No, the EV1 was for sale in California. Currently, the profit margin on the Prius is slim, but the new model is much better. While hybrid sales numbers aren’t impressive, they’re still increasing rapidly. And, they sell a lot better in other countries, with low gas prices, it’ll take a little longer in the US. As I said before, they just need to get cheaper and/or be more competitive in performance with other vehicles.
Toyota and Honda are really only moving into the full size truck market in the US as there seems to be a lack of demand in other parts of the world. It took them longer to jump on the market because of the 25% tariff on imported full size models, both Toyota and Nissan put their own plants on US soil to avoid that. And, Toyota has hybrid versions of the Highlander, RX330 and RAV4 coming out in the next two years (most likely before the hybrid Escape). So, the hybrids aren’t just to offset their trucks fuel economy.
|