Auto researchers says hybrid sales on pace for record-setting year

DETROIT — Hybrid vehicles are on track to reach record U.S. sales this year, an auto information company said Thursday.

An estimated 187,000 hybrids were sold in the first six months of 2007, accounting for 2.3 percent of all new vehicle sales, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Although a sales slowdown is expected in the second half of the year, J.D. Power is forecasting total sales of 345,000 hybrids for the year, a 35 percent increase from 2006 when the current record of 256,000 hybrids were sold.

The Toyota Prius continues to be the best-selling hybrid model, accounting for just more than half of all hybrids sold. J.D. Power said Prius sales also got a boost this year from incentives of up to $2,000 per vehicle, which helped offset a decrease in federal tax breaks for hybrids.

Competition in the segment will intensify in the coming years. There will be as many as 65 hybrid models, more than half of them trucks, in the market by 2010, with projected sales of nearly 775,000, J.D. Power said.

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On the Net:

J.D. Power and Associates: www.jdpower.com