Hybrid Car Review

Using data from the KPMG survey of 140 top auto executives, Business Weekly has a story on the future growth of hybrid car sales. Specifically, they expect hybrid car sales to continue to grow; from 1.3 % to 4.2% market share.

Much of that growth will come from the hybrid cars becoming more widely available. They expect that the types of hybrid vehicles available will also grow from 11 to 52 by 2012. As with any new industry, consumers will only buy what will fit into their lifestyle. When the hybrid car was first introduced, they were subcompacts with little room for families. With the introduction of the Ford Escape, the hybrids have a bigger chance going mainstream.

According to the KPMG survey, The types of vehicles expected to make the biggest gains in market share will be small, inexpensive cars and gas/electric hybrids, both prized for fuel efficiency. In fact: respondents think most likely to gain market share are hybrids (up this year from 74 percent to 88 percent) and a new category for 2005, low-cost cars (79 percent). North American auto executives are expecting a hybrid expansion, and four out of five Asians and Europeans agree. Also, the percent of auto executives who think consumers will accept hybrids has increased from 54 percent to 74.

But consumers have already accepted hybrids. If we go back to the Business Weekly story, which is citing a J.D. Powers and Associates survey, 87% of the consumers surveyed would consider buying a hybrid and nearly 85% of those surveyed are willing to spend more on them. Only half of the remaining 13% of those who would not consider buying a hybrid say they don't know enough about hybrids to feel comfortable buying one. And let's not forget that according to Consumer Reports, 95% of Prius owners would buy another one.