Hybrid Sales Soar 38 Percent In U.S.

More Than 350,000 Hybrid Vehicles Sold In 2007; Prius Leads The Pack

(AP)  Kim Fenske drives a bus in Colorado by day, but when he's not working, he zooms around the mountains in a 2007 Toyota Prius.

Fenske, an attorney by training who has also worked as a forest ranger, was an environmentalist long before hybrid cars like the Prius hit the market. In the early 1990s, he ran unsuccessfully for the Wisconsin state legislature on a renewable energy platform.

But he recently decided to go one step further and make an environmental statement with his car.

"My decision is a very political decision. I want to get people in this country off their dependency on foreign oil," said Fenske, 48, who lives at the Copper Mountain ski resort near Frisco.

A growing number of buyers feel like Fenske. U.S. registrations of new hybrid vehicles rose 38 percent in 2007 to a record 350,289, according to data to be released Monday by R.L. Polk & Co., a Southfield-based automotive marketing and research company.

Hybrids made up just 2.2 percent of the U.S. market share for the year, but they were growing steadily even as overall sales declined 3 percent.

Lonnie Miller, director of industry analysis at Polk, said rising gas prices may affect some buyers, but they're not the main driver of hybrid sales. Instead, he thinks sales jumped in 2007 because buyers had more options, including the new Nissan Altima, Saturn Aura and Lexus LS600h hybrid sedans and hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Mazda Tribute sport utility vehicles.

"The gas price thing is a constant that is keeping consideration in their minds," Miller said.

Another important factor is that hybrids have been on the market long enough for consumers to trust the technology, Miller said. The Prius, the second mass-market hybrid after the Honda Insight, went on sale in the U.S. in 2000.

The Prius remained the best-selling hybrid in 2007, commanding 51 percent of the hybrid market, up from 43 percent in 2006 despite the influx of new hybrids.

Fenske's previous vehicle was a van, which he bought to move his belongings from the Midwest to Colorado. But Miller said most buyers appear to stay within the segment they were in previously when they opt for a new hybrid. For example, more than half of those who bought the Lexus LS600h had a previous vehicle in the luxury segment. Miller said that's why it's important for automakers to have hybrid SUVs, even though some drivers like Fenske argue that big hybrids don't save enough fuel.

"It's a good call on automakers' parts to not make their hybrids so funky and out of body style than what's already out there," Miller said. "People have requirements for what they need."

California remained the top state for hybrid sales in 2007. Twenty-six percent of all hybrid registrations were in California, up 35 percent from 2006. Florida, New York, Texas and Washington followed.

Miller forecasts more of the same this year, despite warnings from automakers that U.S. car sales could be at their slowest pace in more than a decade due to high gas prices and the weak economy. Miller predicts hybrid sales will rise 30 percent or more.

"This segment has still outpaced what the rest of the industry has done. I can't see the hybrid category totally chilling out," Miller said.

Fenske, who closely monitors hybrid discussions groups on Web sites like Edmunds.com, hopes more people will do the research and the math he did and buy a hybrid car. He figures he's saving $3,000 per year in maintenance compared to his old vehicle, plus $2,000 to $3,000 per year in fuel costs for his 20-minute commute. He says he gets around 48 miles per gallon.

Fenske said he waited several years to buy a hybrid because he wanted to make sure the technology was proven. Then, he was concerned about how the little car would perform in the mountains. He has had to make some compromises; he can't drive up some rough roads, but he has decided to hike or bike instead. But for the most part, the car has exceeded his expectations.

"Last night, I drove back from a union meeting in the middle of a blizzard and I had no traction problems at all," he said. "I was passing SUVs in the ditch left and right."

[kofiananimus]

woo-hoo! Either American men are growing bigger "members" or else they are emotionally and mentally maturing enough to accept their small ones, and are finally ceasing their hilarious attempts to overcompensate via their vehicles. Go American men!

[jonathan1cas]

Just wait till you see the GM Volt. I do not understand why there are not more articles on it.

[onceagirl]

News flash...the biggest selling vehicles in China are the large SUV''s and Luxury cars...can you say the changing of economic power in the world? Gee thanks President Bush and President Clinton....hope you enjoy frolicking in your money pits while even our food banks are imploding!

[j_flood]

Don''t forget diesel! If you''re a highway driver it can be the better choice - and there''s no battery to recycle.

[shanev137]

We''ll see what happens to these cars when they rack up some healthy miles like 100 to 150K and see how long they last what how much maintenance runs when all the batteries burn out.

[incog-nito]

Except for the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids, the other faux-hybrids are geared toward performance and offer gas mileage only slightly better than their conventional counterparts. Factor in the $5000 to $7000 premium, these cars make no economic sense whatsoever, except to the pretenders who want others to think they care about the environment.

[rf35]

A hybrid still uses gasoline. I''m looking forward to buying a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in a few years when the prices go down a bit and the hydrogen infrastructure starts to take off. So far, Honda and BMW have fuel cell cars available in America. I would like to stick with an American made car, but I will not hesitate to buy an import if that''s what it takes.

[sjc_1]

If he wanted to go off road, he could have bought a Ford Escape hybrid for a bit more money. It is American and the profits remain in the U.S.

[singingrick]

Once again, the Japanese were forward thinking and invested heavily in raising fuel efficiency while American manufacturers focussed on making giant gas-guzzling SUV''s and trucks.

Republicons stopped any legislation aimed at setting higher fuel efficiency standards as well.

Soon the top three sellers in America will be foreign.