Hybrid Sales, September 2006

September brought a not unexpected dip in hybrid car sales from August, but sales are still up 21.5% from last year to 23,301 units sold. Toyota was the only company contributing to that increase, with a whopping 43.9% increase in sales from last year due mostly to increased production of the Prius and the recent introduction of the Camry Hybrid. They may have also benefitted from car buyers rushing to take advantage of the federal tax credit which was halved for Toyota at the end of the month. Ford was down 8.7% from last year, while Honda was down 33.0%. Honda is still suffering in comparison to last year because of the decrease in sales of the Accord Hybrid.

Toyota increased sales of its Prius from 8,193 to 10,492 units sold, an increase of 13.5%. The Prius has expanded production now that the Camry Hybrid is being built in the US plant, and is no longer taking production numbers away from the Prius. Highlander Hybrid sales were down 11.8% to 2,347 units sold in September from 2,715 last year. The Lexus RX 400h was also down to 1,687 units, a decrease of 41.9%. Toyota Camry Hybrid sales are still going strong at 4,044 units sold, while the Lexus GS 450h sold 164 units. Which means the Prius and the Camry are still the top two hybrids being sold on the market today.

Ford sold 1,651 Escape Hybrids and Mercury Mariner Hybrids combined. This was an decrease of 8.7% from last year. This is the firs time since January of this year that Ford has had fewer hybrid units sold in comparison to last year.

Honda Hybrids sales have slipped from last year because of the huge decrease in Accord Hybrid sales. Down 83.5% from 2352 units sold last year to 389 units sold this past month, the Accord hybrid has suffered in comparison to other hybrids and its gas counterpart. The electric engine was designed to assist its gas counterpart with extra power, but consumers seem unwilling to pay a premium for a hybrid that isn't that much more powerful than the conventional gas-only Accord.

The Honda Civic Hybrid, on the other hand is up 30.9% to 2,508 units sold in September, making it the third most popular hybrid being sold. The Insight has been retired, and sold only 19 units this past month.

Toyota continues to dominate the hybrid auto marketplace, selling 69.1% of the hybrid cars this year. By selling three of the top four most popular hybrid vehicles (the Highland Hybrid slipped from third to fourth last month, giving way to the Honda Civic Hybrid), Toyota has capitalized on being one of the first to the hybrid market. And unlike Honda, they correctly predicted that hybrid sales would be dominated by the company making the cars US consumers are interested in more fuel efficient, not more powerful. The only concern for Toyota may be the decrease in federal tax credits for their vehicles.

September does mark the first time since February that Toyota hybrid sales have decreased, month to month, but that's not unexpected given the seasonal pattern of cars sales.

Hybrid car sales dropped more than Hybrid SUV sales did from last month. That may be due to the recession in gas prices. Hybrid SUV sales made up 24% of the hybrids sold in September, an increase from last month when they only made up 22%.

The coming months may see some interesting changes, as the Saturn Vue Hybrid comes out. Also, the 2007 Altima Hybrid, just introduced at the Orange County Auto Show will be on the market soon. It also remains to be seen how Toyotas sales will be influenced by the changes to the federal tax credit.