Toyota Prius Plug-in: the little electric hybrid that could
The Toyota Prius Plug-in doesn't have quite the sales numbers as the headline-grabbing Chevy Volt. But Toyota's entry into the electric hybrid market with the Prius Plug-in has been a quiet initial success for the automaker.
The Toyota Prius Plug-in doesn't have quite the sales numbers as the headline-grabbing Chevy Volt. But Toyota's entry into the electric hybrid market with the Prius Plug-in has been a quiet initial success for the automaker.
The Chevy Volt, General Motors鈥� foray into the electric hybrid market, has been the subject of heated debate in recent weeks, from its robust sales figures and customer satisfaction to quibbles over profit loss and the feasibility of the electric car market in general.
But while the Volt grabbed the headlines, Toyota quietly nursed along its own electric hybrid, the Prius Plug-in, to pleasing, if modest, results.
Since its launch last year, the Prius Plug-in has sold 7, 734, units in the United States, according to data from Automakers and Automotive聽 News. That鈥檚 considerably less than the Volt, which moved 16,348 units this year. But it鈥檚 more than the Nissan Leaf, the purely electric model that came in third place (5,212 sold this year). 聽The Prius Plug-in was the second-fastest selling car in March 2012, and the third-fastest in April.聽 It even outpaced sales of the Volt during the month of April. The car gets the gasoline equivalent of 95 miles per gallon and has a starting price in the US of about $32,000.
It鈥檚 a good start, especially for a vehicle in a category that comprises a mere sliver of the automotive market (some perspective: The Ford F-Series pickup truck, the top-selling car in August 2012, moved 58,201 units that month). What鈥檚 more, the Prius Plug-In is only available in 15 鈥渓aunch鈥� states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. The car will be available in remaining states sometime in 2013.
What accounts for the Prius Plug-In鈥檚 strong start? Keley Mays, a blogger at Cars.com, posits that some of it has to do with brand recognition:聽 As of February 2012. 2.5 million cars carrying the Prius name have been sold worldwide. 鈥淭hat makes it relatively mainstream,鈥� Mays writes. 聽鈥淎mericans have bought four Priuses for every five Hyundai Sonatas [a briskly-selling聽 gasoline-powered sedan] over the same span.鈥�
What鈥檚 more, Toyota isn鈥檛 afraid to get a little creative with marketing.聽 On Sunday, the Home Shopping Network devoted a three-hour programming block to the Prius and other Toyota-model hybrids聽 in a segment called 鈥淒iscover Toyota鈥濃�� the first fully car-devoted programming in the network鈥檚 34-year history, according to USA Today. HSN couldn鈥檛 sell the cars directly, but it did give Toyota an outlet to explain the features and technology of the Prius lineup , a move that Toyota officials touted as a great success.聽