Will the Toyota PRIUS be a hit or flop in the Phil auto market?

[coiter]

100 units for 2009?? flop! hehe well, most likely ilang artista at politico lang bibili niyan just for the image and publicity. it just doesn't make any economical sense. kung presyo lang ng compact car yan there's a chance.

[alwayz_yummy]

at 2.2M toy for the "green" artista/politiko (like hayden) nanaman...

[impulzz]

sobrang dami naman patong patong na tax.

from manila bulletin http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/207625...car-prius-here

Tax component accounts for 30 percent or an estimated P600,000 of the P2.2 million retail price of the environment-friendly Toyota Prius, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) president Hiroshi Ito said.
Ito told reporters at the launch of the third generation Prius on Friday that should the government decides to lower taxes on hybrid cars like Prius prices of these kinds of models would substantially go down.
The 1.8 liter Prius is slapped with 20 percent import duty, 45 percent excise tax and 12 percent, which could amount to about P600,000.
TMPC first vice president for marketing Danny Isla said there is a pending bill in Congress that seeks to grant incentives to hybrid cars but progress has been slow. Isla said that it should be an industry effort to push for the passage of this bill because there would be other hybrid cars that are expected to follow Prius in the local market like Mitsubishi and Honda, which have their own environment friendly car models.
"Other companies may just be waiting for the passage of the law before they launch their own model,” Isla said.
Ito also said their sales of Prius is on a limited basis because production in Japan could not accommodate the high demand of this car model.
The company is looking at total sales of 100 units until December this year. They have an initial inventory of 35 units.
According to Ito, the buyers of Prius are individuals who understand this kind of technology and the need of the environment for eco-friendly cars.
“Our buyers are composed of very unique people,” Ito said.
“Our buyers are people who are not conscious of saving fuel costs, but people who want to make a statement.
These are not first time buyers. in the U.S., the biggest market for Prius, most of the buyers are Hollywood stars,” Isla said.
Isla, who is also president of Lexus Manila, the independent company for the marketing of Lexus here, said that five buyers of Lexus have also expressed interest to buy Prius. (BCM)

[meledson]

Status symbol?

[ghosthunter]

Status symbol?

Of what? Of one's low IQ points in computing that this car will never be capable of saving you any money even if you owned it for 15 years?

[renzo_d10]

I think prius would be a hit if like what they say, gas prices climb up to 60 pesos per liter which is uhh....so, high. But then again there are lots of alternatives there....and they're cheaper.

I wouldnt be surprised if Toyota can sell 100 prius' for 2009.

[ghosthunter]

I think prius would be a hit if like what they say, gas prices climb up to 60 pesos per liter which is uhh....so, high. But then again there are lots of alternatives there....and they're cheaper.

Even if gasoline prices hit P60/L or higher again, I doubt if people would flock to
Toyota to buy a Prius as "the solution to high fuel prices". It still doesn't make basic economic sense to buy a multi-million car that would never recoup it's purchase price in fuel cost savings.

Other alternatives still make better economic sense including converting your existing vehicle to Auto-LPG, downsizing a large-engined car to a slightly used smaller & fuel efficient smaller car to commuting to work/school when the situation permits.

[susmaryousef]

Flop to for sure unless pabilhin lahat nang mga corrupt na Tongressman nang Prius!!

For sure kaya ng mga tongressman bumili ng prius with their Fat Pork Barrel hehe Gaganda at pampabango pa image nila because environmentalist ang dating. Mga artista na kayang bumili ng GT-R for sure sisiw lang sa kanila tong Prius

[Robenson]

100 units for 2009. KAYANG-KAYA!

250+ members ng congress plus governors and mayors pa!

[Altis6453]

Even if gasoline prices hit P60/L or higher again, I doubt if people would flock to
Toyota to buy a Prius as "the solution to high fuel prices". It still doesn't make basic economic sense to buy a multi-million car that would never recoup it's purchase price in fuel cost savings.

Other alternatives still make better economic sense including converting your existing vehicle to Auto-LPG, downsizing a large-engined car to a slightly used smaller & fuel efficient smaller car to commuting to work/school when the situation permits.

You're absolutely right.


I'd buy a brand new X-Trail 4x2 with the dealer-equipped Auto LPG kit (i think its Gates) at just the additional cost of about Php 80k. So, if its a 4x2 X-Trail, that'll cost you around Php 1.2M or even less, depending on the discounts. For the amount I'd save, I'll spend on gas, accessories, maintenance, etc.