Hybrid car market continues to accelerate
#1
03-30-2007, 12:14 PM
Hybrid car market continues to accelerate
Toyota, which once had months-long waiting lists for its market-leading Prius hybrid car, is now offering low-interest financing to move the now readily available model off dealers' lots.
Does that mean the bloom is off the hybrid rose? Or that car buyers began losing interest in fuel economy when gasoline prices retreated -- briefly, at least -- from the $3 a gallon level?
Far from it. Overall, the hybrid category now reflects more than 1.5 percent of all new U.S. vehicle registrations and is growing briskly, according to R.L. Polk & Co., an automotive information and marketing company.
Nationwide, registrations for new hybrid vehicles rose to 254,545 in 2006 -- a 28 percent increase from 2005. For the third year in a row, Toyota's Prius was the hybrid sales leader with 43 percent of new registrations. Toyota sold 107,000 of the roomy but fuel-efficient cars in the United States last year.
Does that mean the bloom is off the hybrid rose? Or that car buyers began losing interest in fuel economy when gasoline prices retreated -- briefly, at least -- from the $3 a gallon level?
Far from it. Overall, the hybrid category now reflects more than 1.5 percent of all new U.S. vehicle registrations and is growing briskly, according to R.L. Polk & Co., an automotive information and marketing company.
Nationwide, registrations for new hybrid vehicles rose to 254,545 in 2006 -- a 28 percent increase from 2005. For the third year in a row, Toyota's Prius was the hybrid sales leader with 43 percent of new registrations. Toyota sold 107,000 of the roomy but fuel-efficient cars in the United States last year.
#2
04-04-2007, 10:29 AM
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Re: Hybrid car market continues to accelerate
More from the article:
Some of the fuel-saving technologies are complementary. GM unveiled the Opel Astra Diesel Hybrid, a sedan concept vehicle the company claims would increase fuel economy by 25 percent over a comparable diesel car. DaimlerChrysler is aiming at a full-size Dodge Ram diesel-hybrid pickup capable of 30 miles per gallon. Ford is working on a diesel-hybrid wagon.
More interesting tidbits...
Harry
Some of the fuel-saving technologies are complementary. GM unveiled the Opel Astra Diesel Hybrid, a sedan concept vehicle the company claims would increase fuel economy by 25 percent over a comparable diesel car. DaimlerChrysler is aiming at a full-size Dodge Ram diesel-hybrid pickup capable of 30 miles per gallon. Ford is working on a diesel-hybrid wagon.
More interesting tidbits...
Harry
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