Hybrid Car Sales, November 2009

Hybrid cars sales were up over 20% for the month of November, even though car sales in general were flat in comparison to last year.  Hybrid...



Hybrid cars sales were up over 20% for the month of November, even though car sales in general were flat in comparison to last year.  Hybrid car sales are still down 11% for the year, but recent months have been showing a big upwards trend.


Monthly Sales

November 2008
November 2009
% Change
Make
Model
N
%
N
%

Chrysler
Aspen/Durango
35
0.2
0
0
-100
Ford
Escape/Mariner
1,361
8.5
960
4.9
-29.5
Ford
Fusion/Milan
0
0.0
1,401
7.1
0.0
GM
Escalade
0
0.0
115
0.8
0.0
GM
Silverado/Sierra
0
0.0
156
0.8
0.0
GM
Tahoe/Yukon
767
4.8
374
1.7
-55.8
Honda
Accord
0
0.0
0
0.0
0.0
Honda
Civic
1,043
6.5
243
1.2
-76.7
Honda
Insight
0
0.0
1,403
7.1
0.0
Nissan
Altima
353
2.2
503
2.6
42.5
Toyota
Camry
2,174
13.6
1,465
7.5
-32.6
Toyota
GS 450h
42
0.3
37
0.2
-11.9
Toyota
HS 250h
0
0.0
1,407
7.2
0.0
Toyota
Highlander
907
5.7
722
3.7
-20.4
Toyota
LS600hL
37
0.2
15
0.1
-59.5
Toyota
Prius
8,660
54.1
9,617
49.0
11.1
Toyota
RX 400h
624
3.9
1,210
6.2
93.9
Total

16,003

19,628

22.7







Cumulative Sales

Cumulative 2008
Cumulative 2009
% Change
Make
Model
N
%
N
%

Chrysler
Aspen/Durango
35
0
0
0.0
-100.0
Ford
Escape/Mariner
18,373
6.3
15,323
5.9
-16.6
Ford
Fusion/Milan
0
0.0
15,336
5.9
0.0
GM
Escalade
322
0.1
1,850
0.7
442.2
GM
Silverado/Sierra
0
0.0
1,319
0.5
0.0
GM
Tahoe/Yukon
4,626
1.6
4,697
1.9
3.8
Honda
Accord
197
0.1
1
0.0
-99.5
Honda
Civic
30,261
10.4
14,648
5.7
-51.6
Honda
Insight
0
0.0
18,933
7.3
0.0
Nissan
Altima
8,109
2.8
8,515
3.3
5.0
Toyota
Camry
44,384
15.2
21,374
8.3
-51.8
Toyota
GS 450h
627
0.2
415
0.2
-33.8
Toyota
HS 250h
0
0.0
4,719
1.8
0.0
Toyota
Highlander
18,501
6.4
10,057
3.9
-45.6
Toyota
LS600hL
930
0.3
243
0.1
-73.9
Toyota
Prius
151,027
51.9
127,907
49.5
-15.3
Toyota
RX 400h
13,737
4.7
12,866
5.0
-6.3
Total

291,129

258,203

-11.3


An increase in Prius sales, along with sales from the new Honda Insight, Lexus HS,  Fusion Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid, more than made up for the drop in sales for the Civic, Highlander,
and Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner.

Toyota was the volume leader, as usual, with 3 out of 4 hybrids sold coming with a Lexus or Toyota nameplate.  Toyota was up 16% for the month.

Honda was up almost 58%, with new Insight sales making up for the loss in Civic Hybrid sales.  It seems clear that the new Insight, which Honda intended as a competitor for the Prius, has become the Civic Hybrids biggest competitor instead.

Ford hybrid car sales were up 73% with the new Fusion and Milan Hybrids creating 7% of the overall hybrid market sales.

Nissan Altima Hybrid sales were also up by 42.5%.  The Altima Hybrid is limited to sales in just some states that require California emissions.

GM hybrid car sales dropped by 16%, down from 768 units to 645 units. 

The downturn in the economy, lower gas prices, and a priority set by Toyota to sell in Japan first (sales of hybrids in Japan are through the roof because of incentives and subsidies from the government) have kept sales for 2009 down.  Add in the sales depression as customers waited for the next generation Prius and you have a bad overall year despite the recovery in the past couple of months.

It should be noted that sales may be down for hybrids, but clearly not as bad as for other vehicle sectors.  Hybrid car sales have recovered faster, helped by the introduction of new models and the third generation Toyota Prius.  Except for the Nissan Altima Hybrid, the models that were on sale for the full 2008 will all be down for the year. 

It should also be noted that sales are still way down from two years prior, when hybrids had their best sales month ever of 33,233.  That was 1.7X higher than this months sales.
Related:
Hybrid Car Sales, November 2008
Hybrid Car Sales, October 2009

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