Toyota and Ford See Hybrid Gains in March, While Honda Hybrids Drop
05 April 2010
The top two vendors of hybrids in the US, Toyota and Ford, each reported strong gains in hybrid sales in March 2010 year-on-year. Toyota saw its overall hybrid sales grow 21.6% by volume (not day sales rate) to 16,714 units. Ford reported hybrid sales of 3,050 units, up 69.3% from March 2009. Honda, however, reported a decrease in hybrid sales of 22.2% year-on-year to 2,231 units.
Overall, Toyota reported an increase in total light duty vehicle sales of 40.7% on a volume basis; Ford saw its sales jump 42.7%; and Honda reported an increase of 22.5%. According to Autodata, total light-duty vehicle sales in the US grew 24.3% year-on-year in March 2010 to 1,066,205 units.
Toyota remains the leading seller of hybrids in the US, lead by the Prius, the sales of which jumped up 32.1% in March to 11,786 units. Sales of the Camry Hybrid were down 39.4% to 1,549 units, while sales of the Highlander Hybrid were down 42.7% to 594 units.
The Lexus RX hybrid saw a 7.4% growth to 1,251 units, while the GS hybrid dropped 26.2% to 31 units and the LS 600h dropped 64% to 9 units. The new dedicated Lexus HS 250 hybrid sold 1,494 units.
Ford posted 1,266 units of the Escape and Mariner crossover hybrids, down 6.3% year-on-year. Sales of the Fusion and Milan sedan hybrids were up 295.6% to 1,784 units; the two went on sale in March 2009.
Sales of the Honda Civic Hybrid dropped 79.8% in March to 579 units. However, sales of the Honda Insight climbed 190.3% to 1,652 units.
GM, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have not yet provided breakouts of hybrid sales in their portfolios.
Test comment.
Posted by: Nick Lyons | 05 April 2010 at 01:44 PM
This is good news for common sense more efficient vehicles such as the Toyota-Prius, Ford Fusion & Milan Hybrids etc.
Will this trend last? Are we ready to do away with oversized gas guzzlers?
Interesting months ahead.
Posted by: HarveyD | 05 April 2010 at 02:33 PM
Toyota is coming up with all these superb deals every other day...No wonder their sales are up. But the toyota problem was big jolt...Green cars like Prius may suffer due to this problem.
I think the future lies in cars like Prius or even solar powered cars..
Read More: Alternative Fuel Vehicles
Posted by: Chlorofill | 06 April 2010 at 10:11 AM
These are pitiful numbers and show that consumers are still unwilling to shell out big dollars.
Posted by: fred schumacher | 06 April 2010 at 11:55 AM
Year to date (end of March), per the Wall Street Journal.
Cars were .. .. 51.6% of the US market
Light Trucks .. 48.4%
Mid size cars .. 25.4%
Small Cars .. 17.5%
SUV (total) .. 9.4%
Luxury cars .. 7.7%
Ford F Series PU .. 4%,
Silverado PU .. .. 2.8%,
Impala (Impala?).. 1.5%,
Prius sales were 1.1% of the US market
What trend?
We await lower battery prices.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 08 April 2010 at 06:15 AM
The Honda mild hybrids are probably showing some of their disadvantages. For the Insight to get the same sales as the $30k Fusion hybrid is no small matter. The Prius is still the pillar of full hybridness with a $20k starting price and the more mainstream midsize market competition to boot. At least the Insight still looks like a hybrid :\.
This hasn't spurred anything RWD and efficent just more FWD autoslushboxes and Honda with their sporty Hybrid is the biggest breakthrough because it is coming out with a 6spd! The Toyota/Subaru Hachi-Roku(86) is getting a big 4 cylinder boxer and is pretty much the only dedicated 4 cylinder RWD in the works and you can bet if it's NA and 200+BHP it'll be high revving and get only average FE. I'm hoping for something completely RWD(Engine behind the Front Axle), compact, Manual tranny with a Ford EcoBoost but they're still too attached to the Mustang. The RX-8 is the only thing remotely close to good and it weighs 3000lbs and has the gas guzzling Rotary with 9k RPM redlines. Yes, it would be fun to drive but the FE is comparable to the Dodge Challenger! There's got to be a better way maybe not easier but better.
Posted by: Allch Chcar | 15 April 2010 at 12:24 PM