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US Sales of Hybrids in October Up 11% Year-on-Year
3 November 2006
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Sales of hybrids in the US in October rose to 18,784 units, up 10.9% from the 16,934 sold in October 2005. The October 2006 tally does not include sales of GM’s VUE Green Line Hybrid—GM is not yet breaking out those results separately.
Total light duty vehicle sales in October in the US increased 6.1% from the year prior, with sales of light trucks up 14.8% and sales of passenger cars down 2.9% year-on-year. In October, hybrids represented 1.54% of the new car market—an increase from the 1.48% share in October 2005, but a decrease from the 1.72% share in September 2006.
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Toyota sold 8,733 Priuses in October, a decrease of 12.1% from October 2005. Sales of the Camry Hybrid dipped in October to 2,806 units, the lowest full month total since the vehicle’s sales launch in April 2006. The Camry Hybrid represented 8.3% of total Camry brand sales in October, down from 10.6% in September and 11.8% in August.
The Highlander Hybrid posted 1,643 units, a drop of 29.5% from October 2005. The Highlander Hybrid represented 16.0% of total Highlander sales, down from 20.1% in September and 21.2% in August.
The Rx 400h posted 1,239 units, a drop of 34.9% from October 2005. The Rx 400h represented 17.1% of combined Rx 400h/Rx 350 sales, down from 19.4% in September, but up from 15.4% in August.
The luxury GS 450h sedan posted 177 units, representing 86.8% combined GS 450h/GS 430 sales, up from 74.2% in September. The October results represented 8.9% of all GS model sales, up from 6% in September.
The Ford Escape and Mariner hybrid posted 1,602 units, up 30.6% from October 2005. The Ford hybrids represented 13.6% of total Escape and Mariner sales, an increase of .6 percentage points from September 2006 and a full percentage point from August 2006.
Honda sold 2,288 units of the Civic Hybrid, up 890% from October 2005 (the unusually lowest month in 2005). The hybrid sales in October 2006 represented 10.7% of all Civic models sold, up from 9.5% in September and .1 percentage point off of the 10.8% in August.
With 287 units sold, Accord Hybrid sales were the lowest of 2006, down 77.3% from October 2005. Hybrids represented 1.2% of all Accord models sold in October, a drop from 1.7% in September and .2 percentage points lower than August. The Insight, phasing out, posted 9 units.
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| Hybrid car sales. | Hybrid SUV sales. |
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| Hybrid sales as a component of total model sales. | Hybrids as percentage of total light-duty vehicle sales. |
November 3, 2006 in Hybrids, Sales | Permalink | Comments (35) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments
Anyone know when the hybrid extended base Lexus LS will be available? (LS600h L) It would be interesting to see the sales volume for that particular model.
Posted by: Patrick | Nov 3, 2006 10:58:04 AM
It would seem hybrids were not adversely affected, by lower gas prices, as one would had feared at first. We would still have to see Nov and Dec numbers, but the omission of Vue microhybrid and the upcoming model rollouts, make prospects promising.
Posted by: allen_Z | Nov 3, 2006 11:22:55 AM
Good to see more people buying hybrids, but it turns out they actually cost more in terms of total lifetime energy use (production, use, disposal) than many other mass produced gas-only cars (including several SUVs). Check the link for more info. Certainly not a scholarly source, but interesting nonetheless. You can also google the topic and find more articles.
Posted by: Adam | Nov 3, 2006 12:10:34 PM
The Oct. sales number is down 20% from Sept's. Isn't that remarkable? Are people staying away from HEV as oil price catchs a short breathe?
Posted by: KS | Nov 3, 2006 12:23:37 PM
KS,
Compare year vs year not month vs month. Oct 2006 is ahead of Oct 2005. That is how the industry compares it's sales, and help them determine how well they did. Another point is Aug, Sept, and Oct 2006 all did better vs same period 2005, and w/out the sticks this year, namely monster hurricanes whacking the Gulf.
_Yes, Oct was down vs Sept, but the Vue microhybrid was not figured in. We have to see how it did too.
Posted by: allen_Z | Nov 3, 2006 2:20:42 PM
People are still buying hybrids but it also seems the people who were scared of high gas prices and didn't buy any cars at all (rather than turning to hybrids from the downturn in overall light duty vehicle sales of the past few months) are coming back to buy mainly trucks and SUVs as that is where the rebound is happening most strongly.
Posted by: Patrick | Nov 3, 2006 2:27:05 PM
I've read some of those reports on total life time energy usage and they appear to have some very suspect assumptions. For example, they emphasize the R&D costs for hybrids. Plus it is interesting to look into who commissioned these reports. I remember reading a rebuttal by Toyota stating that a lot of the facts were misrepresented regarding their product line up.
However, this to me is somewhat relevant as the thing that I think will have the bigger short term impact will be oil and natural gas shortages. So anything that reduces our dependence on these is a good thing. Not to mention reducing our dependence on unfriendly suppliers of oil. I agree in the long term, maximizing full life cycle energy efficiency is definitely required.
Posted by: paul | Nov 3, 2006 2:28:46 PM
I would also add that early assumptions were way off on resale value. The prius and civic hyrbids appear to have the lowest first and second year depreciation on the market.
Posted by: richard | Nov 3, 2006 3:54:09 PM
Consumer's Reports some months ago came out with a big headline indicating effectively saying that hybrids weren't worth the extra money economically (based on gas prices similar to todays). Then someone noticed that they had made a huge accounting error. They had included the initial purchase price and depreciation in their hybrid costs. The retraction was buried in small print on the inside of the following months issue.
Posted by: Neil | Nov 3, 2006 5:37:12 PM
Would it be possible in the future to add a multi-line graph (this style: http://bioage.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/hybrid_sales_oct06_5.png ) with the overall sales figures? This would make comparisons with the same month of previous years much easier.
Posted by: Desiri | Nov 3, 2006 6:32:45 PM
Re: multi-line graph for total sales figures...done. I've replaced the first area graph with the multi-line graph with overall sales figures. Thanks for the suggestion...it does make year-year comparison much easier.
Posted by: Mike | Nov 3, 2006 7:50:44 PM
It is always good to be a bit skeptical at what you read. Sometimes things are not as good than at first glance. OTOH, sometimes you have to dig, and find things are way better than you could ever imagine. The Consumer Report computational snafu was in between.
Posted by: allen_Z | Nov 3, 2006 7:54:16 PM
What happened with the graph that showed sales by model?
That was my favorite
Posted by: Hybrid+E85 | Nov 3, 2006 8:14:26 PM
Paul:
I remember one lifetime energy use research (published, as I remember, at CALSTART), which claimed that Hammer overall consumes less energy per mile then Prius. There are other publications of same credibility.
As you remember from GCC publication of GB numbers on per manufactured car energy, water, waste, etc. usage, energy required to manufacture modern car in GB fall from 6.2 to 3.2 MWh, which according to Nick is about 2000-4000 miles of driving worth of gasoline:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/09/uk_automakers_c.html#comments
Posted by: Andrey | Nov 3, 2006 10:41:07 PM
to be honest, these numbers are depressing. yes, they ARE up from last year, but WHAT is driving these numbers up? the GS, Mariner/Escape, and Civic. all of the toyota models are down compared to last year. this only goes to show you that gas prices do affect sales and that once people stop feeling the money pinch in their pockets, they resort back to their gas-"guzzling" habits.
i think it's interesting that the GS is going up so strong. my guess is that this highlights the fact that currently their numbers are limited by production and not demand.
lastly, @Patrick about the Lexus 600h, expected launch time is sometime in 2007. my guess would be no earlier than may or so.
Posted by: lensovet | Nov 4, 2006 1:00:16 AM
As a slight cynic, where does the energy taken to recharge batteries come from when the battery is charged from an external source? What is the efficiency transfer? Is pollution being created elsewhere? What proportion of the weight is taken up by the battery? What implications does this have in establishing HOW the energy is used?
I need to research these and other questions. However, it seems to be totally green you need your own windmill to charge up your car (battery)....
Posted by: John Allen | Nov 4, 2006 1:58:56 PM
As for how the batteries of a hybrid recharge, I can only speak for my own product....Honda.., the honda civic,and accord hybrids both recharge from the rotors in the front wheels when brake pressure is applied. If you are on a freeway trip If the battery gets lower it will automaticaly re-charge as the wheel spins. If anyone has any questions on hybrids e-mail me a question @ etmhondasales@hotmail.com
Posted by: Erik | Nov 4, 2006 9:26:18 PM
Andrey writes:
I remember one lifetime energy use research (published, as I remember, at CALSTART), which claimed that Hammer overall consumes less energy per mile then Prius. There are other publications of same credibility.
I presume that "Hammer" means "Hummer". Now seriously, what kind of ridiculous assumptions are being made to generate this preposterous claim? The Hummer outweighs the Prius by about a factor of 3. This sounds like something that was cranked out by one of the right-wing "think tanks".
Posted by: George | Nov 4, 2006 9:56:03 PM
George;
I would refrain from claiming political orientation of Hummer/Prius energy use research results, but BS is BS, no matter to whom one stick this smelly stuff.
Posted by: Andrey | Nov 5, 2006 3:38:55 AM
Andrey,
A link to one of these publications would help YOUR credibility.
Posted by: Shaun Williams | Nov 5, 2006 3:58:10 AM
Shaun, would you rather believe my word then forcing me in meaningless waste of time to find a proof? From the top of the list:
http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/04/03/study-a-hybrid-consumes-more-energy-in-lifetime-than-a-hummer/
Posted by: Andrey | Nov 5, 2006 5:31:42 AM
The major advantage of hybrid is in city mode. Did somebody estimate polution from cars in big cities? I think this offset other costs, I would like to live/work in a clean city.
Posted by: mircea | Nov 5, 2006 8:08:42 AM
There is the issue of recycling these hybrids. As with most other vehicles when junked, they are melted down for their component metals. This may result in an interesting scenareo, with Prius and Insight models, from the early years of this decade. The prices for steel and other metals have gone up since then, and thus are now worth more.
Posted by: allen_Z | Nov 5, 2006 10:24:27 AM
Andrey,
The answer to your question is NO.
The article that you linked to is based on research done by a marketing company, is this the best you can do?
Posted by: Shaun Williams | Nov 5, 2006 11:46:20 AM
Mike,
The Sierra/Silverado hybrid pickup is supposed to be available, retail not just commercial or govt in 2005. I do not see any numbers on the net.
Posted by: allen_Z | Nov 5, 2006 11:53:33 AM
I would like to suggest that one of the reasons for relatively flat hybrid sales is the successful launch of new high-efficency sub-compacts like the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, etc. Frankly, overall fleet eficiency is more important than hybrid sales.
Posted by: pauln | Nov 5, 2006 4:58:05 PM
The main reason for the decrease in Oct Hybrid sales is Toyota Hybrids (the largest segment of the market) are now only eligible for 50% of their previous Federal Tax Credits.
What is going to happen to Toyota's hybrid market share in 6 months when no Federal Tax Credits are available? I bet Honda will sell a lot more Hybrid Civics and Toyota Priuses will just be sitting on dealer's lots.
Toyota will need to either cut prices or come out with something new, perhaps a "plug-in" hybrid at the same price to keep up the sales momentum.
Posted by: solarDEK | Nov 5, 2006 5:46:48 PM
Toyota pricing is already down. Local dealers here in Maryland are offering small discounts to MSRP. As supply builds pricing will slowly fall. Toyota will make the same amount of money but the dealers will no longer be able to sell each and every Prius at MSRP . Discounts are on some dealers websites of $200-$500 and I have heard of $1000 of MSRP on less popular Prius packages. That is not as much as the tax credit but its not too bad.
Posted by: hampden wireless | Nov 5, 2006 6:49:39 PM
Andrey:
That report is junk. Their metric is simple to understand: total energy required divided by miles driven. Here's the obvious problem: they claim that the vehicles will be driven (on average) this number of miles:
Hummer H1: 379,000 miles -- $3.505 / mile
Hummer H2: 197,000 miles -- $3.027 / mile
Hummer H3: 207,000 miles -- $1.949 / mile
Escalade ESV: 234,000 miles -- $3.197 / mile
Accord Hybrid: 117,000 miles -- $3.295 / mile
Civic Hybrid: 113,000 miles -- $3.238 / mile
Prius: 109,000 miles -- $3.249 / mile
Now, as every grade school arithmetic student knows, if you double the denominator, you cut in half the value of the fraction.
So the question is: do you believe these lifetime mileage numbers? I don't. I'd expect to see the hybrids to be much closer to 200,000 miles, and the SUVs to be much closer to 100,000 miles. Why? Well, The more miles you drive, the better a deal the hybrid is -- which induces those with longer commutes to drive them in the first place. Conversely, SUVs with low mileage may be fashionable, but tend to be avoided by those who have to drive many miles if a more efficient choice is available.
So, if like me, you think that it isn't unreasonable to increase the lifetime mileage of the hybrids by 100% and reduce the lifetime mileage of the SUVs by 50%, we get the following costs per mile -- taking into account the different amounts of gasoline required to drive the different mileage:
H1: $6.761 / mile
H2: $5.853 / mile
H3: $3.711 / mile
Escalade ESV: $6.199 / mile
Accord Hybrid: $1.702 / mile
Civic Hybrid: $1.657 / mile
Prius Hybrid: $1.664 / mile
So, maybe you disagree with cutting the mileage of SUVs in half and doubling the hybrids. I'd expect that, on average, the mileage of the SUVs is less than that of the hybrids. By how much? Hard to say. But, even if you don't -- would you concede that the mileage should be about the same? If so, than simply compare the costs of my hybrid calculations with the initial costs of the SUVs, and the hybrids are still well below the SUV values.
The fact is, this "study" (a 475 page Microsoft Word document) wasn't done by scientists or engineers. It was done by a marketing department -- a firm called CNW Marketing Research. The "study" is crap. Therefore, "your word"* is crap.
* Ironically, "your word" is your words. Check out Posted by: Andrey | Nov 5, 2006 5:31:42 AM if you don't believe me.
Note that these ignore the cost of fuel -- by including the cost of fuel,
Posted by: stomv | Nov 6, 2006 5:53:14 AM
^ Disregard the line starting with 'Note that...'. That was an old cut/paste that weaseled its way in. The numbers I gave do include the cost of fuel, based on the data from the report itself.
Posted by: stomv | Nov 6, 2006 6:47:05 AM
It's interesting to see the Toyota hybrid sales numbers are down. I wonder if it's just a hiccup in the sales for this month, or is this a result of more choice and lower tax credits and lower gas prices adding up to reduced sales for the Prius and other Toyota hybrids? I saw a story on the lower lot times for the Prius at USAToday as well.
Or is the hiccup due to the really high demand just before the full tax credit expiring last month? In other words, some buyers who would have bought this month ran out and bought early just to get the full credit, leading to a 'shortfall' this month? If that's true, then sales could pick up again in November/December.
Posted by: Mike | Nov 6, 2006 8:41:57 AM
Stomv:
Somehow you misunderstood my posts. I was claiming that “the study” was crap even without lengthy calculations. There is no way Hummer is more cost effective then Prius. As for Prius useful life, here in Vancouver couple of hundreds of Priuses are extensively used for taxi service. They are working 24/7 and during 3 years useful life are ticking amazing million kilometers without reliability problems.
Posted by: Andrey | Nov 7, 2006 8:46:52 AM
I am no a smart engineer or have a lot of techno background, just a consumer who wants to use less oil. Why are there no flex fuel hybrids? Obviously why not a plug in flex fuel hybrids? WHy not the Ford escape of ford fusion in this manner?
Posted by: dave devore | Nov 8, 2006 12:32:55 PM
someone asked about where the energy comes from in electric cars. in some cases it may be solar, wind (which is another form of solar), tidal, &c, but in most cases it is fossil fuel (natural gas, fuel oil, coal), the same as the engine in most cars and hybrids. a rough comparison of the actual fossil fuel usage (e.g. per mile) can be realized by comparing the thermal efficiency. The thermal efficiency of an internal combustion automotive engine is 25-30%. The maximum thermal efficiency of a steam turbine cycle (even combined cycle i.e. gas turbine with exhaust gass producing power via steam) is about 40%. The generator , transmission, and motor combined efficiency is probably 90-95% or more and can be ignored i.e. treated as 100%.
Posted by: Brian | Nov 14, 2007 2:55:22 PM
Hi I am a student at Riverdale School in New Jersy and I was wondering if you can send me a model or any other materials for my science fair project.I am doing a project about electric cars.
Thank you for your time
Posted by: vinny damico | Jan 2, 2008 11:20:58 AM
