Toyota has confirmed to Green Car Reports that they are discontinuing the Toyota Prius V for all US markets.
It’s only been on sale in the United States for five years but it looks like Toyota has decided to finally pull the plug on this Toyota Prius with extra cargo room. According to Green Car Reports on their announcement on the discontinuation of the Prius V earlier today (Nov. 18, 2017) Toyota confirmed to them that they will continue to make the Prius V for other global markets, but will discontinue sales in US dealerships, including Puerto Rico. Check out a couple of shots of this jack of all trades hybrid below.
RIDE OF THE WEEK: Seven days in a five-door Toyota Prius V… https://t.co/7aOk386p9K pic.twitter.com/2eQbXYawKB
— Fireball Tim (@fireballtim) November 9, 2017
According to Good Car Bad Car, sales of Toyota Prius V’s hit its peak and slowly dwindled ever since it was introduced. In 2012, Toyota sold over 40,000 units. Everyone seemed to be enamored with the Prius V’s cargo carrying capacity. Fast forward to last year and the writing was on the wall. Toyota managed to push close to 15,000 units out of lots. This year alone, as of this writing, only 8,300 units have been sold.
Buyers’ preference for a hybrid SUV against a hybrid wagon simply follows the overall market trend, in which passenger sedans, hatchbacks, and wagons are giving way to utility vehicles of all sizes and shapes.
It seems America’s infatuation with the utility vehicle continues to be the all-encompassing trend. With CAFE standards rising, it seems like Americans don’t mind that engines are getting smaller or that hybridization is an inevitability in the entire lineup, they just want the power and space to fill their needs.
Interestingly enough, the one market that seems to be gobbling up Prius V as fast as they’re coming out is their own home market, Japan. According to Inside EV’s, even the plug-in hybrid, the Prius Prime, is currently enjoying great success in Japan.
Although the Prius V suffered a premature death here in the United States, it’ll continue to be a success elsewhere.
