Hybrid SUV Reviews

I made my first trip to San Francisco this week and although I expected to see a higher percentage of hybrid cars compared to most Midwest cities, I was really surprised. Throughout the Bay Area and north into the California Wine Country, it was nearly impossible to go anywhere without seeing a hybrid vehicle. And while the Toyota Prius was by far the green car of choice, the fact that it is also the most easily recognizable hybrid probably skewed my informal reporting. I also noticed many Honda Civic hybrids and armies of hybrid SUVs.

It’s January and the 2010 car season is officially in full swing now that the doors have opened at the North American International Auto Show. Manufacturers have long since made their plans for the vehicles we will see this year and they are now testing the waters with several new concepts including hybrids and electrics. Roughly 700 vehicles are on display in Detroit this week, many of which are being seen by the public for the very first time.

Since adding Google Analytics to our most popular hybrid blogs and websites about 18 months ago, it has been interesting to gain some insight into our visitor traffic. Now, with several million page views of data, we are taking a closer look at how people find us, what countries, cities, and states they come from, which hybrid vehicles and articles are searched for and viewed the most, and so much more.

Ever wonder who’s doing all the research on hybrid cars, trucks, and suv’s?  Well, so did I, which is why we compiled a bunch of analytics data from the past few weeks, based on our most popular websites in the Hybrid Kingdom. In case you’re wondering, we use Google Analytics to keep tabs on our visitors, traffic sources, most popular content, and much more.  If you haven’t tried it, give it a shot here.  By the way, it’s free.

While no one can argue with the fact that the Toyota Prius is currently the #1 selling hybrid vehicle in the world, it’s been fun to watch the shift in consumer interest as it relates to all hybrid vehicles.  Only a few short years ago, people doing research on hybrids were mainly looking for the Toyota Prius, followed by hybrid cars in general, with the Honda Civic hybrid a distant third.

With crude oil for January (’08) delivery closing at $87.50 last week, the lowest price in 6 weeks (and down from an all time high of over $99 a barrel on 11/21), searches and visitor traffic at hybridsuv.com often mirror fuel costs.  Obviously, people buy gallons of gas…not barrels of oil, but it’s interesting to watch the correlation between what people are paying at the pump, and how many people are looking for hybrid cars and suvs.

A similar search pattern was recently noted in a press release regarding the Cars.com Consumer Search Index, which stated “With gas prices again topping $3 a gallon…

This month, we are rolling out a new feature on hybridsuv.com - reporting the top monthly searches for hybrid suvs, compiled from several websites, blogs, and online resources.  While most of the information is based on actual searches conducted during the current or previous month, some reporting sites include data over the past 90 day period.

During September, there was a surge in searches for many of the 2008 models that are scheduled to hit dealer showrooms over the next few months (including vehicles such as the hybrid GMC Yukon and hybrid Chevy Tahoe).  Even so, none of those searches or any phrases that included ”2008″ cracked the top 20.