"While Most of Car Market Tanks, Hybrid Sales Gain for Sixth Consecutive Month" Green Car Advisor

While Most of Car Market Tanks, Hybrid Sales Gain for Sixth Consecutive Month

The Ford Fusion (above) and Toyota Prius help propel hybrid sales gains despite weak economy and credit woes.

By John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Led by strong showings from both third-generation Prius and the gas-electric version of Ford's Fusion, hybrid car sales in June were up 9 percent from a year earlier and rose 2 percent form May's tally to mark the sixth consecutive monthly increase in sales volume for the segment.

Hybrids, which gained traction from the June introduction of the new 2010 Prius and continued consumer interest in the well-reviewed Fusion hybrid that was introduced in March, outperformed the new-car market as a whole - which was down 28 percent from June of 2008 and off 7 percent from May.

It's too early to declare a recovery in the segment, but rising gasoline prices and renewed public awareness of the importance of improved fuel economy in addressing climate change issues seem to be underlying a gradual strengthening of market performance.

"The most important thing is that there have been a couple of new models that are putting some excitement into the segment, said Edmunds.com industry analyst Jessica Caldwell.

"Then there's all the news of government fuel efficiency and emissions initiatives, and some pretty generous incentives in a segment that really hasn't seen many incentives in the past."

Caldwell doesn't think gas prices were a significant factor in June's hybrid market, but says "they certainly are on people's radar, with a broad expectation that they'll keep going up."

They're certainly not the influence they were last summer, when gasoline topped $4 a gallon and people were lining up to buy hybrid s and other fuel-efficient cars, "but they are probably playing at least a subliminal role," Caldwell said.

Nationally, car dealers sold 26,205 hybrids in June, the highest one-month total in 13 months.

That's 3.05 percent of the total June new-car market and the second-highest monthly market share ever for hybrids, bested only by a 3.23 percent share in April of '08.

For the firth al, hybrid sales totaled 126,479, down 30.8 percent from the first half of 2008 - versus a 34.9 percent decline for the market as a whole.

Toyota's Prius continued to be the market leader with 12,998 sales - a commanding 49.6 percent of all hybrid sales in June. Prius sales for the month were up 10.5 percent from June of 2008 and rose 28.8 percent from May.

A Toyota spokesman said the new 2010 models accounted for 85 percent of June Prius sales.

Other big boosts came from the Ford Fusion hybrid, its 2,058 sales representing a 9.6 percent increase from May and the highest level since the 39 mpg car was launched in March.

Nissan's Altima hybrid, helped by a $3,000 incentive, was up 93 percent from May although with a relatively small volume of just 666 sales.

Honda's new Insight hybrid, launched just four months ago, posted a surprising decline, to 2,079 from 2,780 in May - a 25.2 percent drop. In addition to general market conditions, the compact hybrid was hurt a little by the introduction of the new Prius and by fairly high incentives - from $1,000 to $1,600 on the remaining '09 Priuses.

General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac hybrids all posted declines for the month, hurt by the same uncertainties plaguing much of the rest of the GM lineup in view of the automaker's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The two Saturn hybrids, however seemed to be helped by news that they'd soon be dropped as Saturn is sold to the Penske organization as part of GM's bankruptcy reorganization.

They posted slight gains, the Aura hybrid up 60 percent to 56 sales from 35 in May and the Vue Greenline up 5 percent to 238 sales from 227 in May.

"People who'd been thinking of getting one must have thought they'd better get one now before they disappear," said Caldwell.

Hybrid Sales

June 2009; June 2008; May 2008

Ford
Ford Escape - 1,295; 1,637; 1,702.
Mercury Mariner - 110; 275; 125.
Ford Fusion - 2,058; NA; 1,877.
Mercury Milan - 186; NA; 202.

GM
Chevrolet Malibu - 489; NA; 706.
Chevrolet Silverado - 84; NA; 86.
GMC Sierra - 39; NA; 44.
Chevrolet Tahoe - 253; NA; 277.
GMC Yukon - 139; NA; 157.
Cadillac Escalade - 155; NA; 207.
Saturn Aura - 56; NA; 35.
Saturn Vue Greenline - 239; 277; 227.

Honda
Civic - 1,583; 2,710; 2,077.
Insight - 2,079; NA; 2780.

Nissan
Altima - 666; 1,333; 345.

Toyota
Lexus GS 450h - 27; 73; 43.
Lexus LS 600h L - 31; 73; 27.
Lexus RX 400h - 527; 1,330; 393.
Toyota Camry - 2,093; 3,054; 2,941.
Toyota Highlander - 1,098; 1,511; 1,351.
Toyota Prius - 12,998; 11,765; 10,091.