Auto Trends

2010 Honda Insight Hybrid Badge, originally uploaded by Lithia Life

Well, this isn’t exactly surprising news. Every giant must fall eventually. After holding a 78% share of all hybrids sold in 2008, Toyota has finally started to decline as competition from other automotive manufacturers gets steeper.

History Behind the Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius was on the cutting edge of technology when they announced the Earth Charter on January 16^th, 1992. This was 1992, so gas was still fairly affordable, and most people had not even heard about the “green” movement.

It wasn’t until 1995 that the Prius Hybrid Concept made its debut at the 31^st Tokyo Motor Show. In October of 1997, Toyota unveiled the Prius to media for the first time, and then went on sale later in December in Japan. Then in 2001, the Prius was launched in the US, at a price tag of just $19,995. By 2002, worldwide sales for the Prius had topped 100,000 units.

Over the next eight years it became obvious that hybrid/electric motor technology was much more than just a passing fad. Honda tested the waters in 2004 with the Civic, followed by other hybrid models released by Nissan, Mazda, Ford, GM, Dodge, Chrysler, and Saturn.

A Turning of the Tides
Toyota is still by far the king of the hybrid, holding onto 65% of all hybrid sales, but there have been some interesting events that have taken place over this past year. Due to such a high worldwide demand for the Prius, Toyota has had to cut U.S. supply, leaving the demand much greater.

Consumers have the choice to either get in line and wait, or head over to the competition, which is getting more fierce by the month. Currently for the 2009 market there are over 20 different hybrid vehicles to choose from, including the Nissan Altima, Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute, Mercury Mariner, Toyota Camry, Toyota Highlander, Saturn Vue (extinct), Saturn Aura (extinct), Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Sierra, GMC Yukon, Lexus GS 450h, Lexus LS 600h, Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen, and the Cadillac Escalade.

Ford has stolen away the most of those customers, having increased by 73% in sales, placing them just below Honda. Here is a breakdown of the total volume of hybrids that have been sold (by manufacturer) for 2009:

Manufacturer                          Total Sales Volume 2009
1. Toyota                                                 65%
2. Honda                                                  14%
3. Ford                                                     12%
4. GM                                                        6%
5. Nissan                                                   3%

[Source: Auto News]