Hybrid Car Review

Hybrid car sales were down 45% for December, bringing the total sales for 2008 down by 11% for the year. Total hybrid car sales for December was 16,872, while cumulative sales hit 308,001 units sold.

To put the total hybrid cars sales of 16,872 into perspective, Toyota sold 21,757 Prius just in April. Or to put it another way, more hybrid cars were sold in December of 2005.  A drop in gas prices and a general downturn in the economy has hit hybrid car sales hard, making the predictions for a modest increase in sales back at the beginning of the year look very optimistic.

Make	Model	Dec-07	Dec-08	% Change
Honda	Accord	150	1	-99%
Honda	Civic	3,223	1,036	-68%
Honda	Insight	0	0	-
Toyota	Prius	14,212	7,859	-45%
Toyota	Highlander	2,791	890	-68%
Toyota	Camry	4,969	1,888	-62%
Toyota	GS 450h	136	51	-63%
Toyota	RX 400h	2,032	1,463	-28%
Toyota	LS600hL	129	50	-61%
Ford	Escape/Mariner	2,265	1,149	-49%
Nissan	Altima	964	710	-26%
GM	Yukon/Tahoe	0	1,423	-
GM	Escalade	0	306	-
Chrysler	Aspen/Durango	0	46	-
Total		30,871	16,872	-45%
Make	Model	Cumulative, 2007	Cumulative, 2008	% Change
Honda	Accord	3,405	198	-94%
Honda	Civic	32,575	31,297	-4%
Honda	Insight	3	0	-100%
Toyota	Prius	181,221	158,886	-12%
Toyota	Highlander	22,052	19,391	-12%
Toyota	Camry	54,477	46,272	-15%
Toyota	GS 450h	1,912	678	-65%
Toyota	RX 400h	17,291	15,200	-12%
Toyota	LS600hL	937	980	5%
Ford	Escape/Mariner	25,108	19,522	-22%
Nissan	Altima	8,388	8,819	5%
GM	Yukon/Tahoe	0	5,876	-
GM	Escalade	0	801	-
Chrysler	Aspen/Durango	0	81	-
Total		347369	308001	-11%

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Chrysler were probably very disappointed by their sales numbers this month, but GM may end up looking at December as a bright point for their hybrid car sales.  With over 1,700 of their dual-mode hybrid SUVs sold, they increased their market share to over 10% for the month.  Previously, they've only enjoyed 5% or less of the hybrid market. Toyota still sells around 3 out of every 4 hybrids, with around half of all hybrids sold being a Prius.

Incentives and lower gas prices may have also given rise to a change in the type of hybrid vehicles people are willing to buy.  The rise in GM hybrid SUV sales meant 31% of all hybrid vehicles sold in December were SUVs.  The last time hybrid SUV share was over thirty percent was back in May of 2006.

Toyota also may have reason not to worry too much about its sales this month.  Many Prius buyers may be holding out for a few more months until the new generation is available.  And where Prius sales go, so do hybrid sales.

Hybrid Car Sales, November 2008
Hybrid Car Sales, December 2007