August subcompact sales WAY up (not the Yaris, though)

[Thirty-Nine]

Most subcompact sales were way up in August, thanks to the C.A.R.S. program. Fit, Aveo, and Versa were up over 100% compared to this time last year.

The Yaris must not have been on shoppers' lists, though. Its sales fell 47.4%.

New Best Seller List:

1. Nissan Versa
2. Honda Fit
3. Hyundai Accent
4. Toyota Yaris

http://www.subcompactculture.com/2009/09/august-subcompact-sales.html

[ChinoCharles]

I think the Yaris may be suffering from the difficulty of getting a desirable package. How many of you got exactly the color and package you wanted? Very few.

Then again, maybe its just losing steam. I hope they stop making them! Makes ours that much more rare.

[wiliker]

That's a good point about not having the package/color combo. When I called dealerships when I was looking (about a month ago) they never had what I wanted. Many with bare bones packages. Some dealerships were also low on inventory as well. I showed up to one dealership and asked to see the Yaris, and he said well "you're standing right next to our last one" haha!!

[Mouse]

But i bet the yaris has a better overall sales figure for the year than those other cars. People only bought those cars cause they could afford it through the CARS program.

[Altitude]

I think the Yaris may be suffering from the difficulty of getting a desirable package. How many of you got exactly the color and package you wanted? Very few.


I agree. US Auto dealers really screwed the pooch on this one. I didn't have much choice AT ALL when I bought mine. In fact ,I think there were all of 6 Yarii in the entire south west region based on what the dealr showed me. It was very disheartening.

[ChinoCharles]

Toyota's accountants would argue that they haven't screwed anything. :laugh:

[ddongbap]

I agree. US Auto dealers really screwed the pooch on this one. I didn't have much choice AT ALL when I bought mine. In fact ,I think there were all of 6 Yarii in the entire south west region based on what the dealr showed me. It was very disheartening.

Yet Toyota is still on top of things.

[ozmdd]

Two things:
1) The Yaris is almost completely un-promoted, unlike the Fit and Versa. Most consumers still don't know much/anything about them. (Aveo gets noticed by heavy walk-in volume at GM stealerships, desperate financing offers)
2)When equipped much beyond the base model, Yarii are not very competitive with the Scions, Fits and other vehicles that offer more features and HP. Yaris dominates at the bottom of its price-point, not the top.
3) I like cheese.

[UncleBear]

I was very lucky when I found mine. They had exactly the color and equipment I wanted in stock.

[RUFFSTUFF]

I was very lucky when I found mine. They had exactly the color and equipment I wanted in stock.


Me too. The only thing mine didn't have that I wanted was keyless entry so I put it in myself. I didn't know anything about the car until I found it in the lot...

[ern-diz]

3) I like cheese.

+1

[Altitude]

Yet Toyota is still on top of things.

Yes they are and I never said otherwise. I just found it more difficult to purchase the car that I wanted than it should have been. I could have waited three months for a special order, but by that time I probably would have bought something else and it wouldn't have been a Toyota.

[Thirty-Nine]

But i bet the yaris has a better overall sales figure for the year than those other cars. People only bought those cars cause they could afford it through the CARS program.

Top overall sales thus far for 2009:

1. Nissan Versa
2. Honda Fit
3. Hyundai Accent
4. Toyota Yaris

[kac]

Another in agreement with how hard it is to find the color/package/etc wanted with the Yaris. I had to go to several dealerships to find the one I wanted....

[talnlnky]

yeah... package problems may be an issue... but what about the supply? I know the local toyota dealer was instantly out of yaris' when the CARS program began... they had like 4 HB's all autos... and last time i drove by it looked like they were out.

[kuyachris84]

super unpromoted... I feel like toyota acts like the Yaris doesn't exist. I NEVER see any commercials for the Yaris. Tsk Tsk...:thumbdown:

[bronsin]

I have a bad feeling Toyota is the next GM. I think theyre in more trouble then they let on. They make a big deal about the Prius but I bet theyre not making a lot of money on them. They over expanded at a bad time and theyre going to pay the price for that. Look for them to go crawling to Obama for a bailout!

[Tamago]

super unpromoted... I feel like toyota acts like the Yaris doesn't exist. I NEVER see any commercials for the Yaris. Tsk Tsk...:thumbdown:

if you think the yaris was bad, you should have seen what they DIDN'T do for the xA lol.

[Yaris Hilton]

I think you're making too much of it. The Yaris comes from Japan, with a pretty long lead time between ordering and showing up on the lot. The Kanto Auto Works makes a bunch of other Toyota models. Who knows if they even build Yaris sedans all the time? Same for whoever builds the hatchbacks. They may just gear up to produce that model for a while, crank out a batch, then build something else. They've probably already switched over to 2010 model production. This is the time of year for selling off leftovers. The Cash for Clunkers buying surge caught all the manufacturers by surprise, and I heard some bitter complaints from U.S. brand dealers like Ford that they couldn't keep cars in stock. And of course Toyota dealers would rather sell a car they make more off of like a Corolla, Camry or Prius, anyway.

[Kal-El]

I think the disappointed sales have much to do with the seemingly low Yaris inventories right now (again). I still see barely any Yaris's on the lots. Can't sell cars they don't have. They put all of their focus on Camry, Corolla, ect.

Fit's, Versa's, and Aveo's were well stalked though.

[Altitude]

I think you're making too much of it. The Yaris comes from Japan, with a pretty long lead time between ordering and showing up on the lot. The Kanto Auto Works makes a bunch of other Toyota models. Who knows if they even build Yaris sedans all the time? Same for whoever builds the hatchbacks. They may just gear up to produce that model for a while, crank out a batch, then build something else. They've probably already switched over to 2010 model production. This is the time of year for selling off leftovers. The Cash for Clunkers buying surge caught all the manufacturers by surprise, and I heard some bitter complaints from U.S. brand dealers like Ford that they couldn't keep cars in stock. And of course Toyota dealers would rather sell a car they make more off of like a Corolla, Camry or Prius, anyway.

Good points. But does that explain the proliferation of them elsewhere? If there are so many in Canada - no doubt from the North American Production run - does that mean the US got the shaft? This alludes to my earlier point that the US Dealerships didn't think there was much of a market for them.

Anyhow, thanks for bringing that up.

[ivanivanix]

When I decided that I want a Yaris 5 door, the close-by dealer only had ONE :D
Luckily, the color was white (exactly as the doctor ordered in the South-East with its brutal sun) and loaded to the collarbone. One three things my didn't have compared to the "S" version is the sporty seats, the tachometer, and the rear defogger. I'm a happy camper! Exactly the design of the personal vehicle that I saw everywhere in Italy. But the car is so unfamiliar to the SUV crowd, they make big eyes every time they see my little bubble.
One strange difference with N.American version and what the youtube is full of (those commercials that target the french market) is that the Vitz comes equipped with a big round push-start button. It would have been a nice touch. But it's OK. It's still a Vitz/Yaris.

[ellenbetty]

The problem with blaming US dealers with shortages of equiped Yarises is that Toyota Japan controls how many and what type of Yarises are shipped to Toyota USA. A few months ago there were reports of Toyota having a (world wide) 175 day supply of Yarises. Toyota stopped production of the Yaris for a few weeks. Then the US Government passed Cash for Clunkers. The Cash for Clunkers program caused a shortage of Yarises in the US. Having to deal with a 175 day supply of Yarises (world wide), plus having to deal with the shock of the first operating loss in 70 years, Toyota has few reasons to over produce well equiped Yarises.

[Yariscrazy]

not on long Island ,ny ! all my dealerships report that they have no 09 Yaris's left.

[RUFFSTUFF]

Do you only get the tachometer in the hatch if you get the S model? Even with a manual tranny?

[Thirty-Nine]

Do you only get the tachometer in the hatch if you get the S model? Even with a manual tranny?

Yep.

[Lewis]

I think it boils to the fact the Corolla is built over here and therefore has much more profit in it for Toyota than the Yaris which is priced in Yen being built in Japan. So it's natural for Toyota to try to push people up a bit into a basic Corolla which is the model they're cranking out in volume in North America.

Toyota needs a presence in the A segment in the US (which they probably mistakenly see as a niche market) which the Yaris provides but until they're forced to build them in the North America by the sinking dollar (making it totally uneconomic to import them), the supply of Yarii will be limited, unpromoted and restricted as to equipment all of which pushes most Toyota buyers to the Corolla and generic A class buyers to other brands.

I can envision a Yaris model equipped with a tachometer, rear anti sway bar, and the power and convenience package, the new vehicle stablity system w/traction control, ABS and all the air bags (why not give us the knee bags you give Europeans!) priced say at 15-16K that would be very competitive but I bet Toyota would worry it would eat into much more profitable Corolla sales while making very little for the corporation.

With the new Fiesta on the way expect even fewer Yarii on dealers lots I'm afraid.