Prius sees surprise drop | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Prius sees surprise drop | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press BY BRENT SNAVELY

Toyota Motor Corp.’s May sales were not immune to the shifting buying patterns of U.S. consumers as the world’s No. 2 automaker reported a sales decline of 4.3% to 257,404 vehicles.

Sales of all Toyota brand cars and trucks fell 2.7% to 230,811 vehicles while sales of Lexus fell 16.6% to 26,593.

And then there was this surprise for Toyota: Sales of the Prius, its highest volume hybrid vehicle, fell 27.5% to 15,011 vehicles.

“We just didn’t have the supply, May of this year versus May of last year,” said Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota division.

Carter said Toyota is working with its suppliers, especially those that make hybrid batteries, to find ways to increase production to meet demand for the Prius as well as for all of its hybrid vehicles.

Still, there were many high points for Toyota in May. Sales of the Yaris increased 31.5% to 14,397 vehicles, sales of the Corolla increased 16.8%, and Camry sales inched up 2.3%.

Carter said Toyota’s total 2008 U.S. sales could be flat or lower than the record set last year of 2.6 million cars and trucks.

“What we are indicating now is we might be slightly off of last year’s record” sales, Carter said. “I am very confident that we are going to outperform the industry, but we may not get to 2007 volume.”

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