2009 won’t end up being a record year for hybrid vehicle sales, but considering the circumstances it would be fair to say that hybrids have held their own. Even though they demand a premium over their non-hybrid counterparts, when compared to similar vehicles equipped with standard gasoline engines, hybrids continue to be a bright area within a mostly hazy car market.
In the battle for best selling hybrid SUV of 2009 (U.S.), the leaders going into the fourth quarter are as follows:
Ford Escape (12,009)
Lexus RX400h (10,089)
Toyota Highlander (8,635)
Chevy Tahoe (2,466)
Saturn Vue (2,280)
Cadillac Escalade (1,453)
Mercury Mariner (1,405)
GMC Yukon (1,348)
It doesn’t appear that Lexus will catch Ford this year, but they are making it interesting and 2010 could prove to be a different story. In 2008, the Toyota Highlander actually beat them both but sales this year are down nearly 50%. The closer race is actually for worst selling hybrid SUV of 2009, with 3 sport utilities neck-and-neck (data from hybridcars.com).
Overall hybrid sales for ‘09 are down about 14% compared to this time last year, while auto sales in general are down nearly twice that amount (27%). Last year hybrids represented about 2.4% of all vehicles sold, while this year hybrid vehicles are on pace to exceed 2.8%.
It’s no surprise which hybrid car will take top honors this year. As has been the case since its arrival roughly ten years ago, the Toyota Prius is once again dominating all green contenders. Although sales this year are down nearly 20% the Prius is still managing to grab a 47% share of all hybrids sold through the first three quarters. In 2008 Prius buyers snatched up 159,000 units representing more than 50% of all hybrid vehicles sold. Congrats to Toyota.
Update 1/20/2010: Final numbers are in and Lexus nearly caught Ford (separated by just over 300 sales). Comparing the two leaders to their sales figures from the prior year, the Lexus SUV was down 5% while the Ford hybrid ended down 14%.
Escape: 14,787
RX 400h: 14,464
Highlander: 11,086
