Green cars continue to be as badly hit as any during the on-going recession as sales of hybrid cars showed another dramatic year-on-year slump in April.
Combined reported US hybrid sales from Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota fell by 45.5 per cent, representing just a 2.7 per cent new vehicle share of the market – that’s down from the 3.2 per cent share last year, which was hybrid cars’ highest monthly share to date.
Here is how each manufacturer faired:
- - Chrysler - Chrysler LLC returned total US sales of 76,682 in April – a 48 per cent decrease from the previous year.
- - Ford – Along with its Lincoln and Mercury brands, Ford sales totalled 129,898, representing a 28.8 per cent fall compared to the prior year. Combined sales of all hybrid models, which included the new Fusion and Milan hybrids, totalled 2,299 – up 21 per cent compared to sales a year ago.
- - General Motors – GM dealers in the US delivered 173,007 vehicles, down 34 per cent compared to the prior year. The total volume however, was up by 11 per cent compared to March on the back of a very weak opening quarter. GM delivered a total of 1,534 hybrid vehicles in the month.
- - Honda – With vehicle sales of 101,029, American Honda Motor Company suffered a decline of 25.3 per cent compared to April 2008. Its hybrid sales marked the first full month of sales for the Honda Insight and so grew by 25.5 per cent year on year.
- - Nissan – Nissan North America reported sales of 47,190 – a decrease of 37.8 per cent from last year’s 75,855. Just 222 Altima Hybrids were sold during the month.
- - Toyota - Toyota Motor Sales USA reported end of month sales of 126,540 vehicles – a decrease of 41.9 per cent compared to the prior year. Its total of 12,223 hybrid vehicles sold represented a 62.8 per cent slump with sales of the Prius down 61.5 per cent.
