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Report Says Company Enthused by Large Volume of Advance Orders in Japan



Initial interest in Toyota's extensively redesigned 2010 Prius (left) has persuaded the company to boost monthly production of the gas-electric hybrid by 25 percent, to 50,000 cars a month for the remainder of its fiscal 2009, Japan's Nikkei news is reporting.


The hike is significant because it comes at a time the global economy is in severe melt-down mode with sales of most new vehicles shrinking.


The apparent popularity of the new Prius, and the 2010 Insight hybrid from rival Honda Motor Co., point to consumers' willingness to commit to cars they perceive will save the money at the fuel pump - the new Prius is EPA rated at 50 miles a gallon and the Honda Insight at 41 mpg.


But both cars also are enjoying early sales successes because they are new.


Analysts at Global Insight consulting wonder in their intelligence briefing this morning whether the two Japanese automakers are seeing the start of ongoing demand, or simply enjoying a soon-to-burst bubble caused by new car excitement.


Nikkei, a subscription-only Japanese news service, reports that Toyota thinks demand will remain steady and now is eying Prius production of 500,000 cars in fiscal '09 (ending in March 2010) up from the previous expectation of 300,000.


The company, which began taking advance orders for the 2010 model earlier this month in Japan, had booked more than 40,000 by early last week and expects the total to top 60,000 by the time the car actually goes on sale this summer.



We expect the new Prius - and the 2010 Honda Insight (right)- to be hits in the U.S. as well, at least in their first year, due to relatively low pricing ($19,995 base for the Insight, $21,000 for the bare-bones "Level 1" Prius) and the likelihood that gasoline prices will start edging up this summer and could be back at or above $3 per gallon by year's end.

Tags: Honda, Hybrid, Toyota, 2010 Honda Insight, 2010 Toyota Prius, Honda Motor Co., Hybrid, Toyota Motor Corp.

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Toyota Plans to Boost 2010 Prius Production Despite Global Economic Crunch was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.