Toyota Prius will be 2.9% higher in 2005

Today, Toyota announced that it was going to raise the price of the ever-increasingly popular Prius hybrid. Going on sale Sept. 14th, the 2005 model will be priced at $20,875, about $600 higher than last year.

While all Toyota models experienced a price increase, the Prius hike was by far the highest. Of course, if the supply of the Prius can be elevated to better match demand, dealer add-on’s – currently as high as $5000 - could be reduced (dealers are adding fees because of excessive demand).

Toyota has already announced that that it was going to increase production of the Prius by at least 50 percent for 2005. This writer, however, expects demand to far-out-weigh a 50 percent increase in production as well.