Carving a new niche: Toyota attracts 80% of U.S. hybrid sales

WASHINGTON — Record gasoline prices drove hybrid-electric cars and trucks to a new level of popularity in May, but the majority of those sales went to just one automaker.

As U.S. hybrid sales jumped to 45,000 vehicles — their highest monthly total ever — Toyota Motor Co. captured 80 percent of all new hybrid customers, according to a Detroit Free Press analysis. While other automakers reported sizable increases in hybrid sales, Toyota saw sales of its hybrid Prius more than double from a year earlier.

With sales of 24,009 vehicles — more than all other hybrids combined — the Prius was the ninth top-selling U.S. model in the industry for May, outselling mass-market names such as the Nissan Altima, Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Cobalt. The only car model from a Detroit automaker that outsold the Prius last month was the Chevrolet Impala.

Industry experts say the Prius' dominance of the hybrid market shows that other automakers may need some new marketing tricks to win broad acceptance among consumers still wary about its higher costs.

"It has become sort of an icon for hybrids, and for environmentally friendly vehicles," said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis with J.D. Power and Associates. "If you have a Prius, it's clear to everyone you're driving a hybrid."

Other automakers already appear to be adapting the lessons of the Prius. Honda Motor Co. said Monday that it would halt sales of its slow-selling Honda Accord hybrid this fall when a redesigned Accord goes on sale. The automaker has said its next hybrid vehicle will be a Prius-like model that doesn't compete directly with any other vehicle in its lineup.

Previous jumps in gas prices have triggered a rush by buyers toward smaller or more fuel-efficient vehicles, and the current surge has been no different.

Toyota has made several moves over the past few months to boost Prius sales, raising production at its factory in Japan by 50 percent which allowed Toyota to set a U.S. sales target of 150,000 Priuses this year, up from 106,971 last year. Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong said the increased production had helped ease demand that had left Priuses rare in some markets, allowing dealers to have a few models to offer customers rather than just one or two.

The automaker had offered some incentives on the Prius earlier this year to offset declining federal tax incentives, which will stop for Priuses sold after September, and thrown in options at no cost.

But with gas prices topping $3, being known as the flagship of fuel economy creates its own demand. Toyota ended May with a nine days' supply of Priuses on hand — most Toyotas average about 30 days' supply — and Morgan Stanley analysts calculated that at the May rate of sales, Toyota could move 244,000 Priuses a year.

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