New York Times 6-20-08 "A Toyota spokesman said the Japanese automaker was limited by production to selliing 175,000 Priuses in the United States this year, no matter how hot the demand."
Whats the limiter?? The battery? factory capacity?
Bill
I'd presume that with a limited manufacturing capacity, Toyota would want to optimize distribution towards best margin. And with the USD heading down south compared to the Yen, that could mean pretty much anywhere in the world but the US.
Prius is a niche car in Europe (due to many available Diesel cars having similar cost per km driven). But it retails for 25000+ EUR. Included are duties and taxes, but that'll still make them 20000 per car. In EUR, not USD. So every Prius that could be sold in Europe will not get shipped to the US, unless there's a potential to sell it for at least around 30000 USD.
cu .\\arc
According to Toyota they can't make batteries fast enough. This problem will be cured next year when their new battery plant comes on line.
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