Hybrid Car Review

Hybrid car sales were up by 36% from last December, totalling 30,871 units sold this past month. GM does not break out their hybrid car sales, so all numbers shown reflect sales from Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Ford.

Make			Model				Dec-06									Dec-07	% Change
Honda			Accord				363									150	-59%
Honda			Civic				2,408									3,223	34%
Honda			Insight				3									0	-100%
Toyota			Prius				9,291									14,212	53%
Toyota			Highlander				2,354									2,791	19%
Toyota			Camry				4,005									4,969	24%
Toyota			GS 450h				252									136	-46%
Toyota			RX 400h				1,981									2,032	3%
Toyota			LS600hL				0									129	-
Ford			Escape/Mariner				1,968									2,265	15%
Nissan			Altima				0									964	-
Total							22625									30871	36%

Overall, Toyota showed the biggest gains, increasing hybrid car sales by 36% from last December. But both Honda and Ford were also up 22% and 15%, respectively. The Prius, as has been usual this past year, showed the largest gains of any model, up 53%, while the Accord Hybrid continued its downward spiral, falling another 59%. The Prius has shown consistently large gains all year long, ever since Toyota pulled out the bottleneck in production. The Accord Hybrid has been the big loser this year. Built for performance and not fuel economy, it has suffered and is slowly being retired by Honda.

Hybrid car sales had fallen for the first time in August and September, but have rallied since then. Toyota was changing model years on the Highlander Hybrid, and suffered accordingly. Sluggish sales for the Civic Hybrid also contributed to the slowdown, but both vehicles have responded strong in the past two months.

Toyota, and especially the Prius, continue to dominate the hybrid marketplace. The Prius made 46% of the total market, while Toyota maintained 78.6% of the total. Honda took second with 10.9%, while Ford took 7.3%. Nissan rounded out the remainder with its limited sales of the Altima Hybrid, with the remaining 3.1%. As long as Nissan holds back on selling the Altima Hybrid (only eight states sell the hybrid Altima, and even there they are not pushed), it will remain a bit player.

GM still doesn't break out its hybrid car sales. I'd like to take the opportunity to encourage them to do so. There is obvious public interest in how hybrid car sales fare, good or bad. And considering the push they are in the midst of to publicize their own hybrid agenda, breaking out the sales numbers would be a good idea.

Related:
Hybrid Car Sales, November 2007
Hybrid Car Sales, December 2006