Japanese automakers reported mixed results for hybrid electric and electric vehicle sales in 2013, a media report said.
Toyota again was the top manufacturer with sales of 1,280,235 units, up 5% year on year, accounting for about 83% of Japan’s hybrid and EV market. All but 1,096 vehicles were hybrids, WardsAuto.com reported, adding that, excluding trucks, Toyota now sells 24 hybrid models in Japan.
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The Aqua, sold outside Japan as the Prius c, and the latest version of the pioneering Prius together accounted for half of Toyota’s tally with 317,890 and 315,510 deliveries, respectively, the report said.
Honda – now introducing a new two-motor hybrid system to replace its original Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) drivetrain – reported a 19% decline in Japanese hybrid deliveries to 187,851 units, including 526 Accord plug-ins.
Mitsubishi, new to the market, sold 20,026 Outlander Plug-In Hybrids, WardsAuto.com said. The PHEV, which went on sale in January 2013, would have registered higher sales had the automaker not experienced a three-month production stoppage due to problems with the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery.
Subaru manufacturer Fuji Heavy Industries delivered 8,403 XV Hybrids while Mazda, which introduced the Axela Hybrid in November, sold 3,017 units, the report said.
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By GlobalDataNissan again led all-electric rivals comers by selling over 47,000 Leafs in major markets, up 80% year on year. The model – and its battery packs – is now built in the US and England as well as Japan.The Leaf was followed by Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV series, which registered a 58% decline to 4,832 units. The Mitsubishi tally includes Peugeot and Citroen versions of the car.
Toyota sold 1,096 RAV4 EVs while Honda delivered 569 battery-powered Fit [Jazz] minicars, WardsAuto said, citing specialty blog evobsession.com.
Separately, Toyota Australia said it had sold its 50,000th hybrid.
The locally built Camry accounts for more than half the 50,671 Toyota-badged hybrids sold ‘down under, making it the country’s best-selling hybrid vehicle.
Cumulative sales of the Camry variant have topped 25,400 since it was launched in 2010, placing it ahead of the Prius.
Australians have bought over 18,600 Prius hybrids since the nameplate was introduced in 2001.
Toyota Australia also sells the Prius c and seven-seat Prius v (Prius+ in Europe).
Starting with just the original Prius, it took a little over seven years for hybrid sales to reach 10,000 but the latest 10,000 took under 14 months.
Toyota Australia’s executive director sales and marketing Tony Cramb said hybrid cars accounted for more than 4% of the company’s total sales in each of the past two years.
“The performance and fuel economy offered by Toyota’s hybrid cars explain why they have become a mainstream choice for local motorists,” Cramb said.
“If Toyota’s hybrid cars were viewed as a stand-alone franchise, it would rank in the top 20 for sales – ahead of well-established brands such as Chrysler, Land Rover, Peugeot, Renault and Volvo,” he noted.
“Toyota’s success with hybrid cars in Australia mirrors the global situation where sales have accelerated to well over 1m a year.”
Global sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles passed a cumulative 6m in December last year. The latest 1m sales were achieved in the fastest time yet – just nine months.
Of the total, 2.8m hybrid cars have been sold in Japan, 2.3m in North America and 650,000 in Europe.
Toyota Motor Corporation estimates its hybrid vehicles have cut carbon-dioxide emissions by more than 41m tonnes and saved at least 15m kilolitres of fuel compared with vehicles of similar size and driving performance using petrol-only engines.
