This article could have been put in: VW diesel disaster thread Prius Prime 'Midwest' thread Eventually, I figured it belongs here: Toyota's Hybrid Bet in Europe Finally Pays Off - Bloomberg In the first full year since Volkswagen’s emissions scandal threw the German giant into disarray, Toyota is on track for roughly a 40 percent jump in annual sales of gasoline-electric vehicles in Europe. Hybrids are set to account for more than half of Toyota’s deliveries for the region by the end of the decade, according to Karl Schlicht, executive vice president of the carmaker’s European division. SOB! Is Toyota shipping our Prius Primes to the EU? I suspect not because we have seen EU voices praising their IONIQ, not the Prius Prime. This is a result that pleases me too because it implies we're not losing Prius Prime inventory. There is nothing architecturally wrong with the IONIQ but for business reasons (profits) Hyundai is 'decimating' their management both in the USA and apparently in Korea too. They are facing a grim future with the wrong product mix, not enough SUVs, to increase sales in 'cheap gas' USA . . . and the IONIQ is their 'bete noir.' Now thanks to the cheat VW, the Hyundai IONIQ has an opportunity in the EU. But in the USA, it is DOA and totally unappealing to this new Prius Prime Plus owner. At least I could buy the Prius Prime as apparently Godot is delivering the Hyundai IONIQ. Ok, enough snark for this evening. Bob Wilson
Toyota's hybrid sales have been steadily improving in Europe, but I don't think their total car sales are as big there as they are here.
Toyota peaked at a 5.7% market share in europe in 2007 then crashed to 3.96% in 2011. Growth should be easy with that tiny market share. They made it over 4% last year, but that is hardly encouraging. In the US toyota had a 14% market share. Pretty simple then to sell a higher percentage of hybrids in europe where they sell so many fewer cars and trucks.
2017 Q1 hybrid numbers looking good for Europe: Hybrid sales grew by +50% year-on-year to 106,000 units. Hybrids now represent nearly 40% of total TME sales, and close to an impressive 50% in Western Europe only. 106,000 hybrids in 3 months, looking at hybrid sales in US, looks like Toyota sells more hybrids in EU than all hybrid brands combined in US (82,939). Interesting is that Prius sales represent only 4,177 of those 106,000 hybrids. Top hybrids represent Yaris, Auris, C-HR, all those three are made in EU (France, UK, Turkey).
Import taxes give those three a price advantage over the Prius. So the figures shouldn't be surprising in that light. I'm sure some Europeans have been turned off of diesels by some companies past actions. Then there is talk of higher taxes on them, and even banning them from cities. In a market with high fuel prices, this gives hybrids a chance to catch market share. You are comparing 3 months of sales to one month there. Toyota did only sell 45590 hybrids without a plug in the US over the same 3 months. As long as gas prices stay low here, Europe will likely become the bigger hybrid market.
Looking good. Locally built cars will have a stronger presence and lower tariffs. In Canada, any car that isn't built in Canada, US or Mexico (NAFTA) is subject to a 6.1% import tax. Naturally, the most popular models are built here Corolla - Canada (Cambridge) and USA (TMMM) (Best selling Toyota vehicle in Canada) RAV4 - Canada (Woodstock) (2nd best selling Toyota vehicle in Canada. Could surpass Corolla this year) RAV4 Hybrid - Japan (although the internet said the engine is made in China) Camry/Camry Hybrid - Japan/USA (TMMK) Avalon/Avalon Hybrid - USA (TMMK) RX350 - Canada (Cambridge) (RX450h is built in Japan) ES350 - Japan/USA (TMMK) (I think the ES300h may actually be built at TMMK but not 100% sure) Tundra - USA (TMMT) Tacoma - USA (TMMT) Venza - USA (TMMK) Highlander - USA (TMMI) Sequoia - USA (TMMI) Sienna - USA (TMMI) So that leaves: Yaris - France Yaris iA (aka Mazda2 saloon) - Japan Corolla iM (aka Auris) - Japan CH-R - ? (we don't know where it'll be imported from... Japan or Turkey) 4Runner - Japan Land Cruiser - Japan Rest of the Lexus lineup - Japan
82,939 are hybrids in the US in january-march 2017, 2.1% of auto sales. Plug-ins are 40,729 in the US or 1% of auto sales. Europe hybrid sales are growing, but the US is just trying to get back to 2013, when hybrid sales made 3.3% of the the US market in january-march and 3.2% for the full year. This is more than plug-in + hybrid combined. Of course plug-ins do best at the end of the year so their take rate should go up, especially if the model 3 makes any volume.
For more perspective: Worldwide Prius PHV/Prime sales Q1 2017: 10447. In Japan according to JADA, Prius +Aqua + CH-R combined score Q1 2017: 124635 (including the PHV). Compared to 121524 in Q1 2016 (Prius + Aqua). CH-R certainly erodes Prius sales there (and maybe Aqua's as well). And...Prius
At present, C-HR Hybrid for Europe & Prius Prime for US/Japan, only expensive Prius Plug-in (Advanced) in EU
