October 2010 Dashboard: Hybrid Car Sales Returned to Life in October
Published November 8, 2010
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After months of lackluster sales, purchasing of hybrid cars showed signs of life in October. Automakers reported 24,228 sales, the highest volume since May. That put hybrids at 2.55 percent of the new car market for October.
Hybrid sales were 9.2 percent higher in October than in the previous month, yet year-to-date sales of gas-electric vehicles are about 8 percent below last year’s levels so far.
Sales the Honda Insight are still far behind those for Toyota Prius. But Insight sales in October increased by 17 percent since September, and are up by 13 percent compared to October 2009.
The uptake in hybrid sales was supported to some degree by gas prices, which slightly increased in early October, and rose again in early November. Price volatility at the pumps is a major factor supporting sales of hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars. However, Volkswagen and other diesel car manufacturers sold 3 percent fewer oil burners in October. Nonetheless, diesel sales so far this year have demonstrated an upswing of more than 40 percent.
Sales increased for nearly every popular hybrid model in October. The few models that had falling sales since September dropped by a percentage point or two, while most models that picked up sales increased more dramatically.
Sales of the 2010 Honda Insight continues to gain momentum, while the new Honda CR-Z added 1,419 hybrid sales to Honda’s tally. The Ford Fusion Hybrid was the third most popular hybrid, selling 35 percent more in this October than last. Anticipated future growth of hybrids will come from new model introductions. The number of hybrids on the market is expected to grow from 27 models today to nearly 60 by 2015. In addition, a dozen or more plug-in hybrids will be introduced in the next four years.
The hybrid market is still dominated by the Toyota Prius. Sales of the Prius increased by 3 percent in October, and are generally flat in 2010 compared to last year. The hybrid market in October was outperformed by the sales of overall vehicles, which increased by more than 13 percent compared to one year ago.
October 2010 Hybrid Car Sales Numbers
Hybrids sold in the US (October 2010): 24,228
Hybrid Take-Rate: 2.55%
US hybrid sales for October 2010
| Model | Units | vs. last month | vs. October 2009 | CYTD | vs. CYTD 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Prius | 11,731 | 3.0% | -13.1% | 115,065 | -2.7% |
| Honda Insight | 1,965 | 17.0% | 13.0% | 17,789 | 1.5% |
| Ford Fusion | 1,657 | -0.8% | 35.2% | 17,932 | 41.3% |
| Honda CR-Z | 1,419 | 14.8 | n/a | 3,349 | n/a |
| Lexus RX450h | 1,402 | 26.1% | -10.5% | 12,285 | 5.4% |
| Toyota Camry | 1,194 | 8.2% | -15.1% | 12,373 | -37.8% |
| Lexus HS 250h | 792 | 11.4% | -48.1% | 8,754 | 164.3% |
| Ford Escape | 765 | -3.5% | -11.9% | 9,541 | -25.9% |
| Toyota Highlander | 756 | 44.6% | 8.0% | 5,785 | -38.0% |
| Honda Civic | 662 | -0.7% | 177.0% | 5,818 | -59.6% |
| Altima | 443 | -13.3% | 48.2% | 5,664 | -29.3% |
| Lincoln MKZ Hybrid | 366 | n/a | n/a | 376 | n/a |
| Chevy Silverado | 358 | 78.1% | 251.0% | 1,719 | 116.5% |
| Mercury Milan | 159 | 87.1% | 48.6% | 945 | -23.9% |
| Mercedes S400 | 114 | 37.3% | 21.3% | 874 | 436.2% |
| Cadillac Escalade | 92 | 12.2% | -50.5% | 1,000 | -45.2% |
| GMC Yukon | 87 | 81.3% | -59.5% | 1,035 | -30.5% |
| Mazda Tribute | 67 | 26.4% | 63.4% | 561 | -38.7% |
| Chevy Tahoe | 66 | -22.4% | -83.1% | 1,232 | -55.1% |
| Mercury Mariner | 44 | -10.2% | -45.7% | 745 | -49.9% |
| GMC Sierra | 33 | 6.5% | -49.2% | 419 | 13.6% |
| Lexus GS450h | 29 | 61.1% | -25.6% | 257 | -32.0% |
| BMW ActivHybrid 7 | 7 | -33.3% | n/a | 68 | n/a |
| Lexus LS600hL | 9 | 0.0% | -57.1% | 99 | -56.6% |
| Chevy Malibu | 6 | 200.0% | -94.7% | 393 | -89.7% |
| Saturn Aura | 4 | -300.0% | -86.7% | 50 | -85.3% |
| Mercedes ML450 | 2 | -91.7% | n/a | 765 | n/a |
| BMW X6 | 0 | -100.0% | n/a | 233 | n/a |
| All hybrids | 24,228 | 9.2% | -1.6% | 225,175 | -8.5% |
| All vehicles | 950,165 | -0.9% | 13.4% | 9,570,721 | 10.6% |
October 2010 Clean Diesel Car Sales Numbers
Clean Diesels sold in the US (October 2010): 7,832
Diesel Take-Rate: 0.82%
US clean diesel sales for October 2010
| Model | Units | vs. last month | vs. October 2009 | CYTD | vs. CYTD 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Jetta | 4,500 | -7.1% | 23.0% | 36,838 | 13.8% |
| BMW X5 | 749 | 7.8% | 82.2% | 6,353 | 134.8% |
| Volkswagen Golf | 476 | 9.4% | 310.3 | 4,592 | 3,858.6% |
| Mercedes GL320 | 354 | -14.3% | 36.7% | 2,824 | 34.3% |
| Mercedes ML320 | 297 | -18.2% | 33.8% | 2,136 | -20.5% |
| Audi A3 | 289 | -5.9% | 1505.6 | 2,674 | 14,755.6 |
| Audi Q7 | 287 | -12.5% | 4.7% | 2,533 | 61.1% |
| BMW 335d | 271 | -11.7% | 188.3% | 3,019 | 201.3% |
| Jeep Cherokee | 254 | 16.5% | 290.8% | 1,217 | 41.0% |
| Mercedes E320 | 227 | 22,600% | 354.0% | 338 | -71.1% |
| VW Touareg | 91 | -22.9% | -61.1% | 1,356 | 81.3% |
| Mercedes R320 | 37 | -24.5% | 164.3% | 302 | -3.8% |
| All clean diesels | 7,832 | -3.0% | 44.6% | 64,182 | 40.5% |
| All vehicles | 950,165 | -0.9% | 13.4% | 9,570,721 | 10.6% |
1 year ago
Thanks for the info. This once again shows how much the hybrid car market is dependent on gas prices approaching (or surpassing) $3.00 per gallon. Too bad any type of carbon tax will be dead on arrival in the next Congress.
1 year ago
Thank you very much again!
One of many reasons hybrid sales are a bit slow is Nissan Leaf is already in production and first production Chevy Volt will roll out on November 30, 2010. Definitely lots of people are not waiting for plug-ins.
1 year ago
Overall Ford and Honda sales are very close now - will Ford be able to beat Honda to become the second greenest automaker this year?
1 year ago
It is the first full month of Lincoln MKZ Hybrid sales. It is a very interesting event since Lincoln MKZ Hybrid priced the same as Lincoln MKZ None-Hybrid. Results:
366 Hybrids vs 1484 None-Hybrid or just 20% of all Lincoln MKZ sales.
Some of the reasons are are:
1) less horsepower: 156 vs 263
2) may be not enough trust in reliability.
1 year ago
Honda CR-Z sales are huge for a small niche 2 seats car.
1 year ago
Japan October Toyota Prius sales were 21,769 without any tax incentives - impressive!
Kudos to Japan!
Unfortunately there is no info on Honda Fit Hybrid (as its numbers are inside of Honda Fit numbers) but Honda Insight is out of top 20 in Japan - it means less than 1,500
1 year ago
Yegor, I think the HP difference for the MKZ is 191 vs 263. I think the 156 is for just the ICE part of the hybrid.
1 year ago
OMG.
I can`t believe who buys these dirty Diesel vehicles.
I made in the past the experience that they are not very reliable and also too expensive.
1 year ago
I'm glad to see the CR-Z selling well... that is the only hybrid I have any interest in whatsoever... primarily because it's the only hybrid available with a manual transmission.
Sorry Sith, but your "past experiences" with diesels is no longer valid, just as current gasoline vehicles are nothing like old ones. Go check out a modern diesel, you'll be surprised how things change...
1 year ago
Things have improved since 1980, you know. Or do you judge Macs based on your experience with Apple IIs?
Try reading up on a recent diesel: http://www.hybridcars.com/vehicle/volkswagen-jetta-tdi.html
1 year ago
As far as "dirty diesel vehicles" are concerned, Wayne Gerdes, administrator of cleanmpg.com relayed an interesting fact from his visit to Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) recently. According to him, NOx and PM emissions from a 2009 VW Jetta TDI were near the detection limits of the most sensitive instrumentation currently available at ANL, i.e., the new Jetta TDI was emitting essentially 0 NOx and PM emissions ( http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34832 ).
Can't get much more diametrically opposed to "dirty" than that!
1 year ago
Two new models - Honda CR-Z and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid helped to boost Hybrid market share from 2.35% to 2.55%.
Indeed as the number of offered Hybrid models grow the Hybrid's market share will grow.
1 year ago
Yes, diesel is not dirty anymore but its reliability record (according to Consumer Reports) is still below average.
1 year ago
Hybrid sales fluctuate with the price of oil. Right now the price of oil is actually very low because of the global economic depression but it can go back to $4 per gallon as soon as economy starts to improve and that can happen at any moment.
People should use $4 per gallon in their evaluation when selecting a new car. Unfortunately fueleconomy.gov website is not helping - they have $ 2.87 per gallon on their website :(
1 year ago
The sales volumes as they are would never support a manufacturer in profit. Only the Prius is a vehicle that would ever substantiate its reason for production. The others are only being produced to substantiate a "green" feeling. Those sales numbers starting with the Honda Insight would be clearly enough to drop the product had they not been hybrids because they cannot make money at those dismal volumes.
1 year ago
There are plenty of models with low volume. For example Honda Element, Honda Ridgeline, Toyota FJ CRUISER, Toyota SEQUOIA sell about 1,200 per month.
1 year ago
Is the Saturn Aura considered a collectors item?
1 year ago
Typical Lincoln buyer would go for V8, if 366 people buy the MKZ (V4) in the very 1st month, then its a good start. As the news spreads, more people will buy and this may cross 1,000 mark. I hope Ford applies this hybrid in Edge and MKZ to compete with Highlander & RX450h.
Good that Prius could sell 21K units in Japan even without subsidy. So that means its priced well in Japan. They can do the same in US as well.
Good that hybrids share has increased to 2.55 %.
1 year ago
Good news from Consumer Reports. The new Consumer Reports auto edition is out and Toyota Prius shows remarkable reliability! Toyota Prius shows mostly excellent reliability in 17 different parameters of the vehicle. The only problem area is electric in the the very first 2001-2003 model years but it was an all new type of car back then. The reliability of this area in 2001-2003 models was below average through the years but was fixed starting with second generation of Prius - 2004 model. Since 2004 model year Prius is going excellent in reliability!
Kudos to Toyota for doing an excellent job in proving that Hybrids can be extremely reliable!
I think this news deserves a separate news article on Hybrid Cars website!
1 year ago
I think that Toyota Prius sales should continue to go up thanks to its proven excellent reliability.
1 year ago
I would prefer a Hybrid (Prius) because there is the bad reliability and to much bucks for maintenance of the Diesel.
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