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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2009
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“We are not forsaking the people who want to make an
environmental statement,” said Paul Nolasco, the Toyota
spokesman who helped lead a press tour of the Toyota
compound. “But the objective of the Prius is to get the
family to the mall, not to see how far you can go on so
many drops of gas.” (“A Hit in Japan, Updated Hybrid Goes
Mainstream,” 9
th
June)
Mr Harden noted that even the new, larger Prius faces
tough challenges in the US this year. Gasoline prices at
the start of the summer were running about $1.50 a gallon
lower than in 2008, lessening the appeal of higher-priced
hybrids. And the popularity of the Prius with Americans has
been slipping.
In the first five months of the year, US sales of the Prius had
skidded to 42,753, down more than 45% from sales in the
same period of 2008. Sales in the US fell to 10,091 in May,
down 30.1% from May 2008.
Popular acceptance of the Prius in the US would
❖
❖
likely confront Toyota with a problem of another kind:
supplying the dealers whose waiting lists have been
lengthening for more than a year. Company plans for
a new hybrid car factory in Blue Springs, Mississippi,
originally scheduled to open in 2010, were suspended
in December. With its Japanese production lines already
busy, Toyota must be feeling pressure to make a
decision soon about the plant’s future.
Executive vice president Takeshi Uchiyamada recently
acknowledged to reporters that investing in hybrid car
manufacture, with its higher overhead costs, was riskier
than other types of factory investment.
In expectation of a rebound in the
US economy, Ford Motor ramps up
its production plans
“With growing consumer confidence, a reduced rate of
jobless claims, and a cash-for-clunkers program expected
to lift sales by more than 250,000 vehicles this year,
Ford’s decision is a positive sign.”
So wrote business writer Brent Snavely, of the
Detroit
Free Press
, of the 29
th
June announcement by Ford Motor
Co that it would increase production by 15,000 cars and
10,000 trucks in the July-September period.
This marked the second time that Ford upped its
third-quarter production plans. The company had not raised
quarterly production since late 2007.
Ford – the only domestic auto maker to not file for
bankruptcy – planned to produce 485,000 vehicles in the
third quarter, or 16% more than it produced during that
period of last year.