Ford said the new hybrid is off to a fast start after achieving an all-time sales record in December 2012, helping Ford to reach record hybrid sales and market share.

The company also said Toyota lost nearly 8 points of share in the segment.

Since launching the new C-MAX hybrids and Fusion Hybrid this past fall, Ford says they led it to deliver record-setting hybrid sales in December, resulting in a 9 percent market share gain to 16 percent.

During that same period, Ford pointed out that Toyota’s share of the hybrid vehicle segment fell 8 points, from 68 percent to 60 percent.

Ford said it sold more hybrids in the fourth quarter of 2012 than in any other three-month period in the company’s entire history with 19,554 units sold, besting its own previous hybrid vehicle sales record by more than 193 percent.

An all-time record of 3,244 Fusion Hybrids were sold in December, compared to the previous mark of 3,010 in August 2010. The car is expected by Ford to achieve record January sales when results are announced Feb. 4.

Among buyers, nearly 70 percent of new Fusion Hybrid owners are new to the Ford brand, Ford said, while Toyota’s conquest rate for its Camry Hybrid is only 53 percent.

“We’re bringing new hybrid buyers into the market, many of whom wouldn’t be considered traditional hybrid buyers,” said Amy Marentic, marketing manager, Global Small and Medium Cars. “There’s a sense hybrid buyers represent a pragmatic or green ethic. Fusion Hybrid is scoring with these audiences, but the car also puts some excitement into the segment through design; it shows hybrids can have beautiful and sophisticated styling. This, in turn, means different buyers.”

Not only are most buyers new to the Ford brand, but the company said early data suggest Fusion Hybrid is appealing to younger buyers outside the traditional hybrid vehicle demographic.

New Fusion Hybrid buyers are five years younger than buyers of the previous Fusion Hybrid, Ford said, dropping to 48 years old from an average of 53 years old.

2012 model year Toyota Camry Hybrid buyers have an average age of 54, according to J.D. Power and Associates PIN data. Moreover, 22 percent of Fusion buyers are under the age of 35; only 13 percent of Camry Hybrid buyers are.

Not surprisingly, Fusion Hybrid’s best-selling markets are San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., but Ford reports stronger sales in the more traditional buying areas of the Central, Southeast and Great Lakes regions – areas not known for strong hybrid sales. In these areas, retail sales more than tripled in December compared to the previous year.

Ford also said the Fusion Hybrid continues to have the fastest turnover rate (the number of days cars sit on dealer lots waiting to be sold) of any vehicle in the Ford lineup. Fusion Hybrid turns over in just 10 days on average.

The post Ford’s Fusion Hybrid Turns Over In Just 10 Days; Appeals To Younger Crowd appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Between them, the companies have designated more than $412 million as compensation to those customers with one of the dozens of models involved in the reimbursement program set up by the two companies.

In November of last year the car manufacturers acknowledged to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that procedural errors at the automakers’ joint testing operations in Korea led to incorrect fuel economy ratings for select vehicles.

Automotive News has recently reported that an official with Kia has said the brand is allotting about 200 billion Korean won (approximately $187 million) for U.S. customers with affected Kia models, while Hyundai has said it will spend 240 billion won ($225 million) to compensate its customers.

Following the discovery of the mislabeled EPA fuel economy ratings last autumn the companies were quick to establish a reimbursement program for consumers. Hyundai officials have said that reimbursement would continue for as long the original owner has the vehicle.

Despite the brands’ seemingly contrite actions to quickly rectify the issue, a civil suit was filed against them.

Ford has recently come under similar scrutiny for allegedly overstating the fuel economy of its C-MAX Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid.

In December Consumer Reports said that it was not able to get either car to reach the 47 mpg combined fuel economy rating that Ford says each car is capable of meeting. As with the Hyundai/Kia situation, the Ford mpg claims caught the attention of the EPA. And like the Korean automakers Ford is now embroiled in class-action lawsuit.

While the automakers for now are understandably bearing the brunt of the backlash, the EPA’s fuel economy testing procedures for hybrid vehicles have come under fire by some for not accurately assessing how a hybrid’s engine can effectively give an artificial boost to fuel economy numbers.

As Consumer Reports notes, Ford’s system can operate in full-electric mode at speeds up to 62 mph. That ability, says CR, can greatly improve fuel economy in the EPA highway cycle, since most of the government’s simulated driving test measures gasoline used while driving at lower speeds.

According to a Bloomberg report Ford’s product development chief, Raj Nair, has said that Ford continues “to work closely with the EPA to determine whether the industry testing procedure needs changes for hybrid vehicle testing.”

Automotive News

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