More CNW Marketing . . . .
Hi folks,
First the latest harvest of "CNW Marketing" from http://news.google.com:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...607180348/1001
"Toyota, Honda add hybrid incentivesBANDON, Ore. -- Toyota Motor Corp. 's Prius and Honda Motor Co. 's Civic Hybrid, the two best-selling U.S. gasoline- electric cars, are being sold by dealers at a discount even with limited inventory of both models, a market survey claimed. Prius is receiving discounts of as much as $1,100 from U.S. dealers, while Civic Hybrid buyers are getting back as much as $800, CNW Marketing Research , an industry forecaster based in Bandon, Ore., said Monday.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...607190402/1148
". . .
Sales of hybrids in the United States, the biggest market for such vehicles, grew 26 percent in the year's first half. Toyota grabbed a 73 percent share of the segment.
In spite of the strong sales, Honda and Toyota dealers have started offering some discounts on their hybrids.
Prius is receiving discounts of as much as $1,100 from U.S. dealers, while Civic Hybrid buyers are getting back as much as $800, CNW Marketing Research, an industry forecaster based in Bandon, Oregon, said Tuesday.
Gasoline prices, approaching $3 a gallon for much of the year, have boosted sales of hybrids from Toyota, Honda and Ford Motor Co. to a record 116,767 through June from 92,558 a year ago. Industry sales of all vehicles fell 2.4 percent in the same period.
. . ."
http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/yb...lackenterprise
"2006-07-18
Daily Breeze
HYBRIDS
Dealers discounting 2 popular models
Toyota's Prius and Honda's Civic Hybrid, the two best-selling gas- electric cars, are being sold by dealers at a discount even with limited inventory of both models, a market survey said Monday.
Prius, the world's best-selling hybrid, is being sold at discounts of as much as $1,100 by U.S. dealers, while Civic Hybrid buyers are getting back as much as $800, CNW Marketing Research, an industry forecaster based in Bandon, Ore., said Monday.
In some cases dealers are either selling cars below the sticker price or offering payments higher than book value for trade-ins, CNW President Art Spinella said Monday.
. . ."
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story....6-622a5327b670
". . .
According to Art Spinella, the uber-auto analyst and President of CNW Marketing Research, hybrid sales every month this year have been down compared to the same time last year. Even sales of the Toyota Prius – the darling of the greens – have dropped significantly. The only segment besides taxis where hybrids are still holding steady – taxpayers will be happy to note -- is the car fleets maintained by the government.
What's particularly interesting is that individual consumers are defying all expectations and turning their backs on hybrids at a time when gas prices are soaring. (The average U.S. retail price of gas spiked to a record high of $3.01 last September following hurricane Katrina, and just last week it hit its second highest price ever at nearly $3.00.) Nor is the reason all that mysterious. Spinella's customer satisfaction surveys show that 62 percent of hybrid owners are dissatisfied with the fuel-economy performance of their cars given what they have paid for them.
This means that when gas prices go up, these people don't rush out to buy more hybrids. "They buy a Chevy Aveo," says Spinella. "It delivers the same fuel economy as a Prius, but at half the price."
. . ."
First things first, news we don't like is not always wrong. Before responding to any of these publications, the first step is to find the local Toyota dealer and make a call. Find out the local facts and data. Then send the 'letter to the editor' citing the local source and facts.
The goal is to present facts and data, easily verifiable facts and data, to the local paper or editors. As CNW Marketing's accuracy becomes more and more suspect, the local news outlet will be less and less likly to take their pronouncements without doing what a cub reporter should do, make local calls to check the facts and data. You can be the missing "cub reporter."
It is easy to gain the impression of an orchestrated, anti-hybrid campaign from not only CNW Marketing but GM executives and other skeptics. But we have only had hybrids for five years. The proof is measured in product endurance in the market place.
One last thing, keep your objectivity and see our hybrids, warts and all. I'm slowly modifying my NHW11 Prius to improve performance and capabilities. Painting a too rosy picture is worse than a false report, which can be easily refuted. So don't hide or gloss over the limitation but you don't have to volunteer it either.
Bob Wilson
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