The U.S. auto industry posted a record year for hybrid sales during 2012 as almost 500,000 hybrids were sold, or 3.4% of the overall new vehicle market. This was twice the amount sold during 2011. Of that total, the Toyota and Lexus brands accounted for 70% of all hybrid sales as high gasoline prices and Toyota’s dominant position as the leading hybrid producer combined to produce the record.
The Prius family of hybrids accounted for more than 75% of the Toyota Motor Sales mix at 236,000 vehicles.
The Chevrolet Volt hybrid finished 2102 at 23,461. The Nissan Leaf pure EV finished the year at 9,819 vehicles a mere 1.5% increase compared to 2011. The problem with hybrids and EVs – both forms of electric vehicles – remains cost. While existing buyers of are true believers and early adapters, the vast majority of budget constrained car shoppers are not. Nearly half of current EV buyers claim the best benefit of their ac/dc wheels is lower emissions when compared with emissions from gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicles, but it’s not clear if they know how their electricity is generated, and 40% of the electricity in the U.S. comes from dirty coal.
However, once you get past this “puddle” of EV buyers – and they don’t even form a “pool” since they comprise only 3.4% of the U.S. new vehicle market of 14.5 million (and that’s if you include hybrids as EVs; pure EVs have less than a 1% share) other people need to be brought into the clan. (Read AutoInformed on Green Talk from EV Makers Ignores Key Buyer Concern – Cost)
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
