Toyota raises Prius price by $500 for 2009 in US

The Associated Press
Published: July 26, 2008

NEW YORK: Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it is raising the U.S. suggested retail price of its Prius hybrid by $500 for the 2009 model.
The new price is a 2.2 percent increase over the current models. Prices will range from $22,000 for the standard Prius to $24,270 for a touring model, the company's U.S. sales unit said.
Bill Kwong, spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., said the growing cost of commodities is the main reason behind the increases. He ticked off a list of commodities-based raw materials that have seen a price run-up in the last year.
"Almost everything is made out of petroleum," he said. "Rubber, plastic, transportation (costs), glass, things like that."
"We try to absorb the costs by making things more efficient and cutting back where we could, but we also don't want to cheat the customer on the quality of the product," he said.

U.S. Prius sales have recently declined because the company has been unable to keep up with demand as gas prices have peaked above $4 a gallon and consumers seek more fuel-efficient cars. The Japanese automaker sold 91,440 Priuses in the first half of 2008, down about 3 percent from a year earlier. The gas-electric hybrid gets a combined 46 miles per gallon (19.56 kilometers per liter), according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates.
Toyota also announced new prices for a dozen other Toyota and Scion models, with an average increase of $181. Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand, announced higher prices for four vehicles as well.
Except for the Prius, the price increases are all below 2 percent.
Toyota's other hybrid sedan, the Camry HV, will see a $500, or 1.9 percent, price increase, the company said. It also raised the price on its top-selling standard Camry sedan by $225, or 1 percent, and the price of the No. 2-selling Corolla by $100, or 0.6 percent.
Other increases include the Avalon, which will see a base price increase of $520, or 1.7 percent; the Highlander hybrid, which goes up by $518, or 1.4 percent; and the FJ Cruiser sport utility vehicle, which jumps $275, or 1.1 percent.
Lexus, meanwhile, is raising the suggested prices on the 2009 models of its SC 430 hardtop convertible, its LX 570 SUV, its GX 470 SUV and its RX 400h hybrid SUV. Each model will go up in price between 0.6 percent and 1.3 percent, the company said.
The price increases come as Toyota gains U.S. market share and is poised to become the world's top seller of automobiles. Toyota's U.S. sales are down less than 7 percent in the first half of this year, while General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have seen decreases of up to 22 percent as buyers shun their truck- and sport utility vehicle-heavy lineups.
Toyota said Wednesday its worldwide sales rose 2 percent to 4.8 million units during the first half of the year, overtaking GM by about 278,000 vehicles. Toyota's global sales came in ahead of GM's in the first half of 2007 as well, but GM eked out a win for the full year to maintain its 77-year lead.
But Toyota has not been immune to the broader weakness in the automobile market, brought on by record-high fuel prices and a weaker global economy. The company's U.S. sales took a surprising 21 percent dive in June, prompting the company to suspend truck and SUV production for three months starting in August and start building the Prius in the U.S. for the first time starting in 2010.