Hybrid Car Review

Year to year increases in the hybrid vehicle sector have become commonplace, but a 20% increase (due mostly to the continued strong sales of the Toyota Prius and Camry Hybrid) is still big news. Overall, all three automakers increased sales from last year, but only Toyota increased hybrid sales from last month.

Toyota increased hybrid sales overall to 18,090 units sold, an increase of 19.8% from last June. By selling more hybrids than any other carmaker, they captured 78.5% of the hybrid market. Sales on the Toyota Prius increased from 9,622 to 9,696 units. It seems the only limit on Prius sales is the number of units Toyota can manufacture.

The newly introduced Toyota Camry hybrid sold 4,268 units in the month of June. That made it the second most popular hybrid. Toyota also sold 2,705 Highlander Hybrids, a decrease of 5.7% from last June.

Toyota's Lexus division sold 231 units of its GS 450h and 1,190 units of its RX 400h. The RX 400h is down 54.3% from last year as well.

Honda increased hybrid sales by 2.4% due to sales of the Honda Civic Hybrid. The Honda Civic Hybrid increased sales from 1,852 to 2,601 units, an increase of 40.4% from last year. The low production (and soon to be retired) two-seater Insight sold 77 units, an increase of 11.6%.

Sales of the Honda Accord Hybrid have completely fallen off. Honda sold only 396 units, a decrease of 63.3% from last year. It seems the idea of a 'performance hybrid' is not going over well with consumers. Honda has stated they are thinking of reducing production of the Accord Hybrid.

Ford (and Mercury) are still way up from last year, selling a combined 1,884 units, an increase of 67.3% over last year. The Ford Escape hybrid and its luxury sister, the Mercury Mariner captured 8.2% of the hybrid market.

Of interest is the continuing decrease in Hybrid SUV sales. With the introduction of new hybrid cars, sales have continued to increase month to month since February. But hybrid SUV sales have decreased each month for the past three months.