Mistake. These things should be a cheap as a Kia eventually and pullingthis crap now is what will prevent that. Plus if they had lowered the price, sold more, production would increase and cost would have come down even MORE. Come on Toyota!

They will loose the Green College Student Buyer! This is not a good move for years they have been smarter than GM and now they are making a GM Greedy Move, last year was the 1st year they lost money in 6 decades they are in-store for more with this move. The are opening the door for the Fiat 500 !

Top Gear Fiat 500 Abarth SS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpAFi9nIJVQ

-Sarge

They’re just dropping the stripper model. Most Prius-savvy shoppers will go for a used Gen II Prius instead of this de-contented model. The cruise control and the touchscreen are important parts of the Prius’ high fuel efficiency so it makes very little sense to drop them. Furthermore the Insight has turned out to be a turkey for Honda. Insight sales are way below expectation as buyers are comparing it against the new Prius and see the extra value in the higher cost.

Screw the prius, give me a TDI!

global_lightning,
where in the world did you get that info on the insight? Last time I heard, Honda couldn’t keep them in stock! Did things change?

Although I think Toyota is clearly too chickenshìt to compete, it’s not like the Insight is taking the world by storm either. If I had to choose between the two I’d probably opt for cyanide.

How much more basic can they make this car. My neighbor has a new prius with 3000 miles on it. The cheap ass standard hubcaps keep on falling off. She has had to replace 2 of them in the past 3 months. The dealer says there is nothing wrong with the wheels or hubcaps. Typical toyoda response. Maybe they should zip tie the hubcaps on. The also refused to unlock one time and they had to come out to open the doors.

global_lightning

You are 100% correct the Honda Insight is not selling well this Fact comes from “American Honda Motor Executive Vice President John Mendel” you know the Automotive industry !

The tough competition from Toyota’s Prius combined with the continued economic slump is causing American Honda Motor Executive Vice President John Mendel to redefine his prediction for sales of the Honda Insight in the U.S. Originally forecasting sales to reach 90,000 from its release date in March, the Honda VP now claims he will be satisfied if 50,000 to 60,000 of the units sell, taking the lower price of gas in May, and base price of the Prius having been cut by $1,000 by Toyota into consideration.

http://www.carseek.com/news/june2009/Honda-Insight-sales-forecast-US/

-Sarge

Typical Toyota,

When working with them last year during th hybrid craze they had a “base” Camry Hybrid available with none of the standard items like alloy wheels or keyless drive BUT they never really produced any of these models, they just existed “theoretically”…. Needless to say it made my life a living hell fro 3 months telling endless amounts of customers we couldn’t order that model even though it appeared available.

This is a good decision by Toyota. At the current price the Prius is a bargain… they do not need to cheapen the vehicle to try and compete with Honda’s piece of garbage Insight.

How much extra to make it visible palatable?

Here is teh interesting bit, Hyundai will be rolling out its own selection of Hybrids (starting with next gen Sonata) in about 2 years, and in true Hyundai tradition they will give you unbeatable bang for the buck. Ok, so the Sonata will go after the Camry/Accord/Altima/Malibu Hybrids, but it will do so for a sticker about $2000 lower. Eventually they will launch a smaller car, perhaps an Elantra Touring, or a dedicated model which would go after teh Prius/Insight/Civic crowd….again at $2000 less. At that point, the Prius will be at least $5k more than the comparable Hyundai offering, not some $1500 that separates the current Prius to the cheapest Insight, that is when the customers will notice and be like….”where’s teh base model toyota?”

In about 2 years Toyota will have launched its Prius line of vehicles… and will no doubt have something on the cheaper side of the scale… possibly Yaris based. Hyundai has done some revolutionary things recently, so we will have to wait and see. So far Toyota is the only brand with a truly successful hybrid-only vehicle, and the Hybrid market is so dominated by Prius that it will be very difficult for any company to get in there and have a real competitor.

Prius is much like an iPod. Sure, there are other devices on the market that do the same thing, but the original has been so successfully marketed that many potential buyers will not even consider a (cheaper) alternative.

The sheer amount of equipment Toyota took out of the Prius I to reduce the price by only $1400 is ridiculous.. plus as global_lightning stated, the EV-only mode/aero spoilers are part of what makes the vehicle so efficient.. so you’re paying a little less for a lot less! The Insight is a much smaller Fit-based vehicle compared to the more substantial Corolla/Avensis-based Prius.. and it’s efficiency isn’t even better! So why do they feel the need to compete on price?

So… it’ll still feel like the same appliance car only with less buttons?

Competition?
What competition?
It pays to build, and buy, the best
DrFill

Smegley
We had high hopes that Honda could offer some competition
But like with the NSX project, no such luck
We’ll dominate
As per usual!
DrFill

Dominate in making zip tied, hubcap falling off, fly by wire into a tree, toyodaa’s.

Toyota dominates YOU!
Your thoughts
Your time
Your envy
You are Toyota’s b&%$h!

As long as Toyota dominates YOU, they will be forever in all our hearts
DrFill