Comments on: Toyota to unify design of future hybrids

By: sharpie

sharpie — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:55:52 +0000

Pardon me, Jacqueline, uglyness is in the eyes of the beholder. Even if the Hybrids aren’t that, they are usually bland, especially with the “eco-friendly” alloy wheel design they come with, which makes them 100% worse than the gas counterpart.

By: TomF

TomF — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:41:25 +0000

It is a natural fact (I’ve seen the research) that hybrid buyers want to advertise their noble nature. If the car isn’t readily identifiable as special, they are a lot less interested. That’s why the Accord hybrid went south, and the Lexus hybrid isn’t selling that well.

Because there is not yet a solid economic case for the hybrid, buyers have to believe they are acquiring social cachet. Most hybrid customers do not want to be “stealth” green activists; if the car looks exactly like a vanilla Camry/Accord and draws no special attention, they don’t see the point.

Toyota is right on the money here.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 02:01:22 +0000

Hey, not all hybrids are ugly (and I’m not saying that because I drive one, cause I don’t – sorry environment!) – the Lexus one is actually fairly attractive, as are the other two on luxury recommendation engine 3luxe’s list:

http://www.3luxe.com/category/Cars/Hybrids

Yeah, the Prius is on the list too, but I’m going to go with the “not ugly, but different” tack on this. I have a feeling that many (not all, but many) people who do buy hybrids want others to know that theirs is an eco-friendly “green” vehicle. It’s a little annoying but true.

By: jackjimturkey

jackjimturkey — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:21 +0000

I THINK honda should’ve created its own “prius.”

By: jackjimturkey

jackjimturkey — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:59:54 +0000

Autonut: someone else here talked about the Pries’ ugliness as a badge to show its drivers’ “sacrifice for the cause.”

OGShark: I think you’re pretty close. Insight wasn’t really practical (what 2-seater is?).

I honda should’ve created its own “prius.”

By: 0GSharK6

0GSharK6 — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:44:16 +0000

I think one thing that killed the Insight is that it was a two (or three?) seater, and most people who buy two seaters have sporting intentions.

By: sharpie

sharpie — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:32:53 +0000

Unifyingly ugly!

By: autonut

autonut — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:52:27 +0000

Guys, I recycled what Toyota & Honda research published already. People apparently buy Prius to identify with environmental causes (I think I read it on MSNBC and on auto web sites as well). In the case of Honda, I assume it is an excuse for product that does not sell as well as competition and in case of Toyota it is an excuse for not selling vehicles that make no economic sense. Please don’t blame me for telling you what marketing heads are stating. But the main reason you cant find Prius in California because tree huggers have to declare their love for trees.
As far as Civic vs. Prius, I happen to like looks of Prius better, because I like hatchbacks and wagons. However, every automotive writer gave CIvic hybrid a nod for handling more like a normal car.
Lastly CTS, your “neighbors” don’t just buy Ferrari but Gulfstreams V & Centurion X with a lot of Ferraris, Lambos & Hummers. Then to red carpet they drive Prius (not Civic!).

By: nerfer

nerfer — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:16:28 +0000

Autonut – you’re wrong about the HCH. The civic hybrid is smaller than the Prius, gets slightly less MPG and has less trunk space and fewer gadgets (like optional built-in navigation system, backup camera, keyless entry, etc.) You save a little money, but is it worth it? The Prius is rated as a mid-size vehicle because of interior space, the HCH is not. That’s why the Prius outsells the HCH, not because of what it looks like on the outside.

By: CTS DRIVER

CTS DRIVER — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:13:51 +0000

no friggin kidding autonutt, they first buy the ferarri pay a gas guzzler tax and make up for it by buying a prius to fit in with the hollywierdos and greenie weenies.

By: nerfer

nerfer — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:10:05 +0000

I don’t agree that people buy them because they’re noticeably different. If that was the case, why didn’t the Honda Insight fly out the door? That was definitely different and futuristic looking. I’m sure some people buy the Prius because you can tell it’s a Prius, but many (like me) bought it because it had the best mileage available for a four-door $20K midsize car with decent cargo space. I didn’t really care for the looks of it (but I came from a Subaru Outback, so I wasn’t really downgrading in the looks department

The reason the Prius outsells the Camry is because the Prius has better mileage (at least 25% more MPG) and a much more useful trunk and still has similar legroom. Oh, and it’s cheaper. You look at the Camry Hybrid trunk and you automatically reconsider the Prius even if you don’t like the look.

By: RicardoHead

RicardoHead — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:50:22 +0000

Great. More unified ugliness on the roadways.

By: LP640

LP640 — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:42:26 +0000

HYBRID SHMYBRID !

By: autonut

autonut — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:27:53 +0000

A4, I agree it is not about battery with 4 cylinders. GM attached batteries to 8 cylinders and plans to do more. But GM is playing catch-up game, Ford is tethering for survival and Chrysler probably will be sold by pieces to make some money for Cerberus.

By: A4

A4 — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:23:53 +0000

if chrysler hadnt reinvented the Hemi, autonut, theyd probably be alot worse off now than they are. Its not all about a battery strapped to 4 cylinders.

By: autonut

autonut — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:20:50 +0000

Captain, who prevented former “BIg 3″ from building those hybrids in the past? I wonder if you know, but “magnificent three” must earn trust back now: they use to own it. Why GM did not build something like Prius or hybrid Civic or Camry 3-7 years ago? Ford bought software from Toyota for their hybrids and Chrysler was screwed up or perceived itself being so screwed that needed to be rescued by krauts first and now Cerberus. Their troubles are of their own making.

By: autonut

autonut — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:13:38 +0000

CTS, your neighbors from hollywierd are buying Priuses in droves because they look different then a “normal” car. It is a fashion or status statement nowadays. Honda has problem selling hybrid Civics, yet most automotive writers credit it as the best driving hybrid, but it does NOT look like hybrid. Go figure. Both Toyota & Honda find it out hard way. There is not much market for hybrid Camry either, since economically it makes no sense whatsoever (or until oil reaches $90/barrel may not be that long of a wait).

By: Commodore

Commodore — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:11:43 +0000

See? It’s all about making them more “recognizable as green vehicles”. They just want the public to buy their fake green reputation. And some consumers seem to think that Toy’s “greenness” goes across their lineup…so if they are buying a Tundra, they still think its green and that has to stop. But unfortunately, Toy has won the public’s hear and mind in regards to being green and documentaries like “An Inconvinient Truth” and “Who Killed The Electric Car” have convinced the public that American carmakers are incapable of building good-for-the-planet cars (even though they are building the Volt)

By: autonut

autonut — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:08:22 +0000

Honda is pursuing dual strategy of hybrids and diesel: for a larger vehicle diesel makes more sense for a smaller one hybrid. At least for US & Japanese market; in Europe diesels are fitting every niche. Toyota has no diesels to write home about, therefore they need hybrids to the rescue. They do need rescue to meet CAFE fleet numbers, especially when Toyota wants to roll out large trucks.

By: CTS DRIVER

CTS DRIVER — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:05:44 +0000

why unify the designs? why not just make hybrids an options package, i dont like the looks of the prius but the camry hybrid is not too bad at all. toyota just happend to advertise the prius way more than the camry hybrid.

By: A4

A4 — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:04:44 +0000

and camry hybrids havent sold cause they are garbage! they lost a comparison test to the altima hybrid, and the aura hybrid came quite close as well. The camry hybrid is A. ugly, B. slow, and C. ugly and slow. Altima and Aura? Very pretty, and able to get to 60 safely.

By: A4

A4 — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:52:00 +0000

if hybrids dont die out sooner than everyone thinks