Will Hybrid Sales Grow or Shrink in 2009?
When the CEOs of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors took their second trip to Washington DC in late 2008, they all drove hybrid vehicles. The CEOs all discussed the hybrid vehicle technology that their respective companies were working on and the hybrid vehicles currently on the market (Chrysler skipped the latter.)
However, as 2008 came to a close it seems that the $4/gallon and higher gasoline of the summer months was but a distant memory to many Americans. Hybrid sales dropped and SUV experienced a resurgence in sales. Toyota experienced a significant drop in sales in November of 2008 when compared to November of 2007 but the Toyota Sequoia SUV sales increased by 52% over October 2008.
Overall, November auto sales were down 36.9%. Sales figures for December 2008 should be available Monday or Tuesday. The auto industry is still dealing with a decrease in sales so I don’t expect to be surprised if paltry numbers are revealed.
“Hybrid sales in November shrank 53 per cent from a year earlier, while the market in general shrank 37 percent.†(Source: The Truth About Cars)
Hopefully hybrid car sales for 2009 don’t continue on the trend seen in November of 2008.
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I think that the heavy drop in gas prizes and the start of the recession turned a lot of buying decisions down. If gas is not the reason and money is short, why buy another/new car?
If the oil prices comes up again, we might see more people converting to smaller cars, that need less gas… not necessarily hybrids, because of the price.
Thanks ReneS - I do agree, I think cars like the under $10k Nissan Versa and other aggressively priced vehicles will fare well.