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Hybrid Sales Slow, Automakers Worried

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 19, 2006

• Drivers Wanted: Mini Developing Electric Model • GM Invests In Electric Car Engine Plant • GM Increasingly Viewed As "Green" By Online Consumers • Honda Plans New Hybrid for Earth Day 2009 • Hybrid Technology a Presidential Campaign Issue --- • More ...

Slowing sales of several gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles have automakers worried. Honda is on the verge of cutting production of its hybrid Accord and perhaps discontinuing the ground breaking Insight, the first hybrid sold in the U.S.

Honda has not yet made a final decision on building a new version of its two-seat Insight hybrid sedan.

Sales of the Accord hybrid are down 51 percent through March compared with a year earlier and the Accord has failed to draw the ardent following that the popular Toyota Prius enjoys.

Nevertheless, hybrid sales are up 37 percent so far this year throughout the auto industry, to 48,686 vehicles, as new models hit the market.

But while Toyota continues to sell Priuses, other models are beginning to linger on dealer lots.

The average Ford Escape hybrid sold in March sat on a dealer lot for 61 days. That is about twice the average for a regular Escape. Hybrid Honda Accords sit for up to 90 days on dealer lots, three times longer than typical Accord models.

While many hybrids attract customers based on fuel economy, Honda built the Accord hybrid for power while providing mileage similar to the four-cylinder version but a price tag that can be $5,000 more than a V6 model.

Ford is now offering zero-percent loans to buyers of its Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids. Ford marketing representatives say that buying a hybrid this year is "less emotional, more rational" decision. The zero-percent deal has boosted sales, Ford says.

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