It pays to back a winner!


http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061101/law108.html?.v=45

You must own their stock. I just drive their cars.

Paul's point was that buying a car from a carmaker IS backing that maker .

Toyota's first month with the lowered tax break has shown up in lower sales - 4,136 fewer hybrids sold in October than in September.

Also, the lower gas prices hurt sales too I'm sure.

I don't look at it as the sales of hybrids dropped in October. I'm thinking that September's hybrid sales for Toyota was artificially high due to the reduction in credit that was imminent.

I purchased my 2006 Prius on Sept 30 (I ordered it 2 months earlier). I was told they were "selling" a lot of Priuses that day, and several people were surprised that I was actually getting a physical car. Apparently they were doing a lot of fudging so that people could get the full tax break.

-Terence

August Prius sales were 6 percent higher than September, and overall hybrid sales in the USA were 11 percent lower in Sept 2006 than in August 2006.

This is now a two-month decline. Hopefully not indicator of a long-term trend, but we shall see.

Just a guess, but I think theses stats are representative of a number of things:

1. Decline in gas prices...when prices again near or top $3/gallon, hybrid sales will again increase

2. Ending of the "full" tax credit on Toyota's Hybrids on Sept 30

3. TCH has undoubtebly pulled some buyers away from the Prius.

4. Production on TCH has increased, and early pent-up demand is being filled

Is comparing overall hybrid sales month-to-month meaningful? How did regular sales do? Maybe the back-to-school, end-of-summer, Labor day month sees a slight dip overall? (I'm just wildly speculating without looking up the data. Feel free to discuss while I'm gone. <g>)

B. Goodman

Jeff,

of course all those are factors. Time will tell which ones were the major factors. I hope hybrids spike up to 30,000 a month. My gut feeling is that with lower gas prices and less of a tax break, buyers are shying away. I hope I'm wrong. I have been a strong hybrid advocate for more than two years now, and I hate to see the declines giving the naysayers ammunition.

I can foresee a decline in the number of hybrids purchased over the next few months if the current gas prices keep at their relatively low levels. Not many hybrid owners will dump their TCH but the ones who were planning to buy one will instead buy a large sedan or a SUV. Honestly, 25 % of current TCH owners will not buy one now with gas at $2.25 and the rebate of only $1300.