I'm a fan of the hybrid Dashboard report even when the numbers aren't positive: June 2010 Dashboard: Economy and Low Gas Prices Take Toll on Hybrid Sales | Hybrid Cars Curious given $2.65/gal. gas is far from what used to be cheap. But it also provides a powerful indicator of Prius sales, the price of gas. When I looked at the model data, I noticed the Prius and three groups: Prius - still the market leader with over 50% of all hybrid sales 1k group - the ones selling at least 1,000 units. In this group the Ford Escape and Lexus RX450h seemed to be holding their own. The Fusion, Insight and Camry not so hot. sub-k group - the Highlander, HS 250h, Civic and Altima are not looking so healthy although Highlander seems less bad. 200 or less - Mercedes ML450 is new and just over 212. However, the others are just there with no real market presence. Hummm, all the GM hybrids . . . only missing the Volt. Here is the table and groupings: Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 0 Model Units 1 Toyota Prius 10 998 2 Ford Fusion 2 010 3 Honda Insight 1 491 4 Lexus RX450h 1 304 5 Ford Escape 1 260 6 Toyota Camry 1 097[/COLOR] 7 Toyota Highlander 611 8 Lexus HS 250h 603 9 Honda Civic 595 10 Altima 479[/COLOR] 11 Mercedes ML450 212 12 Chevy Tahoe 168 13 GMC Yukon 132 14 BMW X6 128 15 Mercury Mariner 100 16 Mercury Milan 93 17 Chevy Silverado 82 18 Cadillac Escalade 68 19 Mercedes S400 63 20 Mazda Tribute 55 21 GMC Sierra 38 22 Chevy Malibu 36 23 Lexus GS450h 22 24 Saturn Vue 14 25 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 11 26 Saturn Aura 5 27 Lexus LS600hL 4[/COLOR] Dashboard report sorted by June sales. Bob Wilson
Interesting Data. I wonder how many dealerships Toyota has vs Ford? I would guess Ford still has more. Ford has a dealership advantage which is built into those numbers. My feeling is they need a cheaper hybrid to compete with Prius. I just checked google, and Ford had about 3900 dealerships in 2008. Toyota about 1400 in the North America and 400 in Japan. Not sure if the Ford numbers are U.S. or World. But Ford probably has at least twice as many dealerships as Toyota. And a big advantage in rural areas here. Honda is probably much lower than Toyota. Smaller company. The other observation concerns the Insight, which as I suspected is outselling the Civic hybrid 3/1 and is doing quite well as #3. The Insight has been getting lousy media lately, and it's not justified from my experiences with the one my wife owns. It is also the cheapest hybrid at $18.5K base-discounted. It's sales are very good, and should be encouraging to Honda. With respect to gas prices, just figure out what people who own big SUVs are paying in gas per month driving 1K miles and getting 10-15 mpg. At 15 mpg, they're paying $175 per month. That's a big chunk of cash feeding Saudi Arabia et al every month.A good part of our trade imbalance. Not to mention all that carbon pollution.
One interesting aspect is I didn't realize was the existence of the Mercedes-Benz ML 450 hybrid competing with the Chevy Tahoe: Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 0 Merc 450 H. Chevy Tahoe H. Specification 1 21 21 City MPG 2 22 22 Combined 3 24 22 Hwy MPG 4 P R fuel grade 5 5 227 5 629 curb weight 6 188.2 x 71.5 x 83.7 202 x 74.6 x 79 len x h x w Mercedes and Edmunds specifications. So these two land yachts are same class. The Mercedes as far as June sales is concerned, has as a new model, shown a nice spike over the Tahoe. Both are $50k: Bob Wilson
The Lexus RXh has always sold very well around 1500 or so units a month. Here is how ALL mid size SUV sales stack up. Notice the 450h by itself outsells many of them. Mid Ute RX-7,796 (350 and 450) Enclave-4,561 MDX-3,847 SRX-3,804 X5-3,273 M class-2,124 MKX-1,306 Lexus RX450h 1,304 GX-1,120 XC90-926 X6-695 FX-678 Cayenne-496 Toureg-309 ZDX-265
Interesting info. I don't have the time right now, but it almost looks like it's sorted by MPG. I'm sure there's some variation based on vehicle price and possibly difference between that model and it's non-hybrid version (why buy it if only gets 2mpg better than the old-fashioned gas-only version with more trunk space). According to this, the Malibu is discontinued except for some fleet sales, and possibly the Aura and Vue as well.
Looking at the original data, the numbers for the month of June compare to the previous month and to June last year are not good. But the cumulative year-to-date (cytd) for 2010 is up compared to 2009. Although it's also up even more for standard cars, so apparently hybrids are losing some market share, now at 2.3% of all car sales.
Ford does not want to compete directly with the prius. They are going to surround it with the new focus which will roll out with ev, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid variations. Mercury did not sell many hybrids and ford will be killing the division, but rolling out the Lincoln version of the fusion with more luxury that will compete with the Lexus hs. I doubt dealerships are making much of a difference, but he Camry hybrid is an older design and needs to be reworked to compete with the fusion. I think the fit will be a more successful hybrid than the insight. Only time will tell.
I agree. I don't know why Honda just didn't hybridize the Fit. Maybe they didn't want to cut into the Fit sales--it's been a success. The Fit is the only other car my wife considered. It's roomier inside, but has straight auto or manual (if you can find one)--no CVT. It was about $3K cheaper. I suggested a hybrid would have better resale in a few years when the market changes.Also, she wanted a manual, and that kills resale. And gas mileage is about 30% better with the Insight. Honda is coming out with a manual/auto CRZ hybrid--like a 3dr Insight--with more power but lower mpg--in the 30s.
The hybrid fit is coming out. No date yet in America, but this year in japan and $2000 more than a standard fit. Honda Fit Hybrid - Review | Hybrid Cars I like the idea of the cr-z, but doubt honda put enough power into it.
Ok, problem diagnosed: Leaf deposits. You buy a Leaf for the front yard and a gasser of choice for 'towing the boat,' 'vacations', and 'hauling the whole family.' Yea, the Leaf did it. Bob Wilson
Bit off topic, but I called Toyota about a 2009 Prius hybrid battery warranty after the (CA) warranty, 10 years runs out ... 1 year warranty on replacement battery. Hmmmmm. So, say at 12 years, battery goes out. Replace the Toyota way for $3.x k. Car's in great shape, ready to go for another 10 years or more, BUT, the new hybrid battery has a 1 year warranty ... ewwww. Any other discussions on this?
we love our 08 hycam. smooth, quiet, roomy and 38 - 45 mpg. i can't imagine what the fusion has over it, i'll have to test drive one i guess.
