Since US sales of regular gas hybrids began in the US in 1999 with the Toyota Prius, sales have had a bit of a roller coaster ride. Sales grew steadily until 2005 when YOY sales increased more than 144% to nearly 206,000 units.
Sales, driven mostly by the popular and iconic Prius, increased to 351,000 in 2007, but then declined 5 straight years. In 2012, YOY sales again jumped 63% to nearly 435,000 units. Sales then reached their all-time peak in 2013 at more than 495,000.
Hybrid sales then declined or remained relatively flat until they took another jump of 16.8% to nearly 401,000 in 2019. And then, even in a year of declining auto sales overall of -14% due to the pandemic, hybrid sales actually increased 15%. Hybrids are clearly back on the rise, driven by a strong push from Toyota and Honda and the huge success of the Toyota RAV4 hybrid.
We expect hybrid sales to continue growing as automakers realize they need them – along with EVs – to meet increasingly stricter emissions standards in both Europe and the US.
