Hybrid Car Review

R.L. Polk released information relating to their latest survey on new hybrid car registration in the US in 2006. Nationwide, registrations hit 254,545 units, a 28 percent increase from 2005. (2005 survey of new hybrid registrations)

As you can see from the table below, California by itself registers over a quarter of the hybrids. Florida, Texas, New York, Virginia, Illinois, and Washington make up another 25.8%. Given that, it's not surprising to see three of the top 10 metro areas are in California.

             Table 1 - Top 10 Hybrid States (2006 Calendar Year)

  Rank    State             Total New             Share of U.S.
                       Hybrid Registrations      Hybrid Volume (%)

  1      California         67,533                    26.5
  2      Florida            12,900                     5.1
  3      Texas              12,550                     4.9
  4      New York           11,634                     4.6
  5      Virginia           10,424                     4.1
  6      Illinois            9,495                     3.7
  7      Washington          8,650                     3.4
  8      Pennsylvania        8,407                     3.3
  9      Massachusetts       7,365                     2.9
  10     New Jersey          7,021                     2.8
         Combined Top 10   155,979                    61.3

  Source:  R. L. Polk & Co. U.S. New Hybrid Registrations, 2006 Calendar
Year.

        Table 2 - Top 10 Hybrid Metro Markets (2006 Calendar Year)

  Rank    Market (DMA(R))       Total New           Share of U.S.
                          Hybrid Registrations     Hybrid Volume (%)

  1       Los Angeles           30,989                  12.2
  2       San Francisco         20,625                   8.1
  3       New York              14,200                   5.6
  4       Washington D.C.       11,405                   4.5
  5       Boston                 7,795                   3.1
  6       Chicago                7,622                   3.0
  7       Seattle                7,244                   2.8
  8       Philadelphia           6,848                   2.7
  9       San Diego              5,131                   2.0
  10      Denver                 4,954                   1.9
          Combined Top 10      116,813                  45.9
  Source: R. L. Polk & Co. U.S. New Hybrid Registrations, 2006 Calendar
Year.

Hybrids made up just over 1.5 percent of the car market, with the Prius leading the pack with 42.8 percent of the hybrid market. In second place was the Toyota Highlander and then the Honda Civic, taking 12.5 percent and 12.3 percent. Overall, Toyota/Lexus had more than 75 percent of all new hybrid registrations