http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100108/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_toyota_prius

Prius sold 208,876 units in Japan and 404,000 Worldwide and thats an
increase of 44 %. Thanks to Prius-3 which offered 50 MPG and also has
22 cu. ft. trunk space which is as big as Crown Vic.

Insight sold 93,283 units in Japan and 20,000 + in USA.

The above figure of 595,000 includes sales in USA only upto Nov-2009.
So including Dec-2009 tally of 25,000 and if we add, it goes to 290,000.

Japan sales is 300,000 +. So the Worldwide sales from Jan thru Dec should
be 650,000 + and its probably a new World record.

So far, Prius has sold more than 1.6 million units worldwide with the Prius-3
already crossing 300,000 units. Expect Prius version-I to come with a 21,000
price tag. This model will not have cruise control, so it should be ideal for
cab drivers who dont use cruise and want an affordable vehicle. At 50 MPG, they
can easily get the return on investment compared to the ubiquitous
Crown Vic/ Grand Marq / Towncar.

Why not they make it give 50 MPG. After all, its a very small car.
Every family would like to have atleast a 4 seater vehicle where the kids / friends can sit in the back seat.

I wish atleast Ford brings a hybrid version of Fiesta that will compete with Prius.

In Japan, Hybrids captured nearly 10% of the total vehicle market share. Thats
a big achievement.

Although I would like to see higher sales, it may be difficult because of the
struggling economy and the potential increase in oil prices. Every day, nearly
2 million new vehicles should be hitting the worlds roads. If this increases
the oil prices towards $100 / barrel, it will push the people towards hybrids,
however if it exceeds that price, more people may simply stop buying vehicles
and will instead use more buses and trains. After all, Light Rail train are
popping up in every city.

In Japan, Prius sales exceeded 200,000 units. They could have sold more here,
but the battery shortage has hampered their production. This year they are
increasing the prius production, so we can expect it to be more.

I dont see much prospect for Camry or HS250h as the batteries eat their trunk space.
I dont see any sales info for Tribute, Durango, Aspen and Sierra hybrids.

Honda has set a higher price on Insight and surely they can reduce this. After all
its 6 inches shorter than Civic. I believe CR-Z is coming to USA this year. I wish
it comes as a 4-seater instead of 2.

I wish GM & Ford apply their latest hybrid system on a hatchback and sell it as
a competition to Prius and Insight. Surelly it will get a good share of the market.
Malibu, Aura and Vue Hybrids will be gone.

Already Tribute, Durango and Aspen hybrids have gone.

But then Milan and Mariner hybrids also sell only as much as the above 3.

Volt may capture some market, but Leaf is an EV and the range will hamper it.

Lets hope for a better greener year for Hybrids.

The total includes new hybrids not yet available.

First, and hopefully, some hybrid owners will sell their hybrids to buy the plug-ins. This will take a bight out of the new car sales because there will be a greater number of used hybrids on the market, which may open up the hybrid market to many more people. Thus please start counting “pre-owned” sales for hybrids.

Second, it is possible that the buyers of plug-ins will keep the hybrid for long trips or as a second car, and many who would buy a new hybrid will instead just purchase a plug-in. This would sink the hybrid sales even more, and, from an environmental perspective, would not be good because the hybrid would be sitting unused instead of being sold to another person to replace a less efficient car.

The second point also makes me wonder about the hybrid sales numbers a bit; how much of the new sales are to people with older hybrids? My interest is to see more hybrids on the road, and those numbers are not clearly displayed in this report. Can we also have a graph that indicates the number of hybrid registrants over time? We may hit a point where hybrid owners are merely replacing their car with a hybrid.