Lexus HS 250 hybrid falls a bit short in US market
A disappointment?
6,000 less sales than expected
At one time Toyota hoped to sell about 25,000 to 30,000 Lexus HS 250 hybrids in the US. However, higher than expected Japanese demand forced Toyota to lower those sales figures because of supply constraints. Hence, Toyota hoped to sell 20,000 HS hybrids its first full year of sales.
Supply constraints, however, are not going to affect the sale’s potential of the latest Lexus hybrid. Instead, lower than expected demand in the US market will mean that the the HS hybrid will only sell about 14,000 units in its first full year of sales.
“I think we underestimated the power of the Prius brand,” Mark Templin, Lexus’ group vice president and general manager told Ward’s Auto. “We overestimated what the market would look like based on gas prices. But if we can do 1000-1500 units a month, we feel really good about what we’re doing in the marketplace.”
