LexusPia

In today's Wall Street Journal, it says Toyota and Ford are cutting back production of the hybrid vehicles. Toyota is offering a low interest rate on the Highlander hybrid and will be delivering 20% fewer hybrids this year and cut 1/3 production to match demand on the Highlander hybrid. Ford will sell 35% less on the hybrid this year. Honda saw a 69% decline on its Accord Hybrid. I'm hearing that some Lexus dealers are having some difficulty in moving the 400h and are making deals whereas before you had to pay full sticker price to get one. Your thoughts on why the decline and lack of consumer interest?

katzjamr

First of all i looked at every page of todays WSJ and could not find the article, however here are my thots: While its great ford was first with a domestic hybrid, its clear their product is sluggish and problem prone. Honda makes alot of cars that get great mpg and some people feel the accord hybrid could have been a better value cost/mpg wise. Also Honda chose to go the mild hybrid route with the electric assisting mostly on take off, not a full hybrid like toyota. Its my opinion that the Highlander is a great SUV, however the average toyota buyer would rather have the gas saving of the 4cylinder hybrid combo (like toyota did with the new Camry hybrid) rather than the current version that got piggybacked on to the lexus 400h. Also it is well known that the Highlander will be redesigned next year so you are purchasing a dated style. It is not known if the smaller engine could power the 4300 lb suv adequately, some people hope the redesign of the HH wil incorporate the new more efficient Camry hybrid chasis if that is possible. Still given all of that both HH and 400h owners are overwhelmingly happy with thier cars. Yes it is true some lexus dealers have more inventory of the 400h at this time. Most of the people who were on waiting lists have purchased thier cars, and Lexus has a traditional december to remember sales push every year. The Lexus 330's are on sale since the new 350's are out. Remember also that the domestic car makers have been almost giving away cars with rebates, and low interest rates since last summer. Jan and Feb are traditionally slower months for Toyota, however remember gas is almost 3.00 a gallon now in the pacific northwest and predicted to be 3.50 by summer. Toyota is ramping up production of the Prius in Japan with a new facility.
This is a great time to buy a hybrid as you can deal more than ever, its clear demand will pick up again as public awareness and gas prices rise.

rklages

I think people are just catching on, paying a 10k premium for a hybrid doesn't save you any money and I think people are finally figuring it out - gas would need to be 8 bucks a gallon before the addition cost of a hybrid makes sense. The good news is that if they are not selling as well and you can make a deal and maybe get something that will eventually pay for itself. I think manufacturers have been taking advantage of consumers by charging such a premium for these vehicles - they should by more cost effective!

BOWTIE 3

The Japanese word " Prius " correctly translated into English is pronounced SUCKER!

LexusPia

Here's the complete article on page A2 in the 4/7/06 WSJ:

Consumer Drive For Hybrid Autos Is Slowing Down

By JOHN D. STOLL and GINA CHON
April 7, 2006; Page A2

Ford Motor Co. said it will offer 0% financing for up to five years on its Escape Hybrid sport-utility vehicle through July 5 in an effort to spur sales, in the latest sign that the initial rush of consumer enthusiasm for some gasoline-electric hybrids is cooling off.

Toyota Motor Corp. recently offered 3.9% financing on five-year loans to spark demand for its Highlander Hybrid SUV. The Japanese company delivered 20% fewer such vehicles than it expected in 2005, and the auto maker recently cut production of Highlander Hybrids by more than a third in an effort to match output with demand.

Ford is on pace to sell about 35% fewer Escape hybrids than it has capacity to build at its plant in Kansas City, Mo., although sales have picked up since January. Ford last month had offered as much as $1,000 in discounts on its Escape Hybrid, which is powered by a combination of a conventional engine and battery-powered motor. For the first three months of this year, hybrid sales were flat at Ford compared with the same period last year.

Honda Motor Co. sold 581 Accord Hybrid vehicles in March, a 69% decline from the same period last year, according to Green Congress, which compiles statistics on sales of hybrids. The Accord Hybrid costs about $7,000 more than a regular Accord, while premiums on other hybrids are closer to $3,000 to $5,000.

Hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid still enjoy strong demand. But the slowdown for some other models comes as more consumers are questioning whether hybrid vehicles deliver sufficient fuel savings in real-world driving to justify the extra cost of the technology. The Accord Hybrid gets slightly less gas mileage than the gas-only version. A Honda Accord Hybrid, with a V-6 engine, gets 25 miles per gallon in the city and 34 miles per gallon on the highway, while the less expensive, conventional four-cylinder Accord gets 26 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway.

A recent, widely publicized report by Consumer Reports said only two of six hybrid models studied recovered the price premium after five years and 75,000 miles. The Prius and Civic Hybrid provide a savings of several hundred dollars.

Consumer demand for hybrid gas-electric vehicles is being watched closely by auto executives, and advocates of technology to cut automotive petroleum consumption.

Toyota has been the most aggressive among the major auto makers in promoting gas-electric hybrid technology as a solution for cutting gasoline consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases. Toyota plans to roll out this year a hybrid version of the Camry, the best-selling vehicle in the U.S., as part of a push to offer hybrid variants of many mainstream models.

General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG and BMW AG have formed an alliance to speed introduction of hybrid systems for use in SUVs. Ford has said it will roll out at least seven more hybrid models and that it will have the capacity to build 250,000 such vehicles by the end of the decade. The push to expand hybrid offerings represents substantial investments by the auto makers.

Toyota_F1

iTrader: (1)

Come on kids... Hybrids are a great buy if you do a lot of city commuting. They also have greatly reduced emissions and that's the biggest part. If your bag is saving gas money that might not be the best route depending on your driving habits. If you really want to save on gas get a motorcycle (and if the weather is too harsh get a snowmobile ). If the hybrid isn't for you then don't get one. It's a good way to increase power and keep fuel efficiency the same and it has some great applications, but obviously any system that uses gasoline is not the ultimate solution to gasoline consumption. But it's an improvement.

As far as the 400h goes, it's nice. It has a lot of options standard and being available in FWD now it's better suited to more applications with more reasonable pricing. V8 power - V6 fuel efficiency - it's still an improvement.

LexFather

Our sales thread here
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=207179
The RX 400h sold 2,470 units. The newly revised INfiniti FX 35 and 45 didn't beat that in a month.

The Brand new from the ground up Mercedes ML sold 2,740 units last month, that is 350 AND 500 numbers. So with 2 models, they BARELY outsold the RX.
BMWs X5 with 3.0, 4.4 and 4.8 models, sold 2,462 units.

THe RX 400 is FINE, selling better than ever. Considering the COST of this SUV, this says a lot.

I love some facts

lexuslover

my friend got a hybrid in Jan 06 for more than 6k off MSRP. we live close to one another, and so far his real world mileage is only about 4-5mpg better than my AWD. he likes the performance aspect, but rarely uses it (to save gas). in fact, he purposely drives really conservatively while i tend to drive my 50k-mile-old 330 pretty hard. and now that the 350 is out, the performance aspect is less exclusive since the 350 will be as quick as the 400h. (i am not sure if they plan to put the 350 engine in the hybrid)

in any case, he knew from the start that you shouldn't be buying the hybrid entirely for the mpg because it would take you years to catch up in terms of cost over the regular 330. but for him it was more the idea of having a hybrid and he likes the fact that it makes no noise at start up and around parking lots.

if i bought a hybrid, i would just get a prius b/c the mpg really is insane and it comes with all the techno gadgets a lexus does. plus, it is now offered with leather

mhc0725

Lexuslover, you really love your Lexus'. Thinking about getting a LS600H in 2007?

Lexus_Jim

It always seems that people who do not own a RX400h have plenty of negative things to say about it.

On the other hand, everyone that owns one, loves it.

Can we ban the idiots from this forum who don't know what they are talking about?

I guess not, but it sure would make reading the forum more enjoyable.

Lil4X

Gotta agree here, but short of requiring proof of registration, we can't limit membership to actual owners of the vehicle. Besides, this would become a boring place indeed if we all stood around and congratulated ourselves for our brilliant decision to drive a hybrid.

That's one of the reasons we wanted to provide hybrid owners their own forum. Although I'm not a hybrid owner myself, many of us may want to consider the technology for our next purchase. We hope by providing this forum, we can more clearly hear the voices of actual owners and drivers of the 400h, and allow newbs like me a chance to ask questions.

xfirechief

Why should I spent 10K more for a RX400h?

I am getting 23MPG highway with the RX 330 & the RX 400h gets around 28MPH and that is city driving, I read lower for highway driving. We live in a small city of 12K so most of our driving is 50MPH or more, say 80/20 %.

I would guess we are not candidates for the RX 400h. Not for more $$ then the RX 350.

spwolf

hahaha, thats good one dude, thanks for sharing :-).


p.s. ppl, premium for RX400h is more like 3k, NOT 10k.

alaterreur

And you get $2600 credit back on Taxes making it only $400... .

I believe you can save that in about 1 year...

HarrierAWD

People who buy the RX 400h to save money will definitely be disappointed.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a V8-like mid-size SUV, look no further. The RX 400h is the ride. It is a bargain compared to V8-powered BMW X5 and Benz M-class, with better gas mileage to boot.