On Monday, I reported on the overall December 2008 sales figures as well as the year on a cumulative basis. Later that night I sat down and looked for hybrid-specific numbers and some of the figures are astounding. Hybrid sales were down for December 2008 when compared to December 2007 and down for the year.

Despite the exorbitant gas prices that American consumers were faced with in the summer of 2008, the hybrid sales during that time were not enough for hybrids to post an overall sales growth for the year.

Honda dealers sold one Honda Accord Hybrid in December 2008 and 198 for the entire year. The only surprise in this is that Honda announced in the summer of 2007 that the 2008 model would be the last year for the Accord Hybrid yet there was still a model available at the end of 2008.

The Honda Civic Hybrid, part of Honda’s award winning Civic lineup, sold 1,036 units in December 2008 which represents a 67.9% decline over December 2007. There were 32,575 Civic Hybrids sold in the United States in 2008, which is a drop of 4.2% over 2007.

Even the industry-leading Toyota Prius was not exempt from the sales slump. In December 2008, dealerships sold 7,859 Toyota Prius’ down from 14,212 in December 2007 (a 44.7% decrease.) Although 158,884 Toyota Prius’ were sold in 2008, this is down quite a bit from the 2007 sales of 181,221. The 12.6% decline in sales is better than the 15.4% decline that was seen by Toyota as a whole but still nothing to get excited about.

Gas prices are on the rise again; in my area, the prices have gone up by $0.20 in the past seven days. However, $1.69/gallon gas does not cause much of a stir in anyone. It is likely that hybrid sales for 2009 will follow a similar trend. I am still holding out hope that the Honda Insight Hybrid will turn out to be a strong seller though.

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Filed Under: Gas Prices, honda, toyota

Happy New Year! 2009 is going to be an exciting year for eco-friendly motoring fans and advocates. The end of 2008 brought doom and gloom news from the Big Three automakers and a promise of a hefty sum of financial support to help the three largest US auto manufacturers get through this economic crisis. Part of the promises made by the big three is a focus on alternative fuel technologies.

There are five green motoring topics that I am looking forward to as the new year begins.

1. Honda Insight
I am more than excited about the Honda Insight, which will be available sometime this spring. The concept model of the vehicle has been making the rounds of auto shows since the Paris Motor Show in October but the production vehicle will make its debut at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) this month.

2. Toyota’s Electric Vehicle Concept
On December 22, 2008, Toyota announced its plans to debut an all-new battery electric vehicle concept at the Detroit-based NAIAS. Toyota left everything to the imagination with its two-sentence press release. Thankfully, there is less than two weeks left to wait.

3. The Washington Auto Show
The Washington Auto Show is not the first of the country’s auto shows that comes to mind when you think of exciting and new green car reveals but the 2009 show will definitely delight eco-friendly motoring fans. The show will feature the Green Car Pavilion that is designed to display innovative hybrid and alternative fuel products. In addition to the Green Car Pavilion, the winner of the 2009 Green Car Vision Award will be announced.

4. New Government Legislation
This is not very specific but with both a new Presidential administration as well as a new Congress, there are sure to be some eco-friendly transportation measures introduced this year and for this, I am excited.

5. TheGreenMotorist.com’s One Year Anniversary
I have been writing for The Green Motorist since August of 2008 but the first post on the site went live on May 13, 2008.

What are you looking forward to this year on the green motoring front?

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, honda, toyota

Kelley Blue Book’s website, kbb.com, is a fantastic tool for consumers that need to research a new or used vehicle. The KBB site launched a section dedicated to green motoring topics earlier this year and now the site has released its top 20 list of most researched new cars in 2008. When looking back at the insane gas prices that the nation faced this summer, it is not surprising to see that several fuel-efficient models made the list.

Honda Civic

The Honda Civic was the most researched new vehicle on KBB in 2008. The website garnered more than 140 million unique visitors in 2008 and the Honda Civic takes the top spot as the most researched out of those millions of visitors. The site did not differentiate between the various models but even the non-hybrid Civic is relatively fuel-efficient.

Toyota Prius

The Toyota Prius was the seventh most researched new vehicle on KBB this year. In the first half of the year, the Prius was a highly sought after vehicle and several areas of the country and even fetched a premium. Unfortunately, the Prius did not end the year with a great sales record do to the rapid decline of gas prices.

Toyota Yaris

The fuel efficient Toyota Yaris made its first appearance in the top 20 this year with a 11th position rank. The Yaris also made it on the KBB list of 2009 models that are expected to have the best resale values.

Volkswagen Jetta

The Volkswagen Jetta squeaked on to the top 20 list coming in at number 20. The Jetta base model is not a picture of fuel efficiency but the Volkswagen Jetta TDI has been topping lists left and right and was ultimately named the 2009 Green Car of the Year by the Green Car Journal.

“The year’s roller-coaster fuel prices reflect many shifts in the 2008 list versus last year’s list in 2007, with smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles seeing more traffic than in years past.” (Source: PR Newswire)

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Filed Under: Volkswagen, honda, toyota

The 2009 Honda Insight Hybrid Concept made its world debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show in October. The vehicle will be making a different kind of debut next year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit - the production debut. Although Honda will still be presenting the production version of the 2009 Honda Insight, it will be a scaled back debut due to the rough economic times. Just yesterday, sales figures for November 2008 were posted and American Honda posted a 31.6% decrease in sales when compared to November 2007.

Hopefully the Insight will help Honda’s sales increase once it becomes available in the spring of 2009.

“The Insight is expected to have annual global sales of 200,000 units per year - approximately 100,000 in North America - and will utilize a new interactive, driver-focused fuel economy enhancement technology named the Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assistâ„¢).” (Source: Honda Media Newsroom)

In anticipation of the reveal, Honda has just released images of the official 2009 Honda Insight full-production vehicle. The car is priced aggressively at $18,500 and is going after the dominant Toyota Prius.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, honda

Today’s news from Honda comes just days after Nissan North America announced that it would be withdrawing its participation from the Detroit Auto Show due to country’s economic conditions. Honda is announcing that while it will still participate in the 2009 North American International Auto Show, it has scrapped plans for any glitzy (and pricey) press conferences.

Honda’s focus during the Detroit show was the first official revealing of the production version of the 2010 Honda Insight. Although the Honda Insight made an appearance in Paris last month and is currently on display at the LA Auto Show, the version on display is still considered a concept. Despite the fact that Honda will not be revealing the official production version of the 2010 Honda Insight, the vehicle will still be on display at the show.

The Detroit area is being hit hard by the slump in the nation’s economy and with the unknown fate of the Detroit 3; these latest withdrawals from the show do not bode well for neither the city of Detroit nor the North American International Auto Show.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, honda

The 2010 Honda Insight made its world debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show but this past week it was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show for its North American debut. Part of Honda’s press coverage of the 2010 Honda Insight included details about the new ecological drive assist program (Eco Assist).

“Eco Assist combines multiple functions: the driver-activated ECON mode that optimizes control of the continuously variable transmission, engine and related powertrain components to conserve fuel; and a feedback function that uses speedometer background color to provide real-time guidance on environmentally responsible driving. An economy scoring function further provides feedback about current driving techniques, as well as feedback on cumulative, long-term driving style” (Source: Honda)

The Eco Assist will enable drivers to manage their driving habits in real time in order to maximize fuel efficiency. The 2010 Honda Insight will be available at your local Honda dealer beginning in the spring of 2009.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, honda

This year marks the 27th year that Car and Driver magazine has released its “10Best” list and the Honda Fit makes the list for the third time. Other’s on the 2009 Car and Driver 10Best list include the BMW 3-Series/M3, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Corvette, Honda Accord, Infiniti G37, Jaguar XF, Mazda MX-5, Porsche Boxster/Cayman and the Volkswagen GTI.

“A panel of 19 Car and Driver editors determined the winners by rating them on a scale of 1-100 with a focus on functional performance, driving satisfaction and value. Vehicles considered for the award must be available in the United States by January 2009 and priced below $71,000, or 2.5 times the average transaction price as of summer 2008. Winners from the previous year are re-nominated if still available under the price cap.” (Source: PR Newswire)

Fuel efficiency, a vehicle’s carbon footprint or other eco-friendly aspects of a car do not appear to weigh directly in on whether a car makes the list. The Detroit-based auto manufacturers are in a state of flux right now with some industry representatives stating that their lack of forward-thinking and planning concerning alternative fuel are partially to blame for their current predicament. I would like to see Car and Driver look at what is being said today about vehicle choices and incorporate a bit more eco-friendly features in their future scoring models.

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Filed Under: honda

Consumer Reports is known for ranking the quality, value and reliability of products ranging from vacuums to televisions and refrigerators to automobiles. The organization has released the results from its 2008 Annual Car Reliability Survey and nine hybrid models rated above average. The results will appear both on the Consumer Reports website and in the December issue of the magazine that will be available on November 4, 2008.

The following hybrid vehicles all scored above average in the “predicted reliability” ratings: Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Lexus GS 450h Hybrid, Lexus RX 400h, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Ford Escape/Mercury Marine Hybrid and the Honda Civic Hybrid. In addition to the above average rankings for these popular hybrid models, several vehicles with above average fuel-efficiency scored well including the Honda Fit, Scion xD, Smart ForTwo and Toyota Yaris.

“Consumer Reports Annual Car Reliability Survey is used in determining which makes and models are recommended to consumers by CR. Consumer Reports recommends only models that have performed well in tests conducted at its 327-acre Auto Test Center in Connecticut, and that have average or better predicted reliability based on its annual survey. In addition, vehicles must perform well in government or insurance-industry crash and rollover tests, if tested, in order to be recommended.” (Source: PR Newswire)

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Filed Under: Chrysler, Lexus, Luxury Hybrids, Mazda, chevy, honda, toyota

A lot of conversation about hybrids and the push towards the use of alternative fuel is centered on fuel efficiency and the associated savings in gas expenditures. However, there is more to green motoring than simply getting 40+ miles per gallon. The fueleconomy.gov website, run by the United States Department of Energy, offers consumers a thorough search tool to look beyond fuel efficiency when shopping for a hybrid vehicle.

The website provides consumers with the official EPA mpg rating, the average cost to drive 25 miles, the amount of fuel needed to drive 25 miles and the estimated annual fuel cost per vehicle (based on 45% highway, 55% city driving with 15,000 annual miles at $3.48/gallon). In addition to the “Fuel Economics”, the site also lists the annual petroleum consumption for the vehicle, the carbon footprint as measured in annual tons of CO2 produced and an overall EPA Air Pollution Score.

Let’s start with the 2009 Toyota Prius; the official EPA mpg rating for the 2009 model is 46 combined, 48 city and 45 on the highway. The cost to drive 25 miles is $1.89, which takes .54 of a gallon. The annualized fuel cost is $1,133. The Toyota Prius has an annual petroleum consumption rating of 7.4 barrels per year and a carbon footprint of 4 tons of CO2 per year. This leads to an overall EPA Pollution Score of 8/10.

The 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid is rated at 40 mpg in the city, 45 on the highway and a 42 mpg combined score. The cost to drive 25 miles is $2.07 and it takes .6/gallon to do so. The annualized fuel cost is $1242 and the energy impact score is 8.2 barrels of petroleum per year. The carbon footprint is a bit higher than the Prius at 4.4 annual tons of CO2 emissions. However, the overall air pollution score is a 9/10.

No details were available on the 2009 Honda Insight, due out in spring. The Civic rates higher than the Prius as far as overall air pollution is concerned so it will be interesting to see where the Insight falls on the clean car spectrum.

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Filed Under: honda, toyota

The Paris Motor Show is underway and the awards are already starting to pile up. AutoWeek announced its pick for Best in Show, Most Significant, Best Concept and Most Fun vehicles at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The Honda Insight was named as the Most Significant and was a top contender for the Best Concept vehicle.

In an October 3, 2008 AutoWeek Press Release, AutoWeek Editor Dutch Mandel had this to say of the 2009 Honda Insight:

“This hybrid car will be cheaper than the Prius, have high fuel economy and seating for five. Honda has officially returned to the game they used to own.”

The Best Concept vehicle of the 2008 Paris Motor Show, as named by AutoWeek, was the Peugeot RC HyMotion4. The official name of the Peugeot was not released until the start of the show but details and picture of the Peugeot RC have been floating around the Internet for weeks. Speaking about the RC HyMotion, Mandel says, “If the French automakers were to come to the U.S., this is the car Americans would want. Here is an electric sports car we can love.”

Other contenders for Best Concept were the Mercedes-Benz FASCINATION, Audi A1 Sportback and the Saab 9-X Air.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, Mercedes, Peugeot, Saab, electric vehicles, honda