Published January 9, 2012
Note: This month's dashboard was delayed due to lack of data availability until today.
The HybridCars.com monthly sales dashboard is a collaboration of HybridCars.com and Baum & Associates, a Michigan-based market research firm focusing on automotive issues including the hybrid and electric vehicle market.
Hybrid sales for December 2011 were at their highest since March, which was the last month before the Japanese earthquake/tsunami affected product availability.
Prius volumes in December were also at their highest since March – augmented in that now Toyota is including new members of the Prius family under a single category – and were also higher than all other months since August 2009.
The availability of the larger Prius v and the forthcoming Prius c will certainly lead to higher volumes.
Chevrolet's extended-range Volt missed its year-one sales target of 10,000 cars, with 7,671 actual sales following heavy publicity from a federal battery pack investigation that was quickly settled.
Hybrid sales for the last quarter of 2011 exceeded the comparable level in 2010 by almost 5 percent. Even with the availability issues for much of the year, hybrid sales were only 2 percent shy of 2010.
Beyond the Prius, other major hybrids include the Hyundai Sonata, Honda Insight, and Lexus CT200h, two of which are new in 2011.
Note: We were not able to get info for the Kia Optima, and the Hyundai Sonata data we got was assumed at 20 percent (which we reduced with a semi-educated guess to 11 percent).
Plug in vehicles achieved their best month ever (by a significant margin), which indicates that limited availability has been the primary factor in sales since December of 2010.
The percentage changes for the electric for comparisons to 12-10 and YTD 10 and 11 look excessively tremendous – but while they are correct, don’t place much stock in them as sales started at a very low level in December 2010.
Note also that the Mitsubishi i battery electric car has been included this month.
While we believe the concern over the safety of the Volt has been overwrought, consumers seem to agree as sales in December reflected greater availability rather than safety concerns.
LEAF sales met expectations for 2011, but need to increase in the new year to meet Nissan's goals.
The yen/dollar relationship will complicate this effort, but the importance of the vehicle suggests that Nissan will take a financial hit in order to increase sales. Of course, volumes for 2013 are expected to be much higher given the launch of production in Tennessee.
Diesel volumes showed growth in 2011 with the VW Jetta leading the pack and performing well for the year. Mercedes showed strong volumes across a number of models, as did VW/Audi.
December 2011 Hybrid Car Sales Numbers
Hybrids sold in the U.S. (December 2011): 31,100
Hybrid Take-Rate: 2.51 percent
U.S. hybrid sales for December 2011
| Model | Units | vs. last month | vs. November 2010 | CYTD | vs. CYTD 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Prius | 17,004 | 11.8% | 8.7% | 136,463 | -3.2% |
| Lexus CT 200h | 2,259 | 28.4% | n/a | 14,381 | n/a |
| Hyundai Sonata | 1,907 | 10.7% | n/a | 19,672 | n/a |
| Toyota Camry | 1,797 | 146.2% | 46.0% | 9,241 | -36.6% |
| Lexus RX400/450h | 1,233 | 32.9% | -19.7% | 10,723 | -29.0% |
| Ford Escape | 1,080 | -4.5% | 23.1% | 10,089 | -9.8% |
| Buick LaCrosse | 982 | 44.4% | n/a | 1,801 | n/a |
| Ford Fusion | 888 | -10.6% | -40.3% | 11,286 | -45.8% |
| Honda Insight | 690 | -7.9% | -57.8% | 15,549 | -25.8% |
| Honda Civic | 565 | 12.3% | -37.6% | 4,703 | -35.9% |
| Honda CR-Z | 564 | 84.9% | -35.6% | 11,330 | 115.9% |
| Toy. Highlander | 563 | 74.8% | -40.7% | 4,549 | -39.0% |
| Linc. MKZ Hybrid | 434 | -8.6% | 2.4% | 5,739 | 381.5% |
| Lexus HS 250h | 2274 | 32.4% | -75.6% | 2,864 | -73.1% |
| Chevy Silverado | 195 | 427.0% | 71.1% | 1,001 | -46.5% |
| Porsche Cayenne | 89 | -36.4% | -56.8% | 1,571 | 356.7% |
| Buick Regal | 86 | n/a | n/a | 123 | n/a |
| Cad. Escalade | 79 | 163.3% | -39.7% | 819 | -32.3% |
| BMW Hybrid 7 | 51 | 104.0% | 104.0% | 338 | 234.7% |
| Infiniti M35h | 46 | 39.4% | n/a | 324 | n/a |
| GMC Yukon Hybrid | 49 | 133.3% | -59.5% | 598 | -51.0% |
| Chevy Tahoe | 40 | 42.9% | -68.0% | 519 | -63.6% |
| Mercedes S400HV | 37 | 94.7% | -11.9% | 309 | -67.6% |
| Mazda Tribute | 36 | 0% | -25.0% | 484 | -26.1% |
| Altima | 34 | -38.2% | -94.4% | 3,236 | -51.8% |
| Lexus GS450h | 33 | 50.0% | 10.0% | 282 | -7.5% |
| VW Touareg Hybrid | 29 | 38.1% | 38.1% | 390 | 1,757.1% |
| Porsche Panamera S | 26 | n/a | n/a | 52 | n/a |
| GMC Sierra | 10 | 25.0% | -77.3% | 164 | -68.6% |
| Lexus LS600hL | 9 | 80.0% | -47.1% | 84 | -34.9% |
| BMW X6 | 3 | -400.0% | -50 | 43 | -82.7% |
| Chevy Malibu Hybrid | 0 | n/a | -100.0% | 24 | -94.0% |
| Mercedes ML450 | 0 | n/a | -100.0% | 1 | -99.9% |
| All hybrids | 31,100 | 19.1% | 8.7% | 268,807 | -2.2% |
| All vehicles | 1,238,939 | 24.9% | 8.7% | 12,734,356 | 10.2% |
December 2011 Plug-in Electric Car Sales Numbers
Plug-in cars sold in the U.S. (December 2011):2,741
Plug-in Take-Rate:0.22%
U.S. plug-in electric sales for December 2011
| Model | Units | vs. last month | vs. November 2010 | CYTD | vs. CYTD 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Volt | 1,529 | 34.2% | 369.0% | 7,671 | 2,253.1% |
| Nissan LEAF | 954 | 42.0% | 4,921.1% | 9,674 | 50,815.8% |
| Smart ED | 182 | 80.2% | 5,966.7% | 388 | 12,833.3% |
| Mitsubishi i | 76 | 1,800.0% | n/a | 80 | n/a |
| All plug-in cars | 2,741 | 56.0% | n/a | 17,813 | n/a |
| All vehicles | 1,238,939 | 24.9% | 8.7% | 12,734,356 | 10.2% |
December 2011 Clean Diesel Car Sales Numbers
Clean Diesels sold in the U.S. (December 2011):9,658
Diesel Take-Rate:0.78%
U.S. clean diesel sales for December 2011
| Model | Units | vs. last month | vs. November 2010 | CYTD | vs. CYTD 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VW Jetta | 3,528 | 7.3% | -16.8% | 51,530 | 15.5% |
| BMW X5 | 1,120 | 46.0% | 39.7% | 7,378 | -6.9% |
| Passat | 1,078 | 13.4% | n/a | 4,032 | n/a |
| Volkswagen Golf | 799 | 17.0% | 7.4% | 9,768 | 69.0% |
| Mercedes ML320 | 768 | -7.2% | 86.4% | 5,020 | 81.5% |
| VW Touareg | 591 | 27.4% | 1,455.3% | 3,633 | 152.1% |
| Mercedes GL320 | 573 | -40.2% | 81.9% | 5,782 | 65.2% |
| BMW 335d | 340 | 10.7% | -20.0% | 3,583 | -5.8% |
| Audi A3 | 329 | 22.3% | 25.6% | 3,611 | 3.9% |
| Audi Q7 | 242 | 11.5% | -49.2% | 3,654 | 5.4% |
| Mercedes E320 | 187 | -11.0% | -40.8% | 2,767 | 195.0% |
| Mercedes S350 | 79 | 18.8% | n/a | 240 | n/a |
| Mercedes R320 | 24 | 71.4% | -11.1% | 474 | 34.3% |
| Jeep Gr Cherokee | - | n/a | -100.0% | 152 | -91.0% |
| All clean diesels | 9,658 | 4.1% | 16.2% | 101,624 | 27.4% |
| All vehicles | 1,238,939 | 24.9% | 8.7% | 12,734,356 | 10.2% |
