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2010 hasn't been a good year for the Prius, and it now looks like things are going to get worst for this once popular and much loved little hybrid as more problems creep up.
Prius didn't show up to the Oscars
Every year you would find a host of celebrities grace the red carpet after stepping out of their Prius. From Harrison Ford and Leonardo Di Caprio, to this year's Oscar Winner Sandra Bullock, they all owned a Prius and were well-known for making a 'green carpet' entrance. But this year not a single Prius was in sight. Instead celebrities were seen sporting Toyota Camry and Cadillac Escalade hybrids.
Sales and production of Prius drops
Dealerships across the state have been trying to clear their showroom floors of the Prius by offering heavy discounts. Unfortunately this wasn't enough to curb decreasing sales and Toyota has decided to cut down on Prius production by 10% this month.
Why the recall didn't help the Prius
Toyota Camry hybrid sales took a sting after Toyota's 8 million recall debacle but it quickly bounced back. So why not the Prius? Call it bad luck. Newspapers have been frequently reporting on runaway Prius cars causing damage and injuring its passengers. Just this week alone we heard of a women in CA who slammed her Prius into a brick wall because the accelerator stuck, and another case in NY where a real estate agent lost control of his Prius after leaving from a meeting with his lawyer (this one sounds a little fishy). While we cannot say with full certainty whether these Prius accidents were really caused by insufficient recall fixes or just plain driver error, it's still enough to put consumers off from buying the Toyota Prius.
Chevy Volt takes aim at the Prius
With the Prius removed from most hybrid buyer's shopping list, it might be up to the 'next best thing' to fill this void. And at the moment it seems to be the Chevy Volt. It's show booth at the SXSW 2010 Festival was apparently a huge hit this year, while the Prius booth got very little attention from the 12,000+ tech savvy visitors.
