The sales figures for hybrid cars, trucks and sports utility vehicles in the United States show a gradual decline of traditional vehicles sales. The 46 percent increase in hybrid sales from April 2007 to April 2008 helped push sales in the vehicle class to 3.2 percent of all vehicles sold throughout the United States. There were 39,898 hybrid vehicles sold during this 12-month period which shows promise for an increasing market share as gas prices increase and gas mileage decreases in traditional vehicles.
Toyota’s Prius maintained its status as the gold standard for hybrid vehicles over the last year. There were 21,757 Prius models sold in the United States through April 2008, which was a 67 percent increase since April 2007. This popular model has been purchased 514,000 times since 2004 and 680,000 since its introduction in the United States. The introduction of the much-acclaimed 2009 Toyota Prius this summer should push these figures upward through April 2009.
The Toyota brand continued its domination of the hybrid market with increased sales of the Camry and Highlander hybrid. The Camry hybrid sedan improved 51 percent over last year’s sales figures and claimed 16.7 percent of all Camry sales. There were 2,578 Highlander hybrid SUVs sold over the last 12 months, which took up 25 percent of all Highlanders driven off Toyota lots.
The largesse for hybrid vehicles was not uniform across the American auto market. The Lexus Gs 450h sold 82 units during the sales period, which was a decrease of 53 percent from April 2007. This decrease can be explained by the high price of the vehicle as well as the premium niche carved out by Lexus. The Honda Accord hybrid dropped 92 percent in terms of sales while the Ford Escape and Mariner hybrids plummeted 16 percent over the last 12 months.
These latter sales figures expose a significant problem in the American hybrid vehicle market. Producers like Ford and General Motors are creating hybrid models in extremely limited numbers to gain public favor without making major investments. Toyota’s volume of hybrid cars and SUVs as well as the company’s commitment to improving hybrid models like Prius has gone a long way toward generating consumer support. The failure by American auto manufacturers to invest in hybrid vehicles beyond trial hydrogen and biodiesel programs will continue to increase the market share taken by outside companies like Toyota and Honda.
