Incentives Helped Hybrids in February; Sales Down Less than Industry Overall

Incentives Helped Hybrids in February; Sales Down Less than Industry Overall

By John O'Dell March 5, 2009

By John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Sales of hybrid cars and SUVs continued falling in February but their plunge was slowed somewhat by a strong updraft of incentives.

While new car sales overall were down 41 percent from a year earlier, hybrid sales were off just 28.5 percent with 16,020 vehicles sold, down from 22,411 in February 2008.
 
The gas-electric cars cost more than their conventional counterparts and haven't been doing well as the economy tanks and gas prices remain relatively low.

Sales also have been slowed as interested consumers hold off in anticipation of the new Honda insight compact 5-passenger hybrid and the redesigned 2010 Toyota Prius, both due to hit showroom floors soon.

One Gainer

February saw only one gain - the Lexus RX400 hybrid crossover SUV was up 31 percent from a year earlier - but several models posted smaller declines than the segment as a whole.

The Lexus RX400 hybrid was helped by significant incentive spending, as Toyota's luxury division poured an average of $6,338 into each vehicle, according to Edmunds.com's True Cost of Incentives data. That was up from just $503 per vehicle incentive spending on the RX400 hybrid a year earlier and was $1,300 more than Lexus was spending on RX400 incentives in January.

Both the Ford Escape hybrid and the Toyota Camry posted big gains for the month. The Escape, with 1,172 sales, climbed 55.6 percent from January and the Camry, with 2,080 sales, was up 82.3 percent.

Camry sales really show the power of incentives: the car was among the worst performers in comparing February '08 and '09 sales, down almost 50 percent.To get the big January to February improvement, Toyota pumped up incentive spending on the model to $1,495 per vehicle from "virtually nothing in January," said Edmunds.com industry analyst Jessica Caldwell.

Industrywide, Caldwell said, incentive spending on hybrid models averaged $1,461, up from just $392 in February, 2008, and a 32 percent percent increase from $992 in January.

Toyota's Prius remained the hybrid segment's volume leader for February even though a new model is due in June. Total February sales of 7,232 were down 33.6 percent from February '08.

By The Numbers

None of General Motors Corp.'s eight hybrid cars and SUVs were being sold a year ago, but from best- to worst-performing, the 10 hybrid models tracked by Edmunds.com that were being sold in February '08 stacked up like this in last months' sales tally:

• Lexus RX400h, up 30.8;
• Nissan Altima, down 12.5 percent;
• Ford Escape SUV, down 22.3 percent;
• Honda Civic, down 24.7 percent;
• Toyota Prius, down 33.6 percent;
• Mercury Mariner SUV, down 47.8 percent;
• Toyota Camry, down 49.5 percent;
• Toyota Highlander, down 50.7 percent;
• Lexus GS450h, down 71.4 percent;
• Lexus LS650h, down 80.3 percent.

On a January to February comparison of hybrid model sales, the list grows and the rankings shift a bit:

• Toyota Camry, up 82.3 percent;
• Ford Escape, up 55.6 percent;
• Chevrolet Malibu, up 35.8 percent;
• Honda Civic, up 26.5 percent;
• Toyota Highlander, down 2.8 percent;
• Lexus RX400h, down 3.5 percent;
• Mercury Mariner, down 3.9 percent;
• GMC Yukon SUV, down 9.5 percent;
• Toyota Prius, down 10.9 percent;
• Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, down 15.7 percent;
• Saturn Aura, down 21 percent;
• Saturn Vue Greenline, down 22.9 percent;
• Nissan Altima, down 28.1 percent;
• Lexus LS600hL, down 33.3 percent;
• Lexus GS450h, down 46.3 percent.

John O'Dell:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.