In an article that's mostly about the new electric Ford Focus, Keith Naughton of Bloomberg News says: "Hybrid Demand Demand for hybrids has waned. The models that run on batteries and gasoline engines peaked at 3.3 percent of the U.S. market in 2008, when gasoline topped $4 a gallon. With fuel prices down about 25 percent from their peak, hybrids accounted for 2.4 percent of U.S. auto sales last year, according to researcher Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Hybrids accounted for 1.8 percent of Ford’s U.S. sales last year, even though its Fusion is the most fuel-efficient mid- sized gas-electric sedan on the market." Here's a link to the whole article: Ford Takes On Chevrolet, Nissan With Focus Electric - Bloomberg I agree with the article's claim that the decrease in hybrid demand is linked to gas prices. I bet there is still room for growth of hybrid market share when gas prices go up again.
The above doesn't surprise me, U.S. drivers are still in the mind set mode of "bigger is better". Yes, with a decrease in fuel prices, drivers revert to thier old ways, always thinking short trem rather than long term. Also the emotional side plays a big part in the purchasing of a new vehicle. a large pickup burning rubber tends to get the male mind thinking "I got to get one of these" - and they do! Perhaps, if people were to really sort out their "needs" from their "wants", we might see more Prius sales on a yearly basis. Sadly, increase in gas prices force people to rethink their current gas pig purchases and scramble to buy a Prius. These folks never seem to learn. Dbcassidy
Dbc, I'm not sad that short-term increases in gas prices force people to rethink their purchases. I'm only sad that long-term patterns don't do the same thing. We learn, but we also tend to forget quickly.
In my area, I don't think we are going to make it to summer. Prices are already inching closer and closer. Premium is already in the $3.40 - $3.50 range....
If gasoline needs to go up high for more people to buy Prius, then there is something about the car that's keeping people from getting it otherwise. It was a pretty short list of things that kept me from getting it. Maybe I'll like the 4th gen more. We'll see in 5 years.
demand falling into the 2% range? how does that compare to other manufacturers' falling percentage sales?
Hill, The article just talked about US hybrid sales as a percentage of all motor vehicle sales. It only broke down by Manufacturer for Ford (1,8% in 2010), because the article was mostly about Ford's electric Focus. So, 2.4% is for share of all vehicles, all mfgs sales in US 2010 3.3% was for share of all vehicles, all mfgs sales in US 2008. If overall car sales have fallen since 2008 (I think that's right??), then the plunge in hybrid sales would be greater than the average plunge in sales of cars generally. Sigh. Bisco, Grumpy Cabbie knows a lot more about Europe than I do. But I was in NE Spain and a bit of France last month. I saw a good number of Prii in Barcelona, but almost none elsewhere (Bilbao, Costa Brava, highways between). I'm not good at spotting other hybrids so quickly, so I won't even estimate them. So overall, I think I agree with him.
2008 U.S. Auto Sales Are Worst Since 1992 - Auto Observer says Auto Sales - Markets Data Center - WSJ.com says YTD sales for December 2010 were ~11.588 million. These URLs have some breakdowns by automaker: By The Numbers - 2008: Phew! Glad That's Over Edition — Autoblog By the Numbers - 2010: The Year After That Really Bad Year Edition — Autoblog
