Hybrid Sales Drop 42.7% in December
January 6, 2009 by admin
Reported sales of hybrids in the US dropped 42.7% in December 2008 year-on-year to 17,698 units—the lowest December figure since 2004, when there were only four hybrid models on the market. Overall light-duty vehicle sales in the US dropped 35.5% in the month. For the full year, total reported hybrid sales dropped 10% to 313,781 units, while total light duty vehicle sales were down 18%.
The hybrid percentage share of new vehicles sold dropped to just below 2% (1.97%) in December. For the year, hybrids held a 2.4% share of the new vehicle market.
Toyota
Toyota saw sales of the Prius drop to 7,859 units, down 44.7% from the year before. For the full year, Prius posted 158,884 units, a drop of 12.3% from 2007.
Camry Hybrid posted 1,888 units for the month of December, down 62% year-on-year and representing 7.5% of all Camry models sold.
The Lexus Rx 400h posted a 28% drop in December sales from the year before to 1,463 units, representing 14.7% of all Rx models. Sales of all Rx models dropped 16.1% in the month. Full year sales of the Rx 400h were 15,200 units, down 12.1% from 2007.
The Lexus GS 450h posted a 62.5% drop in December sales to 51 units, representing 4.3% of all GS models sold. Sales of all GS models dropped 53.5% in the month. Full year sales of the GS 450h were 678 units, down 58.8% from 2007.
The Lexus LS 600h posted a similar 61.2% drop to 50 units in December, representing 3.4% of all LS models sold. Sales of all LS models dropped 55.4% in December. Full year LS 600h sales were 980 units, up 4.6% from 2007. (The LS 600h began reporting sales in August 2007.)
General Motors
GM moved into second place in terms of total hybrid sales in December, delivering 2,555 GM hybrid vehicles in the month. The two-mode full-size SUVs (Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Cadillac Escalade) posted 1,729 units, representing 12.7% of combined model sales.
There were 454 Chevrolet Malibu hybrids (2.6% of Malibu sales), 34 Saturn Aura hybrids (1.1% of Aura sales) and 338 Vue hybrids (5.1% of VUE sales) sold in December. In 2008, GM sold a total of 14,439 hybrid vehicles.
Ford
Ford came in third for the month, with combined sales of the Escape and Mariner hybrids of 1,149 units, a drop of 49.3% for the month and representing 8.1% of all Escape and Mariners sold. Combined Escape and Mariner sales were down 9.1% (a drop in Escape sales being offset by an increase in Mariner sales).
For the full year, Ford sold 19,522 Escape and Mariner hybrids, down 22.2% from 2007.
Honda
December Civic Hybrid sales dropped 67.9% to 1,036 units, representing 6% of all Civic models sold. December Civic sales decreased to 17,302, down 36.4%. Full year sales of the Civic Hybrid were 31,297 units, down 3.9%.
Honda posted one sale for the Accord Hybrid in December, a decrease of 94.2% from the year prior. December Accord sales decreased 28.5%, to 22,348.
Honda will introduce its new 2009 Honda Insight hybrid at NAIAS next week. The Insight is due to go on sale in the spring of 2009.
Nissan
Nissan reported sales of 710 units of the Altima Hybrid in December, a 26.3% drop from the year before, and representing 4.1% of all Altima models sold. Altima sales in December dropped 31.2% to 17,311. units. For all of 2008, Altima Hybrid sold 8,819 units, up 5.1% from 2007. (The Altima Hybrid began reporting sales in February 2007.)
Chrysler
Chrysler reported combined two-mode hybrid SUV (Aspen and Durango) sales of 46 units in December, representing 1.6% of combined Aspen and Durango sales.
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