Toyota Sold More Prius C in Three Days than the Volt and Leaf Combined in a Month

According to Toyota, the newest member of its Prius family of hybrids, the Yaris-sized Prius C, is off to an extremely good start since going on sale in the States on March 12. In its first three days on the market, the Prius C sold 1,201 units, with Toyota making it a point to note that it surpassed the combined sales of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf for the entire month of February. In other related news, our local grocery disclosed that it sold more apples in an hour than Prius C in a day.
Needless to say, the name of the PR game is to make your accomplishments appear bigger than what they really are while seriously downplaying your failures.
It would be more appropriate for Toyota to wait to compare the sales of its plug-in Prius, which is closer in price and to a certain extent, in philosophy (it only does 15 miles in EV mode) to Nissan's all-electric Leaf and GM's extended range Chevrolet Volt.

“A number of factors drive the auto market, and fuel prices is one of them,” said Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota Division. “With 53 miles-per-gallon in the city and priced under $19,000, the timing for Prius c couldn’t be better.”

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GM to Halt Chevy Volt Production for Five Weeks

Dismal sale numbers and a rising inventory which at the end of February, stood at 6,300 vehicles, enough to cover 154 days at the current rate it sells cars, are to blame for General Motors decision to stop production for both the Chevy Volt and its European cousin, the Opel Ampera, for five weeks until April 23.
"We need to maintain the right inventory levels and continue to meet demand," GM spokesman Chris Lee told Automotive News.
On Thursday, General Motors told the 1,300 workers building the Volt at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Michigan that the shutdown would take place on March 19. 
 
Last year, GM sold 7,671 Volts, which was a far cry from the 10,000 units it hoped to deliver. This year, Volt sales dropped to a five-month low of 1,023 units in January but picked up to 1,626 deliveries in February. Still, that's not even close to the 45,000 Volts GM aims to deliver in the States this year.

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Chevy Volt and Opel Ampera win 2012 European Car Award

The Chevrolet Volt and its sister model, the Ampera, which is sold as under both the Opel and Vauxhall nameplates, have won the 2012 European Car of the Year (COTY) Award with 330 points. Coming into second place was the Volkswagen Up! city car with 281 points while the new generation of the Ford Focus finished third with 256 points.
The other cars that made it to the final round of the competition were the Range Rover Evoque (186 points), Fiat Panda (156 points), Citroen DS5 (144 points) and the Toyota Yaris (122 points).
The competition brought together votes from 59 automotive journalists in 23 European countries.
Last year's winner was the new, all-electric Nissan Leaf that beat the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the Opel Meriva.

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California wants 1.4 Million Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2025

The state of California has been at the forefront of the nation’s regulations when it comes to reducing emissions since the 1970s. And now it has taken another step in this direction by approving the Advanced Clean Car program.
It is a set of regulations that aims to reduce emissions and, among other things, requires 15.4 percent of all new vehicles that will be sold by 2025 to be all-electric, plug-in hybrids or powered by fuel cells.
By implementing this program, California regulators wish to reduce passenger vehicles emissions by 34 percent between 2014 and 2015, and overall smog-forming emissions by 75 percent. It’s a goal similar to the federal standards proposed by President Obama.
The California Air Resources Board’s decision was unanimous. The new regulation amounts to 1.4 electric, fuel cell and plug-in hybrids to be on the state’s streets by 2025 and plans to offer incentives to buyers, including rebates and tax credits,
Moreover, the regulators stated that non-plug-in hybrids, such as the Prius, won’t get the same treatment, as they are not as close to EVs.
Surprisingly enough, the plan has the support of major car manufacturers such as GM, Ford, Chrysler and Nissan, which are usually fighting against California regulators.
“Probably the most heartening aspect of this whole rulemaking was the level of cooperation that we received from the industry. Overall, the degree of support for the package was just extraordinary," commented Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board.
On the other hand, dealers of car companies that manufacture these kinds of vehicles such as GM with the Volt, Ford with the Focus Electric and Nissan with the Leaf, do not.
The California New Car Dealers Association, along with other car-selling businesses groups, said that the Board is overestimating demand for zero-emission vehicles.
They estimate that the technology implemented in those vehicles raises their price by an average of US$3,200, something that consumers have not been willing to accept.
Moreover, the Associated Press reported that the president of the Dealers Association, Jonathan Morrison, said that the while the dealers are supportive of new technologies, buyers have been too slow to adopt them.

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