Monday, January 9, 2012

December 2011 Dashboard: Sales Still Climbing

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% 12,734,35610.2%







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% 12,734,35610.2%








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% 12,734,35610.2%








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