Toyota Denies 4th Gen Prius

[APS]

Today I had a moment of boredom and sent a tweet to Toyota gb when the next gen Prius will come. Here's their response...

"....we have no plans at present for a 4th generation Prius. For the latest news and announcements visit: blog.toyota.co.uk."

Hmm... I somehow doubt they will kill off the Prius brand. Maybe they are skipping straight to the 5th gen!? :)

Sent from my iPhone

[FROSTYBALLS]

Fairly standard response - they are more interested in selling what they have now. Few manufacturers will admit to the public when a new model is due out and before the public launch, whether it is next week or next year.

[APS]

In all honesty I did expect a response like this but it was the choice of what they said i thought was interesting. They could have said, "we cannot comment on new models ahead of public launch". Instead they made a statement saying "we don't have any plans". Which to me doesn't sound like the truth.

Sent from my iPad using Toyota OC

[FROSTYBALLS]

Saying 'we cannot comment on new models' is admitting there is a new model on the horizon, whereas saying 'they have no plans' is more non-committal, and maintains their stance towards the existing model. Doesn't really matter whether it sounds like the truth, they're not going to comment on the forthcoming model.

[Duffryn]

"Non-committal"? Wouldn't agree with that comment at all.

Toyota's response 'we have no plans etc.' sounds more like a downright lie to me......or maybe they were referring to the UK market?

[cobh18]

Given that planning for a 4th Gen is a senior JDM function, it may be correct for UK office to say "we have no plans at present". So long as they refer to their own domain. Not helpful, but true in so far as it goes.

[FROSTYBALLS]

"Non-committal"? Wouldn't agree with that comment at all.

Toyota's response 'we have no plans etc.' sounds more like a downright lie to me......or maybe they were referring to the UK market?

As it was Toyota GB that was contacted, then the reference would have been to their sales territory - UK and Malta.

As I said before, few manufacturers and their sales organisations will talk to the public about new models prior to launch - really they can say what they like.

Prius sales seem to be similar to 2014 with 1237 sold January to May inclusive compared to 2445 for 2014.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the gen4 didn't make it to the UK. Toyota have deliberately overpriced the gen3 these last few years to make the locally built Auris HSD appear competitive. They 'might' bring the gen4 shaped gen2 PIP to the UK, but I think Toyota believe in hydrogen and possibly deliberaltely compromised the PIP so it could be kicked into touch.

Other competitors out there have a wide variety of hybrid, plug in and BEV options out there that realyl give the PIP or Prius a run for their money now. Long gone are the days of being the only kid on the block. The Audi e-tron, VW eGolf and GTE plug in, the Outlander PHEV that's sold 10k in less than a year compared to about 1,500 PIP sales over the last 3 years. The market is competitive and hotting up. People now have a bit more money in their pockets again and are being tempted into low emission vehicles - for whatever reason. There is demand for sure, but Toyota definitely have had a change of direction.

I was at my local Toyota dealers the other day (a side line - that the hell is it with the new corporate colour scheme!?!?!) and they had a PIP sat outside. Apparently it gains a little interest until the price is mentioned. Just sums it up I think.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Without the 4th generation Prius, Toyota won't have a hybrid to compete in the D market sector (Avensis, Mondeo, Passat) .....

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Without the 4th generation Prius, Toyota won't have a hybrid to compete in the D market sector (Avensis, Mondeo, Passat) .....

Indeed. But then why have Prius sales collapsed from over 10k a year to under 3k? And it isn't just because the model is old, the gen2 was still selling over 8k in its last year.

[FROSTYBALLS]

As with most cars, the Prius has got bigger with each new generation, is now closer in size to the Avensis and the D market sector (which is shrinking), It's place in the C sector (Focus, Golf) has largely been taken by the Auris hybrid. Plus people have more choice, not just with Toyota (Yaris, Auris, Prius) but other manufacturers.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

As with most cars, the Prius has got bigger with each new generation, is now closer in size to the Avensis, and it's place in the C sector (Focus, Golf) has largely been taken by the Auris hybrid. Plus people have more choice, not just with Toyota (Yaris, Auris, Prius) but other manufacturers.

Is the official take on it :)

There's more choice for sure but I wonder how many ex Prius owners own another Toyota hybrid or have gone elsewhere? But I also wonder whether the 10k Outlander PHEV owners ever had a hybrid before? They sold 10k in the UK in less than 12 months. Those figures make Toyota hybrid sales look questionable after 15 years in the hybrid game. What a missed opportunity - you could have played the hybrid card a bit better and really cornered the market. I appreciate 1 in 4 Toyotas sold is a hybrid, but it could have been 3 in 4?

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Without the 4th generation Prius, Toyota won't have a hybrid to compete in the D market sector (Avensis, Mondeo, Passat) .....

Indeed. But then why have Prius sales collapsed from over 10k a year to under 3k? And it isn't just because the model is old, the gen2 was still selling over 8k in its last year.

So 8.2k new Yaris hybrid on the road this year over last, this easily makes up for your numbers difference. I suspect a lot of those would have been Prius sales if the Yaris wasn't available. People want the tech, and will pay for it, but equally will pay for a lower priced example of this tech if available. This I suspect is why Toyota have decided to introduce the Yaris hybrid for starters.

You've also got to remember the competition has only just started to hot up in the last 12-18 months, with model cycles of 5-7 years, Toyota are not going to make changes over night.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Interesting media release from Toyota Europe in January this year - http://newsroom.toyota.eu/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=CBAB6C03D615B75D4966E5602614A7EE?&id=4183&allImage=1&teaser=fourth-consecutive-year-sales-growth-toyota-motor-europe

The Yaris Hybrid was Toyota's best selling hybrid in Europe during 2014 (58,530), followed by the Auris Touring Sports (36,183), the Auris hatchback (33,983), the Prius (7,949), the Prius + (7,191) and the Prius Plug-in (1,352).

A couple of Lexus hybrids sold more than the Prius - CT200H (10,340), IS (9,152).

The Auris and CT200H use the Prius drivetrain,and the same (less the engine) has been licensed to Mazda to use in their 3 Hybrid.

[APS]

The latest Which? magazine arrived earlier this week and it said the 4th gen Prius would arrive in the UK Q4 2015.

Now I've never seen which as the publication most in the know but on the other hand I doubt they would put things in print unless they had been given reliable info.

Last time I read rumours about the Prius they said Akio Toyoda had thrown in a spanner and asked them to redesign the car more or less from scratch, hence the delay. The reason apparently to make it more sporty and fun. But this is obviously just rumours.

Sent from my iPhone

[Grumpy Cabbie]

The Prius is due to arrive in the US market in Q4 and usually/historically we get it about 3-6 months later. Early 2016 Q1?

[Parts-King]

When the Prius was selling high volume, we did not have other Hybrid models. People who bought the original Prius models and who wanted the new technology may not have bought a Prius if there had been a smaller model available such as Auris

I do not subscribe to the theory of making cars expensive so they don't sell, sorry

[Duffryn]

When the Prius was selling high volume, we did not have other Hybrid models. People who bought the original Prius models and who wanted the new technology may not have bought a Prius if there had been a smaller model available such as Auris

I do not subscribe to the theory of making cars expensive so they don't sell, sorry

Probably more a case of distancing the Prius from the 'lesser' models below (Auris, Yaris) , and, of course, transporting them from Japan adds to the cost too. Toyota UK/GB would surely want to sell more locally produced cars than those shipped from t'other side of the world.

[Parts-King]

The internet is full of images for the 2016 Prius, it will appear here without doubt at some stage

It must make sense to sell locally made cars, after all, as you say the cost of making cars the other side of the world has to be more expensive and causes logistical problems with availability / colour choice etc