This is free Hybrid Cars Marketing Research and can include information on the background, market structure, definitions, competitors, trends and developments of hybrid cars and is related to other topics such as vehicles, energy, conservation, green, automobiles and global warming.

Table of Contents

[edit] Background

A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more separate sources of power for propulsion. These may include rechargeable energy storage systems, fueled power sources, and many more. However, the term is most commonly applied to Hybrid-electric vehicles or HEVs which combine the technologies of internal combustion engines and electric motors. Examples are this are cars such as the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Honda Insight and a number of others. These hybrid electric vehicles combine the conventional propulsion system with an all new rechargeable energy storage system to give the user a much better fuel economy.

There are many benefits of a hybrid electric design, even apart from the low fuel consumption. Reduced wear on the gasoline engine, lower noise emissions as well as lower air pollution are other benefits. Many people who consider themselves to be pragmatic in regard to automobile innovation see the hybrid as a good transition car until hydrogen energy cars are more mainstream.

The first hybrid car was the "Mixte," designed in 1901, by Ferdinand Porsche while he was employed at the Lohner Coach Factory. The design was based on the "System Lohner-Porsche" electric carriage, which he had designed earlier, and used a gasoline engine powering a generator, electric hub motors, and a small battery pack. The 1915 Dual Power was a hybrid made by the Woods Motor Vehicle electric car maker, with about 600 being manufactured until 1918. More recent prototypes were built by Victor Wouk, known as the "Godfather of the Hybrid" in the 1960s and 1970s. In more recent times, the Bill Clinton administration, to encourage alternative technologies, initiated the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles or the PNGV program in 1993, involving Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, USCAR, and the DoE, along with various governmental agencies. However, the program was replaced, in 2001, by the hydrogen-focused FreedomCAR initiative, during the George W. Bush administration.

[edit] Market Structure

Automotive hybrid technology took off in a big way in the late 1990s with the launch of the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius. The Prius has captured the imagination of the urban hybrid buyer from its launch and continues to sell briskly. Newer designs have also been introduced, which are less expensive, and often appear identical to their non-hybrid counterparts. The Honda Civic Hybrid, the redesigned Toyota Prius of 2004, the Honda Insight, and the hybrid version of the Honda Accord, are examples of this trend. Toyota has gone on to introduce the Hybrid Camry, a version of its best selling sedan. The first hybrid electric sport utility vehicle or SUV, the Ford Escape, was released in 2005, after Toyota and Ford signed a licensing agreement in 2004. Toyota announced hybrid electric versions of the Toyota Highlander and Lexus RX 400h in 2005.

The 2003 R.L. Polk survey of model year cars has shown that hybrid electric car registrations in the United States have risen by 25.8% from 2002.

The types of hybrid vehicle types that are produced today are:

• Automobiles and light trucks, by manufacturers including Ford, General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mercury, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, and Toyota.
• Hybrid electric city cars, whose sale has increased, in the US, by 54% in February 2007.
• Taxis, used in predominantly urban environments, which can recharge batteries at taxicab stands.
• Buses, from companies like New Flyer, Gillig, Orion Bus Industries, and North American Bus Industries.
• Trucks
• Military vehicles

Although the US has only recently started producing hybrids, the Japanese are the recognized leaders in the world market. Honda and Toyota are the largest producers, leaving US car makers behind. Industry analysts agree that US hybrids vehicles seem to be token models introduced to deal with Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations.

[edit] Industry Definitions

• AER (All Electric Range) - The distance measurement used for hybrid car's ability to rely on electric drive.

• BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) - A battery electric vehicles use as an electric motor for power source. The electricity powering the motor is stored in a battery pack that must be recharged from an electric power source. These were some of the first experimental cars before hybrids caught on.

• EV (Electric Vehicle) - An electric vehicle is a vehicle that uses electric motors for power source. Some examples include metros, trams, and some trains.

• Electric-only mode - Also known as Stealth Mode. In full hybrid cars, electric-only mode allows the vehicle to drive at low speeds without the engine turning on. This is done to conserve gasoline and sometimes results in better mileage in the city which is quite different from their gas only counterparts.

• Hybrid Car - refers to a vehicle that uses two sources of power: gasoline and electricity.

• Regenerative braking - a feature in hybrid cars that allows the motor to act as a generator when braking. The process converts kinetic energy of the car's motion into electric energy that recharges the battery allowing the car to become its own energy creator.

[edit] Market Metrics

The sales of hybrid cars in the United States since 2000:

      Year	Number of vehicles sold
      2000	        9,350 
      2001	       20,287 
      2002	       35,000 
      2003	       47,525 
      2004	       88,000 
      2005	      205,749 
      2006	      142,497

Hybrid sales are expected to more than double from 2006 to 2011 in the United States. It's predicated that the United States will sell over 500,000 Hybrid vehicles in 2011.

The top selling hybrid vehicle is the Toyota Prius which in February of 2007 had sold over 12,000 units.

Cumulative worldwide sales of Toyota hybrids topped the 500,000 mark in 2005, with approximately 513,000 units sold worldwide by the end of October 2005. The majority of those sales (426,800, or 83%) come from the Prius. Toyota expects a 40% increase in Hybrid sales in 2007 as they are the leader in this technology.

[edit] Industry Players

The top hybrid manufacturers and their best sellers in 2006:

Manufacturer                    Best Selling Hybrid           Units

Toyota                               Prius                   48,156
                                     Highlander              18,127
Honda                                Civic                   15,755
Lexus                                RX400h                  11,193
Ford                                 Escape                  10,190
Toyota                               Camry                    7,386
Honda                                Accord                   3,285
Mercury                              Mariner                  1,461
Lexus                                GS450h                     525
Honda                                Insight                    489

[edit] Recent Trends and Developments

38,000 hybrids were sold in the United States in 2002, and 54,000 in 2003. Sales are projected to increase dramatically in the future as well. Honda led the hybrid sales in 2003 with 23,048 cars sold.

On average, since 2000, hybrid car sales in the United States alone have grown 88.6 percent, annually, but that accounts for a fraction of the total number of vehicles sold. Toyota sold 1.86 million vehicles in the United States in 2003 and Prius sales were 24,627 units.

57% of the population considering a new car plans to buy hybrid cars in next 2 years. This upsurge of interest is driven by rising prices of gasoline and rising awareness and concern for environmental issues. Further, according to the report, 49% of consumers are considering models that run on fuel with 85% ethanol rather than diesel powered vehicles.

In order to encourage the purchase of HEVs, several incentives and ecotaxes are offered world wide. In the Netherlands, the Vehicle Registration Tax is discounted for the owner of an HEV up to €6,000. In the Republic of Ireland, there is a 50% reduction in VRT. In the United Kingdom, benefits include lowest vehicle excise duty up to 100% discount. Canada offers a rebate on the Provincial Retail Sales Tax of up to $2,000 CDN. The United States hybrid electric car owners qualify for a federal income tax credit up to $3,400 on the Federal income taxes. In addition, states like New York, California, Virginia, and Florida allow singly-occupied HEVs to enter the HOV lanes on the highway. Some states also exempt hybrid electric cars from the biennial smog inspection.

The city of San Jose, California issues free parking tags for hybrid electric cars purchased at San Jose dealerships. Los Angeles, California offers free parking to all HEVs, and Baltimore, Maryland offers discounts on monthly parking in the city lots. Annual vehicle registration fees in the District of Columbia are 50% lower for hybrid cars than conventional vehicles.

California led all states in hybrid sales with 67,533 in 2006 with Los Angeles the top market at 30,989.

[edit] Sources

• Wikipedia
• The Associated Press
• J.D. Power and Associates-LMC Automotive Forecasting Services
• batteriesdigest.com

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