July Hybrid Sales Plummet From Year-Earlier Pace as Fuel Prices Remain Low
By John O'Dell August 9, 2010
Lack of New Product, Incentives on Other Vehicles Also Kept Lid on Hybrid Activity
Perhaps it's just that everyone is no waiting for cars like the Nisan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt to hit the market, perhaps the deals on other types of vehicles are just too good to pass up, or gas prices aren't hitting people in the pocketbook, or maybe it's just boredom with the present offerings - whatever the reason, auto shoppers are not warming to hybrids this summer.
Prius is still the king.
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Toyota's Prius - helped by gradually increasing incentives - June's were the highest on record at an average of $2,599 per car - remains top of the heap, accounting for 59.6 percent of all July hybrid sales, and the combined Toyota and Lexus stable of seven hybrids accounted for 17,504 sales and 73.9 percent of the monthly tally.
Ford, on the combined strengths of its Fusion hybrid sedan and Escape hybrid crossover SUV, remained in second place with total sales of 2,896 hybrids. That's a position it has maintained for the past five months, while former No. 2 hybrid seller Honda, with 2,475 July sales, was a close third.
General Motors Corp., whose hybrid pickups and SUVs have never done particularly well - in part because of the stiff price premium the General charges for its dual mode hybrids - was a far-distant fourth. The 415 hybrid sales GM logged for the month were spread across seven models (one of them the discontinued Saturn Aura hybrid sedan) and accounted for less than 2 percent of the month's total.
Nissan, with only one hybrid - the Altima coupe - and that sold in just nine states, brought up the rear of the pack with 378 July sales.
The picture was a little prettier on a month-month comparison, with July's hybrid sales representing a 6.5 percent gain over June's total of 21,210 and rising - thanks to increasing incentives - to the highest monthly total since December's 25,167.
Only eight of the 21 hybrid models in the market last month scored gains over their June performance levels, however, and the minuses would have eclipsed the gains were it not for the Prius. Driven by the hefty incentives, July sales of Toyota's premier hybrid were up 28.2 percent from June at 14,102 versus 10,998.
"It was a pretty dull month" for hybrid activity, said Edmunds.com analyst Ivan Drury. "There's not been a new model to get shoppers excited since the [Lexus] HS 250h was launched" in August, 2009, and gas prices haven't risen enough to get people concerned again about fuel economy, Drury said.
Big Picture
Here's a look, by manufacturer and model, at hybrid sales in July versus June, 2010, and July 2009.
(July 2010/June 2010/July 2009)
Ford Motor Co.
Ford Fusion - 1,586/2,010/2,589.
Ford Escape - 1,134/1,260/2,329.
Mercury Milan - 90/93/221.
Mercury Mariner - 86/100/214.
General Motors Corp.
Chevrolet Malibu - 14/36/476.
Chevrolet Silverado - 115/82/132.
Chevrolet Tahoe - 80/168/254.
GMC Sierra - 20/38/48.
GMC Yukon - 78/132/117.
Cadillac Escalade - 106/68/167.
Saturn Aura* - 4/5/24.
Saturn Vue Greenline* - 0/14/3/269.
Honda Motor Co.
Civic - 617/595/969.
Insight - 1,858/1,491/2,295.
Nissan Motor Co.
Altima - 378/479/1,030.
Toyota Motor Corp.
Lexus GS 450h - 16/22/38/45.
Lexus HS 250h - 165/603/NA.
Lexus LS 600h L - 14/4/28.
Lexus RX 450h - 1,356/1,304/1,369.
Toyota Camry - 1,276/1,097/2,509.
Toyota Highlander - 575/611/1,171.
Toyota Prius - 14,102/10,998/19,173.
Total Market
All hybrids - 23,668/21,210/35,429.
Non-hybrids - 1,022,889/960,048/959,787.
*Saturn brand was discontinued in October, 2009.
LEAVE A COMMENT
This variability is what makes it so tough for automakers to commit more fully to fuel efficient vehicles.
Unfortunately oil supplies being static does not lead to a straight price increase which sticks, as it hits the economy too heavily, abetting recession.
This leads to a whip-saw effect of rising and crashing oil prices, which is much more difficult to deal with.
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