Shortages Blamed For Hybrid Sales Drop In 2011 - Diesel Sales Leaped By 27%

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.

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.

 

Steve - 1/18/2012 9:51:17 PM

+1 Boost

The Europeans get diesel engines with much better fuel economy becuase they expect it. They have much higher fuel priced than we do, and that's the way it's been for years. Here, gas is (relatively) cheap, SUV's get government subsidies, and damn the fuel economy.