Will anyone be able to fill the Toyota hybrid void?
Can Honda increase hybrid production?
Are hybrid buyers simply doomed this summer?
To date, Toyota still doesn’t know exactly how bad the production crisis is in Japan. While 50 percent of production has been resumed and will continue through at least May, full production could still be many months away. And since hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius are only produced in Japan, 50 percent of US hybrid sales face very real uncertainties. As of this morning, Prius sales were down to just 9 days.
So, will any other automaker be able to fill this hybrid void if it becomes reality?
Certainly, there is the potential that less Japanese consumers will be buying cars in coming months enabling Toyota to focus on key markets like the US. One way or another, however, reduced Toyota hybrid supplies seem inevitable without a serious crash in gas prices.
Unfortunately, during the 2008 gas spike, as Toyota hybrid car supplies dwindled and dealer markups increased, other automakers did little to offset demand. Or, maybe that should be rephrased. Other automakers did nothing.
This time around, there are some new hybrids on the market, for instance, so overall hybrid supplies have increased since 2008. But can any other automaker increase their supplies significantly to fill any Toyota hybrid void?
Almost certainly not.
Ford, for instance, appears constrained by very defined battery supplies. GM, Hyundai and Nissan have no history of any serious hybrid production.
Ultimately, the only automaker with any possible capability to fill some of the Toyota void is Honda, another Japanese company sure to face many of the same production problems as Toyota. Even if unaffected, based on 2008, even Honda would probably offer little relief.
Nationwide gas prices will probably top $4.00 this summer, a number places like Los Angeles passed weeks ago. In fact, just the other day a gas station in my LA neighborhood was at $4.33 for regular unleaded. $4.33. Sadly, however, it appears hybrid cars will offer limited relief for consumers to fight these higher prices. As a result, today’s hybrid prices are probably as good as buyers will find through the summer.
Most of the Japanese automakers are testing their vehicles for radiation. How accurately? Who knows, but it’s definitely a possibility.
………….Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has confirmed that Japanese car-maker Toyota will start building four-cylinder hybrid versions of its Camry model at its factory outside Melbourne..Mr Rudd made the announcement at Toyotas global headquarters in Nagoya Japan alongside the companys president Katsuaki Watanabe..The Federal Government will allocate 35 million from its Green Car Innovation Fund to support the move which will produce up to 10 000 of the petrol-electric cars each year from 2010..The Victorian Government will also make a financial contribution to the project..Mr Rudd says the Government is talking to all Australian car-makers about building more environmentally-friendly cars..What we have here is an important underpinning technology which we will now have manufactured in Australia he said..Mr Watanabe says it is too early to know how many jobs will be created..Victorian Premier John Brumby says it is great news for the industry motorists and the environment..It gives Australian families the option in the face of rising petrol prices to buy a locally-made hybrid he said……………
Only if you get the optional leather seats?
Is it even safe to buy vehicles from Japan right now? Radioactive isotopes have potential to stick themselves to materials and be transported…while people may think this is crazy, it’s reality….
You buy a CRZ or Prius built near the disaster zone and it’ll be covered with that crap.
I filled the Prius void by getting a Honda Insight-II. It was $7,000 less than a Prius and I usually get 51 MPG.