India Might Get Toyota Prius via CKD Route: Sources
Toyota Motor Corp. has initiated a study to decide whether to keep the Prius hybrid line’s aerodynamic wedge shape or not. Apparently the folks over at Toyota have finally decided a long over-due re-modeling is in order. "There's an undercurrent among most people that they're ready for a new Prius look," said Chris Hostetter, Toyota's U.S. group vice president for strategic planning, who's working with Toyota engineers on the re-design. "Maybe our architecture has been a little bit similar for the last two generations."
While the Prius has been almost astronomically successful in terms of sales in the international and particularly the US market, the sales in India have been quite disappointing. In fact there are hardly any sales; the average monthly sales of the Toyota Prius is around 1-2 units. So, what is the reason for this slump in sales of such a popular car?
The reason is quite simple; while Indian customers may be just as environment conscious as the US customers, they are a lot more cost conscious and with the Prius’ current price tag of Rs. 27.86 lakh (Ex-showroom Delhi), the cost is simply too much for the average environmental conscious car buyer. There is news however that this is about to change as several Prius have been caught testing in Bangalore in the previous month and there have been talks of India getting the Prius through the CKD route. Stay tuned as we bring you more developments on the same.
Read More on : click here to read more on Toyota Prius