Dealers

There are over 25 different hybrid (gas/electric) cars and trucks sold in the U.S right now (and more if you count some of the discontinued models you can still buy off of a dealer's lot). With so much talk about the forthcoming "onslaught" of electric vehicles, many have wondered what happened to the good 'ol hybrid vehicle segment. It's hanging on and actually doing better than last year.

Fact #1: For the first 5 months of this year, we saw over 106,000 new hybrid units enter the U.S. roadways. Our friends at HybridCars.com show just over 109,000 units for the same time period. Short story: the segment is up over 5 percent on a year-over-year basis based on new registrations.

Fact #2: California is still THE hybrid state.  Better than 1 in 5 hybrids are registered in this state.  A few years ago, California represented over 25% of the hybrid segment. Now they represent just over 20%. From a dealer network view or someone pulling together a regional automotive forecast on hybrids, you'd be a fool to ignore California. Buyers there are incented to "think green." Although one thing that really shocked me about their current legislation is that hybrids are disqualified from using high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes...yikes!

Fact #3: Prius is still king. Over half of all hybrids sold new are the Prius. Last year they accounted for 44% in the first five months; for the same time this year, they account for one of every two sold new. Good luck to the rest who merely want market share in this segment. 

Prediction: Looking at the results for May and June of this year, our light vehicle forecast for the hybrid segment is between 254,000 to 260,000 new sales in the U.S. This would put us back at the levels we saw in 2006 (we saw 254,000 that year) and definitely below last year's 2009 total of around 290,000 units. 

Go green! And if you're in California, enjoy your single occupant HOV lane privileges while they last.