Between rising gas prices and production delays in Japan caused by last month’s earthquake, some Toyota dealerships in California are finding their Prius inventories depleted.
Prius production resumed in Japan earlier this week, but the Japan-built hybrids won’t be arriving in North America for several weeks since they have to make the journey across the Pacific Ocean to Toyota’s Long Beach, California, port of entry.
Toyota typically sells about 2,000 Priuses (or Prii) in Southern California every month, which makes the region its largest hybrid market. The five-door gasoline-electric hybrid vies with the mainstream Camry as Toyota’s best seller in the Los Angeles area. That strong demand has dealers concerned.
“It is a dwindling supply and getting worse,” said Dianne Whitmire, fleet director at Carson Toyota in Carson, California.
The automaker anticipates that it might lose between 1,200 and 2,000 California-bound Prius five-doors over the next few weeks as a result of production stoppages that lasted more than two weeks in Japan.
Further, TrueCar.com, which tracks transaction prices, says that Prius models are selling for an average of $700 more every week since the earthquake.
References
1.’ Toyota Prius dealers…’ view
