There was more good news for manufacturers of hybrid vehicles as reported sales leapt by 42 per cent in December 2009 compared to the previous year.
Sales reached 25,167 units during the month thanks in part to the fact that December 2009 had 28 selling days compared to 26 in the prior year. The figures do not include sales of the new Mercedes S400 hybrid or the new BMW ActiveHybrid X6 which reached BMW centres during the month.
Overall however, sales for the year 2009 fell by 7.5 per cent at 290,280 units representing a new vehicle market share of 2.8 per cent. This means that hybrid cars compared comparatively well when examined with the rest of the market as overall vehicle sales were down 21.2 per cent. Here is how each manufacturer faired:
Ford – During December its hybrid sales totalled 2,843 – up 147.4 per cent compared to the previous year. Sales of the Escape and Mariner hybrids totalled 1,157 units; while sales of the Fusion and Milan hybrids reached 1,686 units. Over the full calendar year, Ford hybrid sales totalled 32,502 – up 72 per cent compared to the previous year.
General Motors – With total hybrid sales of 1,407 units in December, GM saw a 45.9 per cent drop in hybrid sales. Over the course of the year, however, GM hybrid sales increased by 30 per cent compared to the year before to 16,142 units.
Honda – The Japanese manufacturer reported total hybrid sales of 2,110 units in December – up 103.5 per cent compared to the previous year. The Civic Hybrid only posted 471 units, a drop of 54.5 per cent, but the new dedicated hybrid Insight enjoyed 1,639 sales. Over the course of the calendar year, Honda’s hybrid sales rose 13 per cent to 35,692 units.
Nissan – There was a nice sales boost for the Altima Hybrid during December – 842 models sold represented an increase of 18.6 per cent compared to the previous year. Over the calendar year, Altima hybrid sales totalled 9,357 units – an increase of 6.1 per cent.
Toyota – The hybrid car leader sold 17,964 units during the month, that’s up 47.2 per cent compared to December 2008. The Prius totalled 11,775 units, up 49.8 per cent; the Camry Hybrid sold 1,513 units, a decrease of 19.9 per cent; the Highlander Hybrid posted 1,029 units, an increase of 15.6 per cent; while the Lexus RX posted 1,598 sales, up 9.2 per cent, the GS hybrid posted 54 units, up 5.9 per cent, and the LS hybrids posted 15 units, down 70 per cent. The new dedicated hybrid Lexus HS250 also sold 1,980 units. During the course of the year, Toyota hybrid sales totalled 195,545, down 19 per cent compared to 2008.
