nimh battery shortage at toyota

May was a tough month for almost every automaker doing business in the U.S. Only Honda and Toyota showed gains among the major full-line manufacturers. Mighty Toyota which seemed impervious for so long dropped by 7.9%. While a dropoff in sales of Tundras, 4Runners and FJ Cruisers was certainly no shock, there was one distinct outlier. Even as gas prices topped $4/gallon in much of the country, sales of the Prius dropped nearly 40 percent from 24,009 last May to only 15,011 this May. After climbing steadily for many months, a drop like this comes as a surprise. We checked with Toyota's VP Communications Irv Miller about the situation. Miller explained that:

Last year at this time we required incentives to move the Prius that were accumulating in dealer stock and it was a big month. While the numbers are off for the month compared to last year, we ended the month with less than 1 day supply. You can see that our business is ahead of last year and we are constrained by battery supply on a global basis. With the plant announcements to increase battery production we should be on course to reach the next level with annual Hybrid production.

Only after the new Prius arrives (it will debut next January in Detroit) is the supply problem likely to let up. So if you absolutely must have a hybrid you'll need to look elsewhere for now. At Toyota, the next most affordable hybrid is the Camry, while Nissan offers an Altima hybrid in about a dozen states. The Ford Escape hybrid also offers mileage that easily tops 30mpg.