Hybrids still account for fewer than 2% of new vehicles sold

It's either a drop in the bucket or a segment with lots of room to grow. Which aspect an advanced-powertrain vehicle advocate chooses depends on how he sees the challenge that hybrids face in the marketplace. Given a new study that once again shows that, after more than ten years on sale, gas-electric models still account for just a small fraction of the global light-duty vehicles made, we're inclined to see it both ways.

Worldwide vehicle production could reach a record 80 million units this year, up at least 4.2 percent from 76.8 million last year, according to Washington, D.C.-based sustainable industry advocate Worldwatch Institute. But, hybrids will account for fewer than one in every 50 vehicles produced, according to the survey, or less than two percent. Electric vehicle production? That's at "barely perceptible levels," the report said.

In the U.S., things look a bit better. Here, alt-fuel vehicle sales are rebounding this year after the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011 crippled production of the Toyota Prius, the world's most popular hybrid. Through August, green vehicle sales surged 63 percent compared to 2011, to more than 353,000 units. August U.S. alt-fuel sales stood at about 50,000 units, or almost four percent of the almost 1.3 million light-duty vehicles Autodata said were sold in the U.S. last month. Think of it as a bigger drop in a smaller bucket, perhaps.



Source: Autoblog Green