Hybrid Car Review

After seeing yesterdays report from R. L. Polk & Co. showing Hawaii was the only state to have a decline in sales through the first seven months of 2007 compared to last year, you might think hybrids are losing their charm in Hawaii.

But Polk only gave out the percentage change. That makes it hard to evaluate the changes going on. For instance, Oklahoma had the biggest increase with 143% increase in registrations, but that doesn't tell you what the real change was. If they sold (I'm making the number of sales in Oklahoma up for illustration purposes. I have no idea how many were registered in Oklahoma last year.) registered 10 hybrids last year and increased that amount by 143%, that wouldn't compare to an increase of 5% in California, where they sell thousands of hybrids.

In Hawaii last year, the Prius was the 21st most popular vehicle with 686 Prius sold. And because they are so popular, local dealers have trouble getting new models in. So, reporting a 5% decrease in sales doesn't really tell you the whole story.

Which brings up the questions on the highlight of the story. The Midwest was shown to have the biggest percentage increase in hybrid sales, but without the denominator, it's really hard to tell what the real underlying story is.

I just wish if Polk were going to release the percentages, they would trow in the denominators, too.