US Hybrid Sales Down 6% in July

[tripp]

Reported US sales of hybrids in July dropped 6% year-on-year to 26,877 units, representing a new vehicle market share of 2.4% for the month. Through July, reported 2008 sales of hybrids in the US are down 1.6% compared to the same period in 2007, representing a new vehicle market share for the first seven months of 2008 of 2.5%.


Total sales of light duty vehicles in the US dropped 13.2% in July, according to figures from Autodata. (Earlier post.) Through July, total light duty vehicle sales have declined 10.5% compared to the same period in 2007.

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Shiny Graphic

[Dave_PH]

Maybe because they're sold out?


P.S. Thanks for the Shiney Graphic.

[sorka]

Although demand for the Prius does seem to be waning slightly, that massive drop in June simply represents lack of supply. The March, April, May numbers represent 10's of thousands of Hybrids sitting on lots that were sold with most of them being Prius's. But once supply ran out, so did sales.

[efusco]

The sales may be a little lower b/c dealers are charging a mark-up or supply from Japan may be lower or a combination of the two. But to suggest that there's a decrease in demand is ludicrous...try to buy one for MSRP.

[Dave_PH]

So it's a slow car buying time of the year in a bad economy and there's a loack of supply. Sales might be down.

[tripp]

Oh yeah, I think that's obvious. What's interesting is that Hybrids gained a bigger piece of the automotive sales slice even in a down market (really down).

[hampdenwireless]

Originally Posted by sorka

Although demand for the Prius does seem to be waning slightly, that massive drop in June simply represents lack of supply. The March, April, May numbers represent 10's of thousands of Hybrids sitting on lots that were sold with most of them being Prius's. But once supply ran out, so did sales.

As far as I am concerned demand is not down at all. Toyota has not delivered the hybrids to the USA in the volumes needed so the dealers are marking them up greatly. Try to get a new Prius at below list. You cannot. You can get almost any other car (non hybrid) at lower then MSRP.

[PriusSport]

Two things happening: the first is they are selling every hybrid they have. You can't find hybrids at dealerships. And not just Prius. So "sales are down in July" is, shall we say, misleading. Ah, those agendas.
The second is overall car sales are in a depression state right now, so hybrids probably have a much higher market share right now since it's the only car type people really want.

Hybrid sales are down, but the dealers have sold all their hybrids, and there is an 8 month waiting list. That's the story. We aren't producing enough hybrids to keep up with the demand.

"Hybrid sales are down" has nothing to do with the demand for hybrids. Nothing at all. More to do with the supply.

[sorka]

Originally Posted by hampdenwireless

Try to get a new Prius at below list. You cannot. You can get almost any other car (non hybrid) at lower then MSRP.

Totally false. You can get Prius's for under MSRP but you you'll have to wait. Not only that, you can get them for under MSRP without port add ons and the other crap that dealers try to push. You just have to look a little.

[tripp]

Originally Posted by PriusSport

Ah, those agendas.

There're no agendas, mate. It's GCC ferchrissakes. The data is what it is. If you read the article you'll realize that it's really just a report. There's really no interpretation. That's our job.