Reported US sales of light-duty hybrid vehicles almost doubled in March 2007 from the year before, reaching 34,637 units—an increase of 94% from March 2006. Total light duty vehicle sales in the US increased 0.8%, with a 4% increase in passenger cars and a 1.9% decrease in light truck sales.
These results, which do not include hybrid vehicles sold by GM as the company does not yet break those out, push the share of hybrids in monthly new light-duty vehicle sales over the 2% mark for the first time. With some 1,542,229 light duty vehicles sold, according to Autodata, hybrid sales represented at least 2.25% of the total. Adding GM’s results in would push the figure higher.
Although all automakers had a strong month for hybrid sales, Toyota was the engine for the sharp increase, with Prius sales shooting up to 19,156 units and the Camry hybrid posting 5,144 units. The two models accounted for 70% of total US hybrid sales.
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