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Monday they had to United in the Gallery of the UMP parliamentary dayAt the time the weekly had argued that it was an isolated skidCasio is to continue to cultivate its differenceThe dollar will remain the main reserve currencyFind the articles of the series of summer onOn the one hand the pure the other deviantsIn one the State Council pointed the problem with this orderJeanPierre Evelin took its decision in good scienceSince then he was caught by urbanizationMust await the passage to practical work to better identify Mr ChatelA gasoline consumption fell by 9 over the previous generation (3.9 litres per 100 kilometres according to official data). Particularly low CO2 emissions of 89 grams per kilometre. Power increased by 24... A priori, the Toyota Prius in third generation, which is currently its debut in Europe in the wake of the Japan and the United States, a lot of arguments in its favour. "The 5-seat sedan represents for us a decisive advance: with it, we want to move from niche to the mainstream car model", said Akihiko Otsuka, Chief Engineer of the new Prius, leader of the hybrids, these cars that combine an electric motor and a gasoline. No question of Hunt only die-hard green customer. It is also to find people interested by high technology and an "economic and rational" approach, adds Michel Gardel, President of Toyota France.
After the first generation, launched in 1997 in the Japan and very little distributed, then the second, more mature, marketed in 2004, Toyota displayed strong ambitions. The group, which truste today 80 of the global sales of hybrid vehicles, hope deliver best 400,000 of its Prius 3 from next year, including 60,000 in Europe (and in France 8,000) per year. A volume compared to the 285.700 Prius 2 commissioned in the world in 2008.
Still high costs
However, a part of the economic equation escape Japanese engineers. Prius sales curve is closely correlated to that of the price of oil. It explodes to 147 dollars a barrel, as in July, and the Prius, Haven panic motorists, scrambles. It drops even more rapidly up to 50 or 60 $, and buyers become significantly more hesitant. Because the rates of the Queen of the hybrids (from 25700 euros in France before governmental premium of 2.000 euros) what to think. For the same price that this sedan to small chest and wise accelerations, it is possible to offer many family minivans, type Renault Scénic, the much more tonic times... In Europe, the popularity of Diesel engines also risks to butcher the horizon for some time. In France, including, diesel fuel is significantly cheaper than gasoline necessary for the functioning of the Prius.
More embarrassing for Toyota, which is to receive its first annual loss since its inception and should make it worse this year: the rise in the regime of the Prius can compensate for it only the decline of the conventional range. The world number one is certainly managed to reduce the manufacturing costs of the technological heart of its new star (against an initial objective of 50) of 40 and to relocate a portion of production in China and the United States. But these costs remain high. At the time, the cost-effectiveness of the program is felt. Toyota cash between 100,000 and 200,000 yen in operating profit on the sale of a Prius, or only 7 to 12 of what it does to the United States on a Lexus LS Sedan or a large pickup Tundra, according to Credit Switzerland. At the time where the global sales of the Group wavering for about 14, this programme cannot therefore play the role of "Savior" contended for the outgoing CEO, Katsuaki Watanabe. Ignoring this context, the giant of Nagoya considers that the hybrid remains an asset of size, until Renault deploys its offensive in the 100 electric vehicles. Not in terms of notoriety: "people who know the Prius have a more positive image of Toyota," observe the brand European leaders.
