US Hybrid Market Fell 44 Percent in March

The whole industry slowly but sure migrates to hybrid cars and electric models, right? That's a thing we all know and an obvious consequence of the economic recession. But despite this obvious course of events, it may seem like the hybrid market is now experiencing a high drop in sales, especially in the United States, where deliveries fell 44 percent in March 2009 compared to the same month of 2008.

Furthermore, hybrid sales accounted for only 2.5 percent of new-vehicle market in March, canadiandriver.com reported today, down from 2.8 percent in March 2008. However, better figures are expected this month as March witnessed the introduction of three new hybrid vehicles: Honda Insight, Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.

Overall, Toyota's over-discussed Prius recorded a drop of 56.8 percent last month, with only 8,924 units sold across the country. The Camry hybrid experienced an even bigger decline, 63.1 percent, with only 2,554 delivered vehicles.

Honda Insight, a model that arrived in the last days of the month, attracted 569 buyers while the Civic hybrid sold 2,869 units, down 23.9 percent compared to March 2008.

General Motors, the ailing American automaker which is currently fighting for life, said it delivered a total of 1,612 hybrids last month, with Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade and Silverado among the best-sellers. Nissan on the other hand, is one of the few companies that met a slight increase in sales, as it delivered 834 units of Altima Hybrid, up 0.2 percent compared to the same month of the year before.

Lexus hybrid deliveries fell as well, with 1,165 units RX 400h units delivered to consumers across the US. The GS 450h sold only 42 units, a drop of 35.4 units while the LS 600h L sold 25 units, a drop of 78 percent.