spwolf

This cant be any further from the truth... Toyota will sell 2m hybrids this year, and are having trouble expanding their capacity to the levels that sales are expanding. They will certainly sell more than 5m hybrids/evs in next 5 years because they are the only company so far that can sell hybrids at profit so they keep increasing production and sales.

On the other hand, Germans were focusing on diesels and still are and are very far behind hybrid tech so now they have large problems in Europe and Asia that requires cleaner tech so all they do is promise a lot of EVs while their production and sales are lagging because they have no tech on their own and are forced to use suppliers for everything which then dont have enough supply to meet their demand.

RNM GS3

LOL Right that is why all the Lexus Hybrids are discontinued or special order:
HS250h, CT200h, RXh, LSh, GSh, NXh, LCh etc.

Prius sales in the US are very poor.
Ppl buying up SUVs like RAV4.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Vast majority of Priuses in NYC are owned by NYC DOT, and a few cabbies here and there.

pbm317

Well, Toyota North America just announced a new head of product planning. I don't think we'll see many huge changes, as ultimate authority still rests in Japan, but the U.S. is still a critical market and one of the largest for many of the model lines.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

HS250h and CT200h were discontinued for the ES300h and UX250h respectively. The HS and CT live on outside the US

The original LS600hL and GS450h were special order yes. LC500h and LS500h are mostly special order, but large Lexus dealers stock them.

RX450h and NX300h are abundant.

geko29

This is not correct, and is in fact impossible in an atmosphere due to the laws of physics. These 48V electric turbos spool to 70,000 rpm in 300 miliseconds. So you're off by more than two orders of magnitude.


https://www.wired.com/2017/04/little...ggest-problem/

The reason the MGU-H equipped F1 cars have no turbo lag is because the electric motor is used to keep the turbine at speed when there is not enough exhaust gas pressure to do so without it--off- or part-throttle, for example. But they do not spool instantaneously, and this would be impractical/wasteful in a road-going car. F1 is also eliminating the MGU-H next season.

AJLex19

Toyota's milking the "slow and steady" strategy since they spent time to tap into the psyche of masses who want real value. My co-worker bought a brand new 2020 Corolla (he's 6'3 and 250lbs!) after seeing how well his dad's Corolla has serviced him over the last 20+years. When I asked him why he didn't consider anything else, it was because from it made the most sense since he plans to keep the car for a long time and wanted a low maintenance, problem free experience.

I've never expected Toyota to do anything drastic (e.g. make a car just because a competitor has one; or have an unreliable offering for the sake of showing off). The most startling thing they did was have less reserved styling -- something they were often criticized for in the past...yet have now received criticism for making more radical design choices

Obviously, partnerships with other firms are the smartest moves to make because they allow Toyota to work with others in the industry that may provide a strategic advantage in areas where they may be lacking expertise. Welcoming that diversity is smart because it allows them to think outside the box and make informed decisions in each corporate department (marketing, tech, design, research, etc.).

I think most of the concern surrounding their strategy is if they are somehow limiting their scope or portfolio to their detriment. I actually think they have done a great job with weathering various consumer shifts, technological advancements/limits, government changes and financial crises to remain an industry leader.

Toyota tries tireless to offer the consumer the most value oriented vehicle in the category and sells you on the right combination of track record / reliability, ease of use, technology, and customer/product commitment. I think the only thing Toyota is guilty of doing is having a strategy that stays true to their core values - albeit a very slow and steady one at that!

Sulu

...as is the ES 300h, the Camry Hybrid and Highlander Hybrid, which are not obviously hybrids but are becoming popular as hired vehicles (taxis and airport limos). The Prius is a left-coast taxi.

With Toyota pushing the RAV4 Hybrid and UX 250h, we will see how popular they become. And Corolla Hybrid may cut into Prius sales.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

I agree. I was just correcting their claim that Lexus hybrids are discontinued or special order, with my post.

situman

Well an electric car is just a hybrid without the ICE engine, no? So in a sense, Toyota is already way ahead of the curve when it comes to electric vehicles and hopefully when they go full electric, it will not set itself on fire like some Teslas.

peteharvey

True. I might have read somewhere that it takes 250 milliseconds, but I must have got mixed up with 2 milliseconds - which is incredibly too fast.

RNM GS3

HS and CT were discontinued and that rarely occurs especially for a Luxury brand partly bec they were Hybrids.
The new UX has a regular gas engine model which will do majority of sales.

LS600hL and GS450h and more recently LC500h are COMPLETE failures.
They were envisioned to be the top trim models and were completely rejected by the buying public.

Prius sales have cratered and most now are bought by local govt or car service/taxi.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

That’s like saying a human is a horse with 2 less legs. might be accurate in some ways but there’s lots of other differences.

peteharvey

TMC has the basic principles of battery power and electric motors, but they have a considerable amount of work to do to turn that into a BEV.

spwolf

It is a fact that they sold 1.6m hybrids last year and will sell 2m hybrids this year worldwide.

Also Toyota/Lexus USA sold 29k hybrids in May 2019, is that also a lol? Rav4 Hybrid sold 11k last month, hybrid is just a powertrain option, it does not have to be a special car like Prius. That is why they will sell 2m of them this year worldwide.