Hybrid Car Review

It seems Toyota was worried over nothing when it comes to the new Insight from Honda. Despite outselling the old Prius in its first few months in Japan, pre-orders for the new Prius are 'pouring in.'

When the Insight arrived, the second generation Prius was nearing the end of the road. The new Prius is due out in mid-May and customers tend to wait for the new model, rather than paying just as much for the old model, which just isn't as good.

And so the new Insight was outselling the Prius, despite getting lower fuel economy figures. The cheaper option was looking good, and so Toyota announced they would be keeping the older model Prius around as a cheaper option to the new Prius, and they cut the price on the new Prius.

Pre-orders for the new Prius are already at 20,000 and are expected to reach 40,000 units in Japan by the time it goes on sale, which means sales would 'easily overtake' the new Insight sales.

So, what does this mean?  Are customers just attracted to the 'newness' factor?  Are they still flocking to the most fuel efficient option, even if it is still a little more expensive?  Has the price cut on the new generation Prius made it that attractive?  And how will it all affect US sales?