By Makiko Kitamura and Yuki Hagiwara – // Jan 28, 2011 2:10 AM CT
Toyota Motor Corp. may lower the price of its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid car in Japan as the brand image of the nation’s best-selling model changes, Nomura Research Institute Ltd. said.
Because of its high sales volume, car buyers are now more likely to think of the Prius as a “friendly” brand than a “leading edge” one, according to a survey conducted by Fumikazu Kitagawa of Nomura’s global automotive practice. As a result, it’s competing with customers who may be drawn to cheaper cars with a strong “friendly” image, such as Honda Motor Co.’s Fit compact, he said.
“As the Prius becomes more of a mass-market car, it may be time to think about lowering the price,” said Kitagawa, who polled 1,972 car owners in November.
Helped by government incentives that encouraged purchases of fuel-efficient models, Prius sales in Japan surged 50 percent to 315,669 vehicles in 2010, outselling Suzuki Motor Corp.’s second-ranked Wagon R minicar by more than 100,000 units. Earlier this month, Toyota unveiled a wagon-type and a smaller derivative of the world’s best-selling hybrid car at the Detroit auto show. It will introduce a plug-in Prius by 2012.
The third generation of the hybrid car was introduced in May 2009 and was Japan’s top-selling model for the past two years. The car is priced from 2.05 million yen ($24,800).
If Toyota lowered the price of the Prius, would you buy one?
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