Toyota sees Prius beating 2010 U.S. sales as supply grows

Toyota Motor Corp., with as little as one day's worth of Prius cars on dealers' lots after the March earthquake, says sales of the hybrid will still beat 2010.

According to KHABAR KHODRO, Asia's largest automaker is racing to replenish supply after the lack of inventory led to a 61 percent drop in Prius deliveries in the U.S. in June, to the lowest level since September 2004. Almost half of Prius models are sold in the U.S., where the car accounts for more than 60 percent of hybrids sold since 1999, according to data supplied by automakers.

Prius, the company's No. 3 selling car after the Corolla and Camry, is the fastest-growing Toyota nameplate this year, even with the quake-depleted inventories. Demand for efficient cars has increased this year with higher fuel prices.

General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Cruze was June's top-selling car in the U.S., while deliveries of Ford Motor Co.'s Focus rose 41 percent.

"Dealers simply cannot get their hands on them quick enough," said Ivan Drury, an analyst for Edmunds.com, an industry pricing and data Web site. The model "is easily the poster child for inventory issues."

Prior to the quake, Toyota targeted Prius sales in 2011 that would top the car's 2007 peak of 181,221. While that level may be out of reach for now, Toyota can still exceed 2010's deliveries of 140,928, said Donald Esmond, Toyota's senior vice president for U.S. sales.

Prius inventory

Toyota's U.S. sales in the second quarter "slowed as inventories dropped and as a result, we find ourselves at virtually the same position we were a year ago on July 1," Esmond said on a July 1 conference call.

"We won't finish the year that way." While Toyota's Tsutsumi, Japan, plant that makes Prius and its Kyushu factory that builds hybrid Lexus CT200 hatchbacks and HS250 sedans weren't damaged by the March 11 disaster, parts needed for the cars grew scarce because of damages to suppliers' operation.

The automaker prioritized production of the three gasoline- electric cars after determining they were in the highest demand, said Shiori Hashimoto, a spokeswoman for the company.

"We worked hard to find out which components were critical, conditions of the supply chain, and how the limited car parts should be delivered to which assembly lines," said Hashimoto.

Waiting list

"We only had 30 to sell last month, but July looks like we'll be back to about 80 percent of normal," Rinker said.

He estimates the dealership will sell about 100 this month. That won't eliminate the dealership's backlog. "We're still keeping a list and taking deposits for the car," Rinker said.

With the Prius v wagon, followed in 2012 by the subcompact Prius c and plug-in Prius, Toyota expects its "Prius family" to become its top-selling line within the decade, Carter said.

"A lot of our future plans are centered around the Prius and that goes into vehicle launches next fall," he said. Toyota said July 1 a new Camry and Camry Hybrid, Scion iQ minicar and revamped Yaris subcompact will arrive this year along with the v wagon.

The company is counting on those models, together with the jump in Prius supply and rebounding inventory of all its Toyota, Lexus and Scion products, to reverse a 4 percent slide in U.S. sales through June.

"It's coming back quicker than any of us expected," said Atkinson, who spoke by phone after attending Toyota's annual dealer meeting in Las Vegas last week. "Now it's time to go out and sell like hell."