Auto Knight » Hybrids

Toyota Hybrids Have Now Sold One Million In US

Darren — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:43:08 +0000

Toyota hybrid vehicles have been catching on with consumers, as indicated by Toyota’s recent announcement that they’ve sold one million of the fuel efficient vehicles in the United States.

The huge success has been built mostly due to the popular of the Toyota Prius, which remains the world’s best-selling hybrid vehicle. The Prius line has been offered in the US since 2000.

Toyota has also enjoyed high sales revenue of hybrid versions of their Highlander SUV, Lexus RX luxury SUV, Camry sedan, Lexus GS 450h luxury sedan and Lexus LS 600h L luxury.

“One million hybrids in less than nine years indicates how quickly American consumers have accepted this important technology,” President of Toyota Motor Sales Jim Lentz said. “Toyota’s hybrid leadership will continue to expand in the U.S. and around the globe. With ten new hybrid models between now and 2012 in various global markets, we plan to sell one million gas-electric hybrids per year, worldwide, sometime early in the next decade.”

In 2009 and beyond Toyota is expected to face much stiffer competition when it comes to hybrid vehicles. Ford is hoping their new Fusion hybrid will entice the same customers who have been buying the Prius. Honda hopes the new Honda Insight hybrid will do the same. Toyota has the advantage of being the incumbent, but the marketplace promises to be a much tougher battleground as more companies release hybrid vehicles.

For now, though, Toyota clearly remains king of the hybrid.

GM Ramping Up Hybrid Production

Darren — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:04:14 +0000

GM hasn’t done much in the world of hybrid vehicles, but auto industry analysts think that’s about to change. GM has began a drive to produce and sell more hybrids.

In the first quarter of 2008, GM sold a paltry 843 hybrids. This puts GM behind Ford and way behind Toyota, which sold over one quarter million of the more expensive vehicles.

GM has the designs, but has only recently started to ramp up production.

“For GM, we’re looking at a fairly substantial increase in volume,” said Eric Fedeva, an analyst with automotive market researcher CSM Worldwide.

He isn’t the only one who thinks that GM can sell the cars if only they’d build them.

“I think they’re going to give Toyota a run for their money,” said Lonnie Miller, an analyst with market research firm R.L. Polk. “If they actually deliver on the full range of models,” he added.

If GM plans on catching up with Toyota, they’ll need to get started soon.

GM Not Selling Many Hybrids

Darren — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:12:30 +0000

GM has been selling hybrid vehicles at a snail’s pace. The company had been hoping that hybrids would move quicker, especially their full-size SUV model.

GM sold 843 hybrids in the first quarter–655 of them the Two Mode hybrid versions of its full-sized Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs. The rest are mild hybrids: the Saturn Aura Green Line, Saturn Vue Green Line and Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid.

Sales are slow because the Malibu Hybrid and the Two Mode SUVs are just entering the market, says a GM spokesman. “We talked about a model-year volume of 8,000 to 12,000 for the Tahoe and Yukon, and that hasn’t changed,” says GM spokesman Brian Corbett. “Generally hybrid vehicle sales tend to be a little slower initially compared to regular vehicles. We’re expected to increase sales as awareness increases.”

Compounding troubles, analysts say that GM hasn’t done a great job of marketing the cars. An obvious problem could also be that going green costs more money. In many cases, consumers will pa $3,000 to $5,000 more for a hybrid vehicle.