Published: July 19, 2008 10:47 pm         

Some dealerships see shortage in hybrid cars

With gas settled in at more than $4 a gallon, many consumers are shopping for more fuel-efficient cars. Yet people wanting the Toyota Prius and other similar hybrid cars could be put on a waiting list.

States across the country are experiencing shortages. For that reason, the Web site hybridcars.com has added the Price Pulse feature which tells consumers how long they can expect to wait in each state. In Epping, N.H., people can expect to wait up to 16 weeks, according to the site.

West Virginia has been experiencing a similar shortage. Toyota dealerships from around the area have either put people on waiting lists or have very few hybrids in stock. According to Rick Jackson, general sales manager of Ramey Toyota of Princeton, any Prius is pre-sold for the next eight months.

“At this point, our allocation for the Prius is limited,” he said. “We’ve got a waiting list on any Prius.”

At 46 miles per gallon, the Prius is an “ultra-low emission” vehicle, and according to Toyota customer service representative Rick Miranda, demand has exceeded supply.

“It has been such a big turnaround,” he said. “A high rate of customers are wanting the Prius and it seemed as if it were an overnight thing. Unfortunately, we hadn’t had time to work up to this demand.”

According to Miranda, to deal with the problem, Toyota has considered producing more Prius hybrids in the states. As of now, the Prius is produced in Japan only. Until a plant is built in Blue Springs, Miss., in 2010, Miranda says, Toyota will do whatever it can to meet the demand.

Jackson is also trying to find a way to deal with the shortage. For the time being, he says he plans to deal with the shortage by promoting cars that may not be as fuel-efficient as the Prius but can come close. These other gas-efficient cars do not have a waiting list, and according to Jackson, they have been selling well.

“One of the biggest factors for people buying a car is gas mileage now,” he said. “The truck business is very meek, but as far as cars go, the business is good.”

The Honda Civic has been on many people’s wish list as well. Many states do not have waiting lists, yet in some areas the wait can reach up to 11 weeks.

One dealership has noticed a significant increase in the demand for hybrids, such as Earehart Honda in Beckley. According to Wayne Byrge, general sales manager, gas mileage has been a major concern recently and has caused the hybrids and the Civic to gain in popularity.

“The last hybrid we got in, we had two people waiting to buy it,” he said. “Actually, when the truck came into the lot with the shipment, they followed it.”

Due to the popularity of the Civic and the hybrid vehicles, Byrge says, some people have had to wait a few days.

“We have four people waiting for a hybrid at this point and about nine waiting on a Civic,” he said.

According to Byrge, he plans to deal with the shortage by “selling them out of the pipeline.” This involves taking deposits and pre-ordering.

“Gas mileage has become the biggest concern,” he said. “It’s quite a chance. The car section of our lot looks like a ghost town and the mini-van section is very plentiful.”

Honda spokesman Chris Naughton says he is proud of the fact that Honda has been able to keep up with the steady demand of the vehicle. Honda has noticed an increased demand and a shorter supply, he says, but the company has been able to adjust production to deal with this.

“There has been a dramatic shift, especially in the past two months” Naughton said. “The Civic was the best-selling vehicle in the nation and it’s displaced the F150 which has been the best selling in years.”

The Civic Hybrid, he says, has done well also, but says he does not expect there to be long waiting lists.

Demand, he says, will increase with the production of their first global hybrid vehicle which will hit the market in 2009.

“We expect this to be three times the Civic and about 100,000 sales a year,” he said. “If there is a waiting list, we will do everything we can to satisfy the market’s demands.”