Toyota Prius: 2,092 patents, but what about profits?
Can the hybrid king make money?So far this year, the Toyota Prius accounts for 47.5 percent of all hybrid vehicle sales. The next closet competitor, the Toyota Camry hybrid, comes in at 8.3 percent.
Still, is the Prius profitable, wonders a recent Investors Business Daily piece?
With strong sales and 2,092 patents, many analysts predicted that the third generation Prius would be very profitable. Of course, that was before pricing on the Honda Insight, currently the third best selling hybrid at 7.2 percent share, forced Toyota to lower Prius pricing to just $400 more than the second generation Prius.
However, even if the Prius and Toyota's hybrid cars are not as profitable as expected just yet, many analysts see profits just around the corner thanks to Toyota's "compulsive patenting", 12 years of battery R&D and its controlling share of Panasonic EV Energy, Toyota's main battery provider.
Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:13 AM
4 Comments:
Dahc,
This is one of the key issues with hybrids that affects not just Toyota, but all hybrid manufacturures.
Profitability is the reason Bob Lutz and everyone else at GM are so opposed to hybrids.
Why would GM (Or any other manufacturer) want to sell a vehicle in significant quantities, that does not make a profit?
It's a good point.
The profitability case for plug-in vehicles, especially range extended plug-in vehicles, is far worse.
So, why would GM, or any other automaker head down that path?
I'd assume its because of future energy price speculation and programs like cap and trade.
Moreover, Toyota owns essentially every piece of its hybrid technology, the batteries, motor, chips, etc., including its lithium cells and lithium manufacturing process.
Much of this technology will also be used in Toyota's plug-in hybrids, EVs, and fuel cell hybrids.
So, if your long term planning extends out a few decades, Toyota is actually sitting pretty.
In the next decade, this technology will be driving 30 percent of Toyota's sales if all goes as planned, versus about 7 percent today.
If Toyota can achieve these plans, which based on Toyota's business plans, have probably been well thought out, that should provide the scalability for Toyota to make very nice profits.
Toyota is smart to have a long term strategy.
GM has proven over the past 30 years that they do not have a long term strategy....
I agree.
Still, I'm very interested to see how Toyota's long term strategy plays out.
30 percent hybrid by 2020 is pretty aggressive compared to every other automaker.
can NiMH take their conventional hybrids that far? it doesn't seem so.
so, when are they going to start rolling out lithium in conventional hybrids? when will lithium make its way into the non-plug-in prius?
i'd love to hear their plans in a bit more detail.
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