Prius C Sales Drop

While sales for the Prius C was off to a brisk start, it has waned off significantly since its launch in March. At one point, Toyota sold 1201 copies in three days. For April, Toyota only managed to sell 4006 Prius Cs. The Prius v and Prius Plug-in are still making remarkable sales numbers, however, leading to an overall gain in the Prius family's sales.

Meanwhile, let's get back to the C. It falls widely short of other subcompact players in the United States. The Kia Soul sold over ten thousand units in the same period, with the Nissan Versa following at over eight thousand sold, the Hyundai Accent and Chevrolet Sonic both at over six thousand, and the Ford Fiesta following at over five thousand units. The Yaris, Toyota's non-hybrid subcompact car, wasn't too far ahead of the C at 4274 units sold. Surprisingly, the minicar Fiat 500 comes very close to the C's number with 3849 sold.

Why the slow pace? Well, inventory is one thing. There was only 927 Cs on dealer lots as of today, compared to 7721 for the original Prius. Another thing is that there is simply better competitors out there that are better than Toyota, and subcompact shoppers are catching on to that. The C's high price and sacrifices to the competition don't add up, at least now when gas prices are dropping.

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