Jacquie Ottman's Green Marketing Blog
Watch Out, Prius!
June 12th 2009
The Toyota Prius currently dominates the market for hybrid cars, but the Honda Insight wants to change that. Who will come out on top in 2009? By Jacquelyn Ottman, with Sarah McGrath
After selling 285,000 Priuses in 2008, Toyota’s star vehicle has taken a big hit in 2009—sales are down 45 percent since January. To compound Toyota’s hybrid troubles, Honda re-launched its Insight hybrid earlier this spring—right on the heels of the introduction of the Prius Third Generation. Based on our assessment of the marketing efforts behind the Prius and the Insight, we are confident that the new Insight will give Prius a run for its money.
The airwaves and print media have been swamped with splashy ads from both sides. Priuses drive through a landscape of people dressed up as dancing flowers and trees promoting “Harmony between man, nature, and machine.” The Insight motors down a road while legions of people cheerily pop up along the way—proving that the Insight is “A hybrid for everyone.”
Honda’s advertising focuses on affordability for “everyone”—somewhat more hard hitting than Toyta’s emphasis on the green aspects of driving a hybrid. The Insight’s $20,000 sticker price is $2,000 below that of the Prius. (To compete with the lower-priced Insight, a $21,000 Prius will be introduced later this year.)
Hybrid cars have largely outgrown their initial clientele of early adapters and deep green consumers. Both Toyota and Honda recognize that capturing the mainstream is critical for future success. But compared to Honda’s glamour shots of the Insight as a family car with lots of storage, the cutesy costumes and waving trees featured by Toyota seem to miss the mainstream message entirely.
Honda’s more practical focus makes the Insight a serious competitor for the Prius in this tough economy—and also a contender for long-term success.
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Comments
I would like to know what happens to the batteries and how Toyota and others dispose of them.
I am a 1st generation Prius owner and have read in the FT a while ago that the car is not as environmentally friendly as one thinks if we consider the entire life cycle of the car. Any insights on that?
10:31 on the June 18th 2009 by marie-Jose Hunter
In terms of TRULY “long-term success” I understood that diesel engines and fuel (much refined from the 70s and 80s era of diesels) and not hybrids are the way to go. Why develop hybrids and electric cars when we could bypass 20 years and go straight for diesel?
16:41 on the July 15th 2009 by Alice
