mmcartalk]

Here's John Davis and Motorweek with a road test and a review of the car's interior.
(I know John Davis, but only casually, not as a close friend or associate)

 

[spwolf]

FrontView attachment 1134

Only Toyota brings (almost) base model to the auto show. Mind boggling as usual.

As Bangle said in his show report, it would look very different with big wheels like rest of the cars on display.

 

[mmcartalk]

As Bangle said in his show report, it would look very different with big wheels like rest of the cars on display.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind that, though. I can see why the base model might be emphasized. All else equal, larger wheels and tires usually means less MPG from a larger tire-print, more weight, and more rolling resistance. Most people buy or lease a Prius for gas mileage....not sport-handling.

 

[spwolf]

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind that, though. I can see why the base model might be emphasized. All else equal, larger wheels and tires usually means less MPG from a larger tire-print and more rolling resistance. Most people buy or else a Prius for gas mileage....not sport-handling.

it is not hard to understand... it is a show. nobody is driving a car. they are looking at it and taking pictures. You dont put 15" tires with hubcaps on auto show. Nobody else does it. They put some crazy big wheels and compress the springs so it looks lower.

Just like nobody else brought base Prius for car journalists to test. Every 2nd review is of base Prius. Now look at other brands - it is almost always loaded model.

 

[Tragic Bronson]

I believe the Prius IS-SV took at the show is a Prius Four, so that's a top of the line model with 16 inch wheels. I believe Touring models get the 17s, and honestly, most of the wheels on the Prius are ugly.

 

[IS-SV]

I believe the Prius IS-SV took at the show is a Prius Four, so that's a top of the line model with 16 inch wheels. I believe Touring models get the 17s, and honestly, most of the wheels on the Prius are ugly.

Yes, look carefully on side rear window and you will see lettering saying "PROTOTYPE".

 

[mmcartalk]

Yes, look carefully on side rear window and you will see lettering saying "PROTOTYPE".

Good point.....but the way the two open doors/windows line up in that shot (directly through the glass), it's hard to tell if it's pasted on the front or rear window.

 

[IS-SV]

Good point.....but the way the two open doors/windows line up in that shot, it's hard to tell if it's pasted on the front or rear window.

Rear, not that it matters much.

Yes, car is not especially attractive but the new/big MPG numbers in the 50's are impressive. A different kind of driver hovered around this car in numbers...

 

[mmcartalk]

Rear, not that it matters much.

Yes, car is not especially attractive but the new/big MPG numbers in the 50's are impressive. A different kind of driver hovered around this car in numbers...

Well, the original 2001 Prius wasn't that attractive either, IMO. It has never been what I'd call a mainstream-styled car, and had quirky looks and a quirky interior from Day One. But it still managed to get (and keep) a widespread, cult-like following that persists to this day..........one of the great automotive success-stories of the past 15 years, especially in comparison to the much-less-successful Honda attempts with hybrids in the same class.

 

[Tragic Bronson]

Yes, look carefully on side rear window and you will see lettering saying "PROTOTYPE".

I've got the E-Brochure as the 2016 is finally live on toyota.com. So those wheels on the Prototype are the production 16 inchers standard on the Prius Two Eco, Three and Four.

 

[IS-SV]

Well, the original 2001 Prius wasn't that attractive either, IMO. It has never been what I'd call a mainstream-styled car, and had quirky looks and a quirky interior from Day One. But it still managed to get (and keep) a widespread, cult-like following that persists to this day..........one of the great automotive success-stories of the past 15 years, especially in comparison to the much-less-successful Honda attempts with hybrids in the same class.

Which is why I mentioned the significantly improved mileage, Prius buyers especially do notice. Tradtional styling was never a priority.

Although hybrid sales have slumped recently, the industry knows who the hybrid technology industry leader is.

 

[Tragic Bronson]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/toyotas-prius-pays-price-for-cheap-gasoline-1473149470

Toyota’s Prius Pays Price for Cheap Gasoline
Lower gasoline prices and lower consumer interest in hybrids are hitting Prius sales in the U.S.

TOKYO— Toyota Motor Corp. ’s latest Prius hybrid has a problem: gasoline prices.

When the Prius first went on the U.S. market in the late 1990s, it was a hit among celebrities like actor Leonardo DiCaprio who flaunted their environmental bona fides with the hybrid gas-electric car.

The latest version, which hit roads in December last year, is more fuel-efficient than ever, getting 54 miles to the gallon. In Toyota’s home market of Japan, it tops the sales charts. But sales are down in the U.S., as cheap gasoline dent the car maker’s strategy of presenting itself as the leader of an environmentally-friendly future—with the Prius as the vanguard.

U.S. sales of the Prius are down 26% this year through August.

At Longo Toyota in El Monte, Calif., the largest Toyota dealership in the U.S. by volume, Prius sales have fallen by 11% compared with last year. “But that’s not because of the car,” said Brendan Harrington, Longo Toyota’s president. “The entire market has dramatically shifted to light trucks and SUVs with gas under $3 a gallon.”

Americans are now more likely to trade in a hybrid or an electric vehicle for an SUV than they are another hybrid or electric vehicle, according a survey conducted by automotive research firm Edmunds.com in April.

“There is a direct correlation in the price of gasoline and the interest of consumers in hybrids,” said Brian Maas, head of the California New Car Dealers Association, which represents over 1,000 dealers in the biggest U.S. market for the Prius. “When gas was $4 [a gallon], the Prius was No. 1. Gas is $2.50,” Mr. Maas said.

It is especially frustrating for Toyota because its strategy is generally a success in Japan. Through August, the new Prius and a smaller related model—called Aqua in Japan and the Prius c in the U.S.—sold 304,000 units in Japan, tops in the nation and three times the U.S. sales even though the U.S. car market is far bigger.

One reason is higher gasoline taxes, which make the price of a gallon of gas in Japan around $4.50.

“The sense of value is different in the U.S. and Japan toward eco-friendly cars,” said Hisashi Nakai, head of Toyota’s technology communications group. In the U.S., people want larger cars because they drive more, he said, while in Japan, “hybrids sell well regardless of the gas prices.”

Despite fuel efficiency improvements and reduced hybrid system costs, global Toyota hybrid sales are slowing after having peaked at around 1.3 million units in 2013.

Toyota’s U.S. August sales were down 5% in a month where rivals General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. saw their sales fall more sharply.

Toyota isn’t the only manufacturer facing difficulties selling hybrids in the U.S. Sales of Nissan Motor Co.’s Leaf electric car are off 36% this year through August. Sales for the vehicles overall are down 14.4% for the year, according to Hybridcars.com and market-research firm Baum and Associates.

The weak market for hybrids and electric cars, except from Tesla Motors Inc., also doesn’t bode well for GM’s fourth quarter launch of its Chevrolet Bolt electric car.

Still, even accounting for the overall decline in the market, Prius sales are sputtering in the U.S. Sales of the flagship Prius sedan are down 9.6% for the year, compared with a 50% decline for the seven-seater Prius v and a 45% decline in sales for the Prius c.

Toyota is trying to compensate for the shift in consumer tastes by selling more pickup trucks, but the factories that produce those vehicles are running out of space. The company builds Tacoma and Tundra trucks at factories in San Antonio, Texas, and Baja California in Mexico.

“The San Antonio factory is the most capacity-constrained Toyota factory in the world,” said Christopher Richter, a Tokyo-based auto analyst at brokerage firm CLSA.

Toyota’s Mr. Nakai said the company believes that eventually Americans will want to buy the same cars as its Japanese customers, pointing to U.S. government efforts to tighten fuel emissions standards.

But even in Japan, fuel efficiency alone isn’t enough to move cars off the lot anymore.

Despite the Prius’ position in Japan, “our honest feeling is that it could have sold better,” said Yasutomo Kato, head of new car sales promotion at Toyota dealer Tokyo Toyopet. It wasn’t until Toyopet focused its Prius sales pitch on new safety technologies like automatic braking and collision warning sensors that buying started to pick up, Mr. Kato said.

Toyota’s Prius is partly a victim of its own success. These days there are plenty of hybrids and other environmentally friendly cars from rivals, including all-electric models from Tesla. Toyota sells a hybrid Camry and RAV 4 SUV, and for those who want to show off the latest technology it has the hydrogen fuel cell-powered Mirai sedan.

Despite last year’s redesign which gave the Prius a sportier profile—Toyota calls the car “daring” and “edgy” in its brochure—some say it is starting to look a little dated.

“The Prius is a great concept, but Toyota has really put more energy in to the mechanics of the hybrid vehicle rather than the styling,” said Chris Redl, who runs the Japan-focused hedge fund Siena Carnico Capital LLC.

“The people with money buy a Tesla,” he said.

 

[IS-SV]

Yep (as it relates to Chris Redl's statement above), Tesla has shown that an electric and/or hybrid does not have to be ugly.

 

[Tragic Bronson]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...shun-prius-with-look-only-anime-fans-can-love

Toyota U.S. Buyers Shun Prius With Look Only Anime Fans Can Love

The Toyota Prius that Kendall Greuel bought six weeks ago does what he wanted, which is save money on his daily 100-mile round trip commute. Just one thing nags at the Oklahoman.

“Sometimes I catch a glimpse of the car,” Greuel said, “and think it’s kind of ugly.”

The 31-year-old IT worker from Muskogee has his finger on the latest vexation for Prius, the gas-electric hybrid that established Toyota Motor Corp. as an environmental leader two decades ago. At a time when American customers were already defecting from Prius because of cheap gasoline and a shift to trucks, the automaker pushed through a polarizing redesign -- one that’s been a hit at home in Japan but has failed to stem a sales slump in the U.S.

“The Prius design is busy and overwrought,’’ said Eric Noble, who runs a product development consultancy called Carlab in Orange, California. “It never should have been allowed to happen.’’ In his view, the new Prius comes close to rivaling the Pontiac Aztek, a 2005-era sport utility vehicle often mentioned as one of the worst auto designs ever.

The 93,083 Priuses sold in the U.S. through August was a 26 percent drop from the year-earlier period and put the model line on pace for its worst annual deliveries in five years.

Design Defense
Bill Fay, Toyota’s head of U.S. sales, begs to differ with Prius’s critics. Toyota chose the design to attract mainstream customers as well as environmentalists, and plenty of people like it, he said in an interview. The vehicle’s greatest challenge is fighting the booming popularity of truck and SUV models spurred by cheap gasoline, Fay said.

The situation in the U.S. is far different from Japan, where Prius has resumed its position as the top-selling model and gasoline costs the equivalent of about $4.50 a gallon. The potentially varying reactions to the design may reflect cultural differences.

“Toyota opted for an ‘entertainment’ or ‘anime’ design that appeals to the Japanese market more than the U.S.,’’ said Geoff Wardle, head of graduate studies at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Several design elements don’t support a common theme, he said, such as the neon-red lights zigzagging through 20-inch tail lamps that protrude from the side of the car like “flying buttresses.”

Fay was among executives consulted on the design and said he’s confident the Prius line will do well. “All we can do is continue to reinvest and make the car as compelling as we can, because the market is going to change again,’’ he said. Two Prius models, the Prius C compact and Prius V wagon, haven’t been updated along with the liftback version.

Reinforcements are on the way in the form of a refreshed plug-in model, newly dubbed the Prius Prime. With a 25-mile all-electric range that extends to 640 miles between refuelings, the Prius Prime will be priced $6,000 less than the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt.

‘Squandered Lead’
Yet even Prius Prime’s green credentials disappoint some environmentalists. Roland Hwang, transportation program director with the Natural Resources Defense Council, says Toyota is being too conservative. The plug-in’s electric range is less than half the Chevrolet Volt’s 53 miles. And while General Motors Co.’s all-electric Chevrolet Bolt arrives in showrooms this year, Toyota doesn’t offer a battery-only car in the U.S.

“One can argue Toyota has squandered its lead in the green vehicle market,” Hwang said.

The Prius’s rate of sales decline through August is almost double that of all hybrids lacking a plug, according to HybridCars.com. Demand has dropped even though Toyota updated the segment-leading Prius late last year with a double-wishbone suspension for better handling and added tech features such as lane-keeping assist. Only 42 percent of owners are opting for another Prius when they trade in their car, down from 64 percent in 2005, according to Edmunds.com.

Customer Surveys
In surveys, customers complain about a cramped interior and paucity of storage space, said Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision, a San Diego consumer research firm. In his firm’s overall measure of customer satisfaction, Prius ranks below the now-discontinued Chrysler 200. Among customers who shopped and rejected the Prius, 12 percent did so because of exterior styling, up from 8 percent with the prior model.
Those figures help explain why Toyota has had to keep relatively high rebates on Prius even after the redesign. The company now offers rebates of $3,039 on each Prius, down only about $200 from the year-earlier period, said Jessica Caldwell, an Edmunds.com analyst.

The competition won’t get any easier. Environmentalists will have unprecedented choices as the number of battery-only and hybrid plug-ins grows to 33 next year from three in 2011, according to the Consumer Federation of America. And the Prius now has gas-electric challengers within Toyota’s own lineup: the company has sold 28,862 RAV4 hybrids this year.

For now, the Oklahoma Prius owner Greuel is satisfied that his new ride is averaging 56.1 miles per gallon, enough to save the equivalent of a second monthly car payment. But as for that design -- with curves in the hood converging into a small snout above an exaggerated grille opening -- his attitude toward it “depends on what mood I’m in.’’

The new Prius isn't cutting it, with the Prime help sales?

 

[IS-SV]

^ Good article, not just blaming gas prices as usual for sharp decline in sales.

 

[Gecko]

Prius Prime looks great, IMO. Standard car is terrible looking. Ugliest Prius ever.