Hybrid Dashboard Summary: May 2015

Once again, an excellent report from Jeff Cobb's team:

	model	May_15	Apr_15	Mar_15	Feb_15
1	Prius Liftback	11921	8822	9485	7070
2	Ram Pickup Diesel	5647	5072
3	Prius C	3763	3523	3564	2701
4	Camry Hybrid	3174	2650	2739	2110
5	Prius v (lowercase v)	3152	2462	2516	1850
6	Sonata	2943	2481	1793	1605
7	Passat Diesel	2769	2182	1949	1387
8	Fusion Hybrid	2440	1820	2534	2416
9	Model S	2300	1900	2000	1400
10	Jetta Diesel	2141	1949	2409	1786
11	Leaf	2104	1553	1817	1198
12	C-Max Hybrid	1892	1237	1054	878
13	Volt	1618	905	639	693
14	Accord Hybrid	1463	1118	948	832
15	CT200h	1436	1170	1416	978
16	Golf Sportwagon Diesel	1419	928	87
17	X5 Diesel	1299	417	459	405
18	Avalon Hybrid	1114	906	902	864
19	Optima Hybrid	1046	892	805	856
20	Golf Diesel	1011	821	841	631
21	MKZ	1005	810	717	480
22	Fusion Energi	986	711	837	603
23	ES Hybrid	911	789	1076	758
24	i3*	818	406	922	1089
25	Prius Plug In	727	428	473	397
26	C-Max Energi	715	553	715	498
27	3-Series Diesel	670	217	386	155
28	XV Crosstrek Hybrid	557	552	587	549
29	RX 400 / 450 h	551	492	641	494
30	Q5 Diesel	517	486	464	309
31	Lacrosse Hybrid	498	531	497	514
32	500E	471	450	164	117
33	Civic Hybrid	458	386	351	358
34	e-Golf	410	309	195	130
35	Cruze Diesel	390	345	387	262
36	Q7 Diesel	386	355	345	234
37	GL-Class Diesel	383	371	377	265
38	Grand Cherokee Diesel	364	321	336	275
39	Touareg Diesel	348	323	273	232
40	Q50 Hybrid	342	299	390	365
41	Highlander Hybrid	323	305	295	256
42	A3 Diesel	313	438	240	178
43	Spark	283	920	151	119
44	B-Class Electric	278	158	145	109
45	Cayenne Diesel	250	444	314	357
46	NX Hybrid	250	210	225	164
47	CR-Z	246	216	255	175
48	Pathfinder Hybrid*	223	167	258	212
49	QX60 Hybrid*	188	170	195	179
50	Focus EV	165	124	140	145
51	Insight	139	183	209	211
52	A6 Diesel	134	130	94	72
53	X3 Diesel	123	426	20	258
54	i8	117	138	143	113
55	ELR	116	104	92	127
56	Cayenne S E-Hybrid	111	88	72	106
57	GLK Class Diesel	111	1117	270	179
58	Soul EV	108	73	63	48
59	forTwo EV	102	124	103	76
60	Beetle Diesel	96	114	129	91
61	E-Class Diesel	80	60	593	70
62	5-Series Diesel	74	65	106	79
63	A7 Diesel	64	60	30	15
64	Jetta Hybrid	55	41	45	36
65	Impala Hybrid	53	49	29	19
66	Civic	44	34	38	26
67	A8 Diesel	28	24	35	17
68	Promaster Van Diesel	25	18	23
69	RLX Hybrid	24	15	18	21
70	Regal Hybrid	23	28	21	20
71	Regal Hybrid	23
72	Panamera S E-Hybrid	21	30	44	40
73	i	18	16	10	2
74	Q5 Hybrid	17	7	9	10
75	Q70 Hybrid	14	15	22	14
76	GS 450h	8	12	9	10
77	LS 600h	7	5	7	7
78	Touareg Hybrid	6	0	3	1
79	Accord Plug In	5	5	5	12
80	ActiveHybrid 3 (335ih)	5	2	3	1
81	ILX Hybrid	4	2	4	5
82	RAV4 EV	4	4	4	2
83	Yukon Hybrid	3	3	3	3
84	ActiveHybrid 5 (535ih)	2	1	3
85	E400H	2	0	13	3
86	Malibu Hybrid	2	4	8	8
87	Tahoe Hybrid	1

Source: Jeff Cobb's Hybrid Market Dashboard - HybridCars.comHybridCars.com (well worth reading!)

• Sonata sales have recovered nicely
• Passat diesel doing well
• Golf Sportwagon diesel nice growth

Bob Wilson

 

Something else from Jeff's report:

• 1.15% - diesel
• 2.47% - hybrids
• 0.27% - plug-in hybrids
• 0.43% - EVs

Michael Horn took over Volkswagen Group of American. Although we don't have hard reports, it appears VW has dropped their anti-Prius nonsense. They've also fixed a lot of issues with their diesels and now are seeing some market success. What a concept, make a better product and stop mentioning their competition in their ads . . . Horn has his eye on the ball.

Plug-in hybrids are an order of magnitude under hybrid sales and EVs half an order of magnitude. During the last decade, a lot of automotive writers and 'industry' talking heads called the Prius a 'halo' car. They claimed we were making a statement for environmentalism. But now, I'm wondering if the former Prius, now plug-in and EV owners might have been the 'halo' buyers?

Now I am the first to say this would be unfair. There are practical, economic reasons for owning an EV for urban commutes. Yet I notice there have been more than a few brick-bats tossed out about the 'clean grid' citing 'dirty coal plants.'

This criticism never made sense because it is selective to the car and not advocating shutting down the large electrical users, homes and businesses. But it does make sense if the critics have bought into the false claim Plug-Ins and EVs are 'halo' buyers, making an environmental statement.

Back when others tried to get my goat by calling my Prius "green", I would to tell them:

You're right but it is Yankee greenback dollar green! I like going on a trip and not having to choose between enough gas to get back home with a gas station hot dog or a nice dinner and change for gas.​

So smile and say "I'm paying 1/3d the gas cost in my EV/Plug-In. Money out of my pocket." Let the new found 'dirty grid' advocate defend their claimed position; congratulate them on their environmental concern, and; let's talk efficient cars.

Good luck!
Bob Wilson

 

When I read this, I remembered a similar 'problem' Apple users faced in the 1990s:

Computer technology was advancing rapidly with 8" to 5" to 3" floppies and eventually replaced by small, fast hard disks. Memory and CPU followed Moore's Law, doubling every 18 months. People claimed they were not going to buy a Mac today because a better one was rumored/announced. But many of us who bought the original 128K Mac pointed out,'If you need a Mac today, buy it, get rich, and buy the next one another day.'

We have a 2003 Prius and it gives us 52 MPG year-to-year. In contrast, 97% of all cars are in the:

Average fuel economy of US cars reaches an all-time high

Average fuel economy of all cars in the US reached 24.6 miles per gallon – not high for your average hybrid, but the highest it's ever been.
By Antony Ingram, Guest blogger APRIL 6, 2013

Source: Average fuel economy of US cars reaches an all-time high - CSMonitor.com​

Our 2010 Prius also gets 52 MPG but 5 mph faster. We are already achieving twice the efficiency of the remaining 97%. If we get an EV, our mileage goes up even higher.

Enjoy the pleasures of today as tomorrow will come by itself. We can change then paid in part by the wonderful machines we have today.

Bob Wilson

 

Anyone have Japanese and/or EU sales numbers?

Is it even sold in China?

Bob Wilson

Perhaps some people need to get pissed at the gas pump to remember to buy a Prius.

Bob Wilson