Hybrid car sales in the US and the world over have been dominated by Toyota’s Prius family but that could be changing as demand for Ford’s Fusion and C-Max hybrids continues to sharply rise especially in the US. Bloomberg reports that the automaker’s share of US hybrid vehicle sales rose from 3% in April 2012 to 18 % last month. Though Toyota still took in over half of April’s sales, it’s the only manufacturer ahead of Ford at this point. Ford is also on track to beat its own record for yearly hybrid sales 35,496 vehicles sometime this month.
Even so, it still has a long ways to go to catch up with Toyota. Last year, the Japanese automaker sold over 236,000 hybrids in the US, and according to Bloomberg it expects to sell more than that in 2013. Sales of hybrid cars haven’t been taking off for every company, however. Last year, GM decided to temporarily halt production of its Chevy Volt, after the vehicle didn’t sell as well as expected, and this year could see lower numbers for hybrids overall. Bloomberg reports that Toyota’s CEO for North America has suggested that reduced gas prices may be curbing interest in the Prius, a problem that could also impact broader demand for hybrid cars.
Source: Bloomberg
VIA: The Vegre
