2010 Toyota Prius Priced Above 2010 Honda Insight
By Michelle Krebs April 22, 2009TORRANCE, California -- Toyota announced pricing on its 2010 Toyota Prius that puts it
higher than the 2010 Honda Insight.
The 2010 Toyota Prius will start at $22,750, including a $750 destination charge, when it goes on sale in late May, putting it higher than the 2010 Honda Insight, which starts at $20,470 and went on sale March 24.
However, Toyota's pricing strategy includes the rollout later this year of the 2010 Toyota Prius I, a stripped-down base model that will start at $21,750 -- still more expensive than the cheapest Insight.
Toyota did not specify exactly when that version will arrive in showrooms.
"De-content has not been finalized," said Toyota spokesperson Ming-Jou Chen in a phone conversation with Inside Line, a sister Edmunds.com site to AutoObserver.com. "But it [the Prius I] will not have cruise control, the Touch Tracer Display [a digital display of the steering wheel controls], EV mode, which keeps the vehicle in electric mode only for short periods of time, or a rear wiper."
Other content may be removed from the Prius I, she noted.
In a statement, Toyota said the Prius I will appeal to "the most cost-conscious businesses and consumers."
Chen insisted that Toyota's 2010 Prius pricing strategy "wasn't influenced by Honda Insight at all."
But Honda has bragged that the Insight is the most affordable entry-level hybrid on the market. And Honda reportedly wanted to bring the Insight to the United States for even less -- under $20,000, but the dollar-to-yen exchange rate made that impossible.
Despite its public statements to the contrary, Toyota is worried about the less expensive Insight, particularly as gas prices remain relatively low causing demand for hybrids to drop and as the slumping economy prompts consumers to watch every penny they spend.
The 2009 Prius starts at $22,720, including a $720 destination charge. The 2009 Prius is available in three models; the 2010 Prius will be available in five models by the time the Prius I rolls out. The top-of-the-line 2010 Toyota Prius V, which adds 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlamps and integrated foglamps, starts at $28,020, including shipping. The top-of-the-line 2010 Honda Insight EX with navigation starts at $23,770, including shipping.
The 2009 Prius is now being offered with incentives, which include customer cash back or lower lease rates. The programs vary from region to region, Chen said.
Toyota expects to sell around 100,000 units of the 2010 Prius in the U.S. Neither Toyota nor Honda are likely to enjoy a surge in hybrid sales in this economy.
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