Hybrid sales to grow as prices come down: Toyota

Toyota hasn't quite pulled back from its stretch target of 10,000 Camry Hybrid sales a year, but the prospect seems more remote than it was four years ago.

Back in June 2008, when the company announced officially that it would build the petrol/electric mid-size sedan here, petrol prices in Sydney were above $1.60 a litre, according to the Australia Automobile Association (AAA).

By the time the car was launched through Toyota's dealer network in March of 2010, the Global Financial Crisis had driven the price of petrol back down to below $1.30, average. It was the breathing space motorists needed, and it came at an unfortunate time for Toyota, launching a new model that aimed to reduce petrol pump panic among consumers. Sales of the smaller Prius also took a dive around that time, possibly hurt further by another hybrid model in the Toyota range.

While fuel prices have steadily risen since then, it's like slow-boiling lobsters. Petrol prices still haven't risen back to the peak of mid-2008 — and Toyota's Matthew Callachor was upfront about the chances the new Camry Hybrid will achieve the 10,000-unit forecast in the short term.

"Ultimately — personally, as a sales guy — I was always want to get to a running rate of around 10,000... that would be where I want to be, but that would take time, to get to," Callachor, Toyota Australia's Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, told journalists during the launch of the Camry Hybrid last week.

Toyota has always argued that for car companies to convince local consumers to go hybrid in marketable quantities requires more hybrid-drive entries in the market, more promotion of the technology, more word-of-mouth to be spread among consumers. For the moment diesels are on the ascendancy and there's a perception that hybrids can't break the lock compression ignition engines hold on the market while hybrid technology remains harder to comprehend.

That may change however, according Callachor, who takes the view that the Camry (and Prius, by extension) needn't wait for petrol prices to rise through the roof once more. The Toyota chief believes the answer for hybrid sales in Australia lies with younger consumers, and if other companies are slow to get in on the hybrid act, then Toyota will create its own market demand by launching other hybrid models.

"Improved sales performance is a matter of time," said Callachor. "It means reaching a critical mass — a point where hybrid technology becomes the norm. As the pioneer in hybrid technology, we're in this for the long run. That process will be helped this year by the arrival of new members of the Prius family. The Prius C in a few weeks and the Prius V in May, as well as a new Prius flagship, are heading our way in addition to the new Camry Hybrid.

"By the middle of this year we'll be offering hybrids priced from around the mid-$20,000s, all the way to the mid-$50,000s. These new cars are all about achieving real market acceptance for hybrids, with greater affordability, increasing familiarity and rising sales.

"At the moment, hybrids are mainly bought by innovators and early adopters. They are turned on by technology, fuel and the environment. And guess what? Most innovators and early adopters are young.

"People under 35 tend to have a much better understanding of, and appreciation for hybrid technology, than older demographics. They are more likely to believe it is worth paying a premium for hybrid and they are more likely to trust hybrid technology. And they certainly understand that hybrids are better for the environment than diesel cars.

"In short, young people are more positive than older people towards hybrids. This tells us that in the future, young people will drive growth in hybrid sales. But right now though, most young people cannot afford the hybrids on the market. We are moving to remedy that situation and make hybrids more affordable and familiar — mainstream cars that will grow in popularity."

So between the improving affordability of the technology, the increased diversity of the range and the snowball effect of broader promotion, Toyota should begin to see hybrid-drive models gain traction in the market.

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