Toyota struggles to meet small car demand

DETROIT (Reuters) - The surge in popularity for small cars and fuel-efficient hybrids has left Toyota facing an unusual problem: deepening shortages of popular models such as the Prius hybrid.

A limited inventory of small cars hurt Toyota, which reported a 11.5 percent drop in U.S. sales in June.

In stark contrast, Japanese rival Honda Motor Co reported a 13.8 percent sales rise on record demand for its Fit subcompact car and Civic sedan.

Toyota executives said a dwindling inventory of vehicles, such as the Prius, Yaris and Corolla, had forced the automaker to scramble to try to keep up with demand in June, a month when industry-wide U.S. auto sales dropped almost 9 percent.

Sales of Toyota's Prius, the top-selling hybrid in the U.S. market, fell 26 percent as dealers ran short of inventory and customers faced a six-month waiting list. Toyota said it would only partly be able to satisfy the backlog of demand from its dedicated Prius factory in Japan this year.

Hybrids command about a $5,000 price premium compared with equivalent vehicles without the expensive battery.

"It is very doubtful that there is going to be a lot of recovery this year to be able to satisfy consumer demand and that is very unfortunate," said Jim Lentz, Toyota's head of North American sales, referring to the Prius.

Toyota says the whole system reduce noise levels inside the car by up to 8dB

Noise-cancelling isn’t just useful for getting some peace and quiet on a plane, it’s also great for shutting out the hubbub of the motorway on a long drive, at least, it is if you’re driving a Toyota.

The car firm has shoved its new Active Noise Control technology inside the Toyota Crown Hybrid, a half electric, half petrol car that uses speakers to cancel out noise from the engine, road, and other cars.

Toyota says the whole system reduce noise levels inside the car by up to 8dB, using three microphones inside the cabin that listen for noise, before passing it to a processor that flips it, and plays reversed signals back out of three speakers in the front doors and parcel shelf.

The effect is a dampening of low frequency rumble, and a much quieter ride