Lexus Hybrid SUV - Smart Design
Lexus is doing something great that I hope catches on all over car design: they're making a Hybrid SUV!! This is brilliant for a couple of reasons. One luxury SUV car buyers can afford the added hybrid technology costs. Hybrid cars have thus far been relegated to the middle class car like the Civic. However, middle class hybrids will never sell to their highest potential because middle class car buyers are too price sensitive and cannot justify the added cost of hybrid technology. Secondly Lexus has done what everyone on the face of the earth has been begging hybrid car makers to do for quite some time: Don't make the car look STUPID! Lexus' best move of this design is that they didn't hardly change their design at all. Consumers don't want cars that look like they are hybrids, the Toyota Prius' dismal sales are solid proof of this.
posted by Michael Nelson at 10:59 AM
2 Comments:
Hmmm, are Prius sales really that dismal?
By most accounts it seems to be doing allright. I mean, not mainstream car great, but good for a product in the margin.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2096191/
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/112_news19/
http://wardsauto.com/ar/auto_toyota_bump_prius/
These, and more, mention Toyota increasing production to meet demand. So do other sources, if one cares to Google.
On the other hand, how long should we give it an easy ride by mentioning that sales are good- for a niche product?
Hmm, that's interesting, I'm glad that the Prius is doing better. However even if Toyota sells all 50,000 Prius it produces, how much does this impact the car world? Is America any less dependent on oil? The Prius is doing well for a niche product, but Toyota needs to make this technology applicable to a non niche market for mass consumption. That's what's new about the Lexus SUV, it's attacking the mass market. Thanks for post, and thanks for correcting me.
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