San Francisco: Leading The Way In Hybrid Sales

In San Francisco 1 out of every 10 vehicles purchased is a hybrid vehicle – the highest rate on the country. Overall the state of California leads the nation in hybrid sales, among other things. Polk, a privately held automotive research firm in Southfield, Michigan, estimates that hybrid vehicles sales in the United States stand at around 2.87% of all vehicle sales. The problem is this statistic is not moving even with car manufactures offering 43 hybrid-electric vehicles, 4 plug-in hybrids, and 12 pure electric cars.

What sets Polk apart from other automobile research firms is that Polk tracks vehicle registration as opposed to just vehicle sales. This allows Polk to get a unique snap shot of car markets throughout the U.S. Analysts can used this data, along with sales data, to get a good idea where the hybrid market is in America. The data, once analyzed, shows among the bottom 15 markets for hybrid vehicles sales the rate is a low 1.5%. That is half the national average, even though these 15 markets overall represent 6.6% of all vehicle sales nationwide. 

Conclusion, the American population is not buying hybrid vehicles at the expected rate. Thus, San Francisco really stands with 9.4% of all vehicle sales being hybrid vehicles. The reason American’s are not buying hybrid or electric cars are numerous ranging from the high cost of the vehicles, concerns about reliability, and access to the vehicles from dealerships. The fact is the modern line of hybrid and electric cars (EV) are real standouts in reliability and user satisfaction.  If you are in the market for a new vehicle, hybrid and EVs are certainly worth a look especially of you live in one of the following hybrid and EV friendly markets.

The top 15 markets for hybrids vehicles; keep in mind the overall American average is 2.87% of all sales:

1. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose   9.4%

2. Monterey/Salinas, Calif.   8.84 %

3. Eugene, Ore.   7.89%

4. Santa Barbara, Calif.   7.5%

5. San Diego, Calif.  7.13%

6. Eureka, Calif.   6.97%

7. Los Angeles    6.62%

8. Chico/Redding, Calif.   6.06%

9. Palm Springs, Calif.   6.03%

10. Portland, Ore.   5.95%

11. Seattle/Tacoma, Wash.   5.9%
12. Sacramento, Calif.   5.85%

13. Bend, Ore.   5.61%

14. Medford/Klamath Falls, Ore.   5.60%

15. Tuscon, Ariz.   4.89%

Source: www.forbes.com

Ford Hybrid Vehicle Sales in US Up 73%

The Uber Practical Ford Fusion






Here is the day's big news as Ford is reporting their sales of hybrid vehicles is up 73% over the same nine months from 2008. What is the data really telling us though? It could be telling us that 2008 was an abysmal sales year or it could be telling us that Ford did not have many hybrid vehicles available last year. Hopefully, the data means that people like the hybrid offerings from Ford and this is the reason for the big increase. Maybe all the credit goes to its newest hybrid offering, the Ford Fusion.

From Green Car Congress:

Ford Motor Company’s US hybrid sales for the first nine months of 2009 are 73% higher than the same period in 2008, fueled by the introduction of hybrid versions of the 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, which went on sale in March 2009. In contrast, total reported hybrid sales in the US dropped 14% (from 257,533 to 220,593 units) during the same period. (Earlier post.)

Through September, Ford has sold 26,016 hybrid vehicles, up 73% versus the 15,015 units for the same period last year. Toyota, still the number one provider of hybrids in the US with 144,351 units sold in the first nine months of 2009, saw its hybrid sales drop 28% from the same period in 2008 (200,450 units).

Honda, the second leading seller of hybrids in the US during the first 9 months of 2009 with 29,958 units, saw its hybrid sales rise 8% compared to the same period in 2008 (27,793 units).

Hybrid customers increasingly are considering Ford. More than 60 percent of Fusion Hybrid sales have been from non-Ford owners, and more than half of those are customers coming from import brands, mostly from Toyota and Honda.

—David Finnegan, Ford hybrid marketing manager

Ford’s 2009 hybrid sales have been fueled by the introduction of the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids. Combined sales of these mid-size hybrid sedans for through September were 12,602 units, according to Ford—48.4% of the total. Both vehicles deliver an EPA-certified 41 mpg rating in the city and 36 mpg on the highway, topping the Toyota Camry hybrid by 8 mpg in the city and 2 mpg on the highway.

While the introduction of the Fusion Hybrid has spurred sales from non-Ford owners, Ford said, its longest-running hybrid nameplate, the Escape Hybrid, has proven popular with Ford customers operating taxi, lifeguard and government fleets due to the combination of fuel efficiency and durability. The front-wheel-drive Escape Hybrid delivers 34 mpg in city driving and 30 mpg on the highway.

In 2005, San Francisco became one of the first cities to adopt hybrids into taxi service, with hybrids accounting for 14% of its current fleet. Each of the original fleet of 15 Escape Hybrids exceeded 300,000 miles per vehicle before being retired and replaced with more Escape Hybrids. There are almost 200 Escape Hybrid taxis on San Francisco’s streets today.

New York has more hybrid taxis in service than any other city in North America with 13,237, of which more than 2,000 are Escape Hybrids. New York recently began retiring its original fleet of Escape Hybrids put into service in the 2005 model year after accumulating 300,000 and 350,000 miles per vehicle.

In 2009, federal agencies have purchased more than 3,000 hybrids from Ford, more than any other automotive brand. Included in the sales were 1,900 vehicles acquired through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the purpose of improving the fuel economy of the federal fleet. The US Army was the single largest purchaser among the government fleets, acquiring 400 Fusion hybrids.

US Hybrid Sales Down 45.5% in April

Monthly US sales of hybrids. Click to enlarge.

Reported sales of hybrids in the US reported by Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM and Nissan dropped 45.5% year-on-year in April to 21,735, despite full month sales for the new Honda Insight and the Ford Fusion and Milan hybrids. Total LDV sales in the US were down 34.4%. (Earlier post.)

The reported sales represented a 2.65% hybrid new vehicle market share (based on Autodata’s total LDV sales figure)—the highest monthly new vehicle share for hybrids so far this year, but below the 3.2% high mark in April 2008. Year-to-date in 2009, hybrids are holding a 2.4% new vehicle market share.

Hybrid monthly new vehicle market share. Click to enlarge.

Toyota. Overall, Toyota saw a 62.8% drop year-on-year in its combined hybrid sales in April 2009. Year-to-date US sales of Toyota hybrids through April are down 51% to 49,660 units from 101,334 for the same period last year.

In advance of the market introduction of the new 2010 Prius, Toyota Prius sales dropped 61.5% in April to 8,385 units from 21,757. Other results:

• Sales of the Camry Hybrid were down 67.1% to 2,198 units, representing 8.7% of Camry sales. Sales of conventional Camry models were down 31%.

• Sales of the Highlander Hybrid were down 63.8% to 933 units, representing 16.7% of Highlander sales. Sales of conventional Highlander models were down 37%.

• Sales of the RX 400h Hybrid were down 59.7% to 655 units, representing 10.5% of RX sales. Sales of conventional RX models were up 1%.

• Sales of the GS450h were down 59.8% to 33 units, representing 7.1% of GS sales. Sales of conventional GS models were down 71%.

• Sales of the LS 600h L were down 84.4% to 19 units, representing 2.5% of LS sales. Sales of the conventional LS models were down 60%

Hybrid component of brand sales. Click to enlarge.

Honda. With the first full month of sales of the Insight, Honda moved up to the number two slot behind Toyota, with 5,457 units sold. The Insight sold 2,096 units in April, and pushed combined Honda hybrid sales up 25% year-on-year. In April 2008, Honda had the Civic Hybrid on sale as well as the low-selling Accord Hybrid (25 units in April 2008).

Honda sold 3,361 Civic Hybrids in April, down 22.3% year-on-year, and representing 12.8% of all Civics sold. Sales of conventional Civic models were down 23% in April.

Ford. The addition of the new Fusion and Milan hybrids pushed combined Ford hybrid sales to 2,299 units, up 21% compared to April 2008. Ford posted 1,134 units of the Escape and Mariner Hybrids, down 40.5% year-on-year, and representing 7.3% of Escape and Mariner sales. Sales of conventional Escape and Mariner models were down 13% year-on-year.

OEM hybrid sales as a percentage of total LDV sales. Click to enlarge.

The new Fusion and Milan hybrid sedans sold a combined 1,165 units, representing 5.7% of all Fusion and Milan sales in April. Sales of conventional models of the Fusion and Milan climbed 3% year-on-year in April.

GM. General Motors sold 1,534 hybrids in April, comprising:

• 523 units of the two-mode SUVs (Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade), representing 4.5% of combined sales of those models
• 95 units of the two-mode pickups (Silverado, Sierra), representing 0.27% of sales of those models
• 547 units of the Malibu hybrid, representing 3.7% of Malibu sales
• 338 units of the Saturn VUE hybrid, representing 11.3% of VUE sales
• 31 units of the Saturn Aura hybrid, representing 1.7% of Aura sales

Nissan. Nissan sold 222 units of the Altima hybrid in the US in April, down 72.3% year-on-year, representing 1.8% of Altima sales. Sales of the conventional Altima models were down 46%.

Source: Green Car Congress