Toyota Ends Internet Sales of Prius Hybrid
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. said it is ending its Internet-only sales program for the Prius hybrid sedan after 18 months and will begin placing the cars in dealer showrooms.
The move comes as Toyota is boosting sales projections for the gas-electric hybrid and as American Honda Motor Co. prepares to begin selling a competing five-passenger Civic hybrid through its dealership network. Both vehicles should be in dealerships by April.
The online selling program for the Prius was intended to boost interest in the compact, which combines a small gas engine with an electric motor for improved fuel economy and low emissions.
Toyota sold 15,556 Priuses last yearand hopes to sell 18,000 this year. The car carries a suggested retail price of $19,995 and sells for $20,450 with destination fee.
Honda has not set pricing for the hybrid Civic but has said it expects it to sell for under $20,000. Honda has set an annual U.S. sales target of 25,000 to 30,000 Civic hybrids.
Cleaner Focus
From Ford
Ford Motor Co. says it has developed gasoline vapor recovery technologies that will enable it to meet California’s zero-evaporative-emissions standard next year with one model of its Focus compact.
That’s not the same as zero emissions, but it does mean that gasoline won’t evaporate out of the car’s fuel tank when it is parked in the sun.
The California Air Resources Board says that as gasoline engines get cleaner, evaporative emissions are becoming one of the biggest components of auto-related air pollution.
Nissan Motor Co., which so far is the only car maker with a California-certified zero evaporative emissions vehicle, says its Sentra CA produces fewer total emissions during a 20-mile round-trip commute than today’s typical new vehicle does while parked in a driveway all day with the engine off. That’s because the Sentra CA combines its ultra-low-emission engine with a special fuel-line trap that captures escaping fuel vapors in a special filter before they hit the atmosphere.
Ford Division President James O’Connor said the four-cylinder Focus will use a similar system. And that means that it, like the Sentra CA, would qualify for so-called P-ZEV status under California’s standards.
The P-ZEV vehicles earn “partial-ZEV” credits the auto makers can use to reduce the number of zero-emission vehicles they will have to produce.
So far, the only full ZEV vehicles are battery-powered electric cars and trucks, which auto makers say are impractical and must be heavily subsidized to sell.
Honda and Toyota also are expected to field P-ZEV candidates soon.
