Hybrid Car Review

Hybrid car sales were up by a remarkable 49.8% from August, 2008, making August 2009 the best August for hybrid sales ever and the fourth best sales month for hybrids. A total of 37,781 units were sold, helped by higher gas costs and the Cash for Clunkers program. The Lexus HS 250h had a great first month, and the newly introduced third generation Toyota Prius was up 40% in sales from last year.

Ford hybrid sales were up by over 250%, pushed by a a 57% gain in Escape and Mariner Hybrid sales, along with another very strong sales month for the Fusion and Milan Hybrid.  Nissan had an incredible gain of over 600% for the Altima Hybrid.  Honda and Toyota saw gains of 59 and 24%, respectively.  Only GM saw a decline in hybrid sales this month of 1.3%.   Sales for GM are shown for the full hybrid line-up only.   Their mild hybrid line-up did see a slight gain.

Cumulative hybrid sales are still down by 19% for the year.  They have been depressed from the changeover for the Prius, as customers held off until the new Prius arrived in showrooms.  Also the recession and lower gas prices from last summers high have helped keep hybrid sales down until the past couple of months.


It's unclear whether hybrids will see a 'hangover' effect from the end of the Cash for Clunkers program in the coming months.  The new Insight and Prius have been strong sellers so far, and the Prius has been a strong seller for years now.   Honda Civic Hybrid sales have fallen off, as Insight sales have climbed.  This may be an indicator that the Insight, which was intended to compete with the Prius, is really competing with the Civic Hybrid instead.

Monthly Sales		August 2008		August 2009		% Change
Make	Model	N	%	N	%
Chrysler	Aspen/Durango	0	0.0	0	0	0
Ford	Escape/Mariner	1,338	5.3	2,102	5.6	57.1
Ford	Fusion/Milan	0	0.0	2,593	6.9	0.0
GM	Escalade	1	0.0	214	0.6	21300.0
GM	Silverado/Sierra	0	0.0	226	0.6	0.0
GM	Tahoe/Yukon	797	3.2	348	0.9	-56.3
Honda	Accord	2	0.0	0	0.0	-100.0
Honda	Civic	3,105	12.3	717	1.9	-76.9
Honda	Insight	0	0.0	4,226	11.2	0.0
Nissan	Altima	442	1.8	3,164	8.4	615.8
Toyota	Camry	3,456	13.7	2,114	5.6	-38.8
Toyota	GS 450h	35	0.1	48	0.1	37.1
Toyota	HS 250h	0	0.0	543	1.4	0.0
Toyota	Highlander	1,227	4.9	836	2.2	-31.9
Toyota	LS600hL	71	0.3	10	0.0	-85.9
Toyota	Prius	13,463	53.4	18,886	50.0	40.3
Toyota	RX 400h	1,277	5.1	1,754	4.6	37.4
Total		25,214		37,781		49.8
Cumulative Sales		Cumulative 2008		Cumulative 2009		% Change
Make	Model	N	%	N	%
Chrysler	Aspen/Durango	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
Ford	Escape/Mariner	15,303	6.3	12,536	6.4	-18.1
Ford	Fusion/Milan	2,810	1.2	11,342	5.8	303.6
GM	Escalade	168	0.1	1,221	0.6	626.8
GM	Silverado/Sierra	180	0.1	876	0.5	386.7
GM	Tahoe/Yukon	2,304	1.0	3,430	1.8	48.9
Honda	Accord	193	0.1	1	0.0	-99.5
Honda	Civic	23,106	9.5	14,014	7.2	-39.3
Honda	Insight	2,295	0.9	14,045	7.2	512.0
Nissan	Altima	7,047	2.9	7,368	3.8	4.6
Toyota	Camry	36,497	15.1	17,630	9.1	-51.7
Toyota	GS 450h	539	0.2	301	0.2	-44.2
Toyota	HS 250h	0	0.0	543	0.3	0.0
Toyota	Highlander	15,451	6.4	8,366	4.3	-45.9
Toyota	LS600hL	736	0.3	195	0.1	-73.5
Toyota	Prius	124,078	51.2	93,810	48.2	-24.4
Toyota	RX 400h	11,684	4.8	8,921	4.6	-23.6
Total		242,391		194,599		-19.7

BTW, Back in August of 2008, sales were still going strong for hybrids, with high gas prices forcing a sell out of hybrids, especially the Prius. 

Related:
Hybrid Car Sales, August 2008
Hybrid Car Sales, July 2009