It’s not just the UK automotive industry which is continuing its downward trend into 2009 – reported sales are down in the US, with hybrid cars not immune from the slump.
Sales of hybrids in the US dropped by 32.2 per cent by volume from the year before to just 15,442 units – a downward trend that was matched in other sectors of the industry. Year on year sales of passenger cars also fell by 36.3 per cent, while sales of light trucks dropped by 37.8 per cent. Hybrid cars’ share of the market stands at 2.35 per cent.
Here is a breakdown of how each manufacturer faired:
- - Toyota – Sales of the Prius dropped by 28.6 per cent year on year, with the Camry Hybrid suffering a massive 69.6 per cent drop – down to just 1,141 units sold. Sales of the Highlander Hybrid stood at just 984 units which is down 54.1 per cent year-on-year.
- - Lexus – Toyota’s luxury division reported mixed results during the month. Sales of the RX400h increased by 28.5 per cent year on year to 1,556 units while the GS 450h sold just 41 units – down 35.9 per cent. The Lexus LS 600h meanwhile, sold just 33 units – a fall of 68.6 per cent.
- - Honda – Just 1,076 units of the Honda Civic Hybrid were sold during January, a fall of 38.3 per cent. Meanwhile only one Accord Hybrid was sold during the month.
- - General Motors – The company reported a total of 923 hybrid sales including 599 two-mode full-size SUVs (Tahoe, 299; Yukon, 168; Escalade, 132); seven Silverados; 153 VUE Green Line hybrids; 145 Malibu hybrids; and 19 Aura hybrids.
- - Ford – Combined sales of the Escape and Mariner hybrids stood at 880 units, a 40.3 per cent fall.
- - Nissan – Only 644 units of the Altima hybrid were sold, a 36.2 per cent fall.
- - Chrysler – A mere 42 units of the two-mode hybrids (33 Chrysler Aspen hybrids, nine Dodge Durango hybrids) were sold.
