Extending the tax credit for hybrids

President Bush spoke after meeting with members of congress today. It seems that one of the topics up for discussion was the extension of the tax credit for hybrid vehicles.

The tax credit can be up to $3,400 dollars, but it depends on which car you purchase. That credit is an incentive to consumers who are leary about purchasing a hybrid car given they tend to cost three to four thousand more than conventional cars.

Currently, once an automaker (like Toyota) sells more than 60,000 hybrid vehicles, the tax credit will phase out for the consumers who purchase that automaker's car. It's expected that Toyota will surpass that number this year, probably in the fall. This cap was intended as a domestic car incentive, since consumers who buy Ford hybrids will be eligible a lot longer than Toyota.

But, with rising gas prices, Republicans are being pressured to 'do something' about it. I'm not sure this is the best solution, but it will help out those considering purchasing Toyota hybrids, but aren't quite ready yet. Or perhaps some may want one of the newly introduced hybrids from Toyota, like the Camry Hybrid or the Lexus GS 450h.

Remarks by the President After Meeting with Members of Congress

We talked about ways to help mitigate demand, and one way to do so is to encourage alternative automobiles, like hybrid automobiles. And there seemed to be an agreement that we ought to extend the tax credit for these kind of automobiles to encourage our consumers to purchase the hybrid automobile.

Hybrid Sales were up in April

Hybrid sales were up from last April (20,974 units to 21,707 units sold, an increase of 3.5%). But as always, there were winners and losers. Ford increased sales by over 100% while Toyota increased their sales by 5.7%. Honda sales, on the other hand, suffered its second month of decreases.

Month-Year	Honda	Toyota Lexus	Ford Mercury	Total
Apr-05	5579	13690	1705	20974
Apr-06	3811	14476	3420	21707

Toyota hybrid sales increase 5.7% over last April. Toyota was only limited by its ability to produce the hybrid vehicles, especially the Prius and the new Toyota Camry Hybrid and Lexus GS 450h. They could only sell up to what they could produce, limiting the amount of increases they had.

Ford had more room to grow and grow they did by over 100%. The Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid both had record breaking sales.

Honda, on the other hand, lost out on their performance hybrids. Sales on the Honda Accord Hybrid, especially, were way down from last year. Sales of the Honda Civic Hybrid were also down by 10.9%, but they still sold over 3,000 units, an increase over March sales by 38%. Sales of the limited production Honda Insight hit triple digits, the first time its done that since May, 2004. Honda has been considering reducing production of their hybrids.

Toyota still holds a majority of hybrid sales by a wide margin, capturing 66.7% of the market in April. Ford increased it's share of the pie to 15.8%. And despite a drop in its sales, Honda is still selling a lot of Civics managing to capture 17.6% of the hybrid market this past month.

Year to date, Honda has sold 18.3% of the hybrids, Ford has sold 10.3% and Toyota has sold the rest (71.4%). 43.1% of the hybrids sold this year were Toyota Prius (30,357 units). Its closest competitor is the Toyota Highlander with 16.5% of the market (11,649 units). In third place, the Honda Civic at 14.6% (10,264 units).

Recent spikes in gas prices, seasonal car buying patterns, federal tax credits, speeches by politicians including President Bush, increased advertising, and local incentives have all pushed hybrid sales up to their present peak. Also, the introduction of new models have increased sales numbers. Last year, hybrid sales peaked in April with the introduction of the Lexus RX 400h, dropped in May, and then started increasing once again until they peaked in August.

Honda Hybrid April sales down

Honda Hybrid sales are down 31.7% for the month of April compared to last year.

Sales of the Honda Accord Hybrid increased from March to 614 units, but were down 69.6% from April last year's 2023 units sold. The Honda Civic hybrid sales were also down 10.9%. The low production Honda Insight Hybrid was up 22.2%. All totaled Honda Hybrids went from 5579 units sold last year to only 3811 units sold this year.

Sales of the Honda Accord hybrid have been down every month this year compared to last year. The Honda Civic hybrid started off strong compared to last year, but has also dropped the past two months.

Honda Hybrid sales have increased from March but just aren't living up to last years numbers.

Month-Year	Honda Accord	Honda Civic	Honda Insight
Jan-05	805	1169	7
Feb-05	855	1353	22
Mar-05	1862	2896	56
Apr-05	2023	3466	90
Jan-06	351	3165	59
Feb-06	783	1780	72
Mar-06	581	2232	79
Apr-06	614	3087	110

Toyota Hybrid sales are up in April

Toyota Hybrid sales increased by 5.7% over last April, helped by the early introduction of the Toyota Camry hybrid and the Lexus GS 450h and a record breaking month by the Highlander Hybrid SUV.

Sales of the Toyota Prius (8,234 units) were down 27.4% from last April's record breaking numbers (11,345 units). Sales on the Lexus Rx 400h (2247 units sold) were also down 4.2% from last April (2345 units sold).

The Toyota Highlander hybrid sales were the all-time best seller, with 3,768 units sold. Together, the hybrid and the conventional unit sold 10,712 units, which means the hybrid version made up 35.2% of sales for April.

The Toyota Camry Hybrid (86 units sold) and the Lexus GS 450h (141 units sold) were both introduced in the last week in April.

Overall, Toyota sold 14,476 hybrid units, an increase of 5.7% over last April (13,690 units).

Ford Hybrid sales increase over 100%

Ford sales of the Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid have increased in April. With incentives, gas price increases, and a major marketing push, sales of Ford hybrids had their best month ever, with 3420 units sold

The best sales month previously for Ford hybrids was September, 2005 when Ford sold 1808 Ford Escapes. Prior to that, they sold 1705 Ford Escape hybrids in April 2005. This month, Ford sold 3039 Ford Escape Hybrids and 381 Mercury Mariner Hybrids, an increase of 100% in the number of hybrids sold by Ford.

Sales of hybrids followed a similar pattern last year, with increases from month to month starting in January. But, the incentives seemed to have made a significant difference, propeling an increase in sales by over 100% from last month as well.

Month-Year	Ford Escape	Mercury Mariner	Total
Jan-05	908		908
Feb-05	1092		1092
Mar-05	1569		1569
Apr-05	1705		1705
Jan-06	801	97	898
Feb-06	1233	108	1341
Mar-06	1441	149	1590
Apr-06	3039	381	3420

Ford creates the Greener Miles program

Almost buried in the following press release is the second element to Ford's Greener Miles program involving hybrids. Ford is piloting a program to help offset the greenhouse gases emitted in the manufacturing of the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Mercury Mariner Hybrid beginning with the 2007 model year.

Ford estimates the carbon emissions from the production of each vehicle and will invest in projects that reduce emissions elsewhere by the same amount.

Ford Motor Company - Featured Story - Ford and TerraPass Create Program To Help Drivers Reduce Greenhouse Gas

Ford and TerraPass Create Program To Help Drivers Reduce Greenhouse Gas

By: Kristopher Spencer | Ford Communications Network
*TerraPass has reduced over 60 million pounds of CO2 emissions by funding clean energy projects like renewable energy production.

*A modern windmill is 300 feet tall and makes enough energy to power 250 homes.

*Heating and powering the average 10-person office generates approximately 22,000 lbs of CO2 per year.

*Four round-trip cross-country business flights produce more lbs of CO2 per passenger than the average driver creates in an entire year - over 13,000 lbs of CO2.

*A study from Stanford University suggests that we would have seven times the electricity the world currently consumes if 20 percent of potential global wind resources were developed.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 28, 2006 - Ford Motor Company and TerraPass have announced Greener Miles™, an automotive industry first that offers Ford vehicle owners the opportunity to offset the climate impact of their driving through the support of projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The announcement was made at the Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) conference in Los Angeles, Calif.

The Greener Miles™ program offers consumers a direct role in reducing the greenhouse gases that are emitted when they drive. Through the Greener Miles™ program, drivers can calculate the amount of CO2 emissions they generate in one year of driving by visiting www.terrapass.com/ford. Customers then have the opportunity to purchase an offset that supports renewable energy projects, such as wind and biomass. This pilot program gives customers a simple way to be voluntary, active participants in addressing the challenges of climate change.

"Greener Miles is just one piece of our comprehensive strategy on climate change," said Niel Golightly, director, Sustainable Business Strategies. "It is not a substitute for our continuing work on vehicle fuel efficiency. It does provide an incremental, short term action to help bridge the gap until we are able to implement longer term solutions. And it allows individuals to take positive, direct action now to share in the solution."

Greener Miles is one of two elements in Ford's carbon offset initiative. The other, which does not involve TerraPass, is a pilot program to offset the greenhouse gases emitted in the manufacture of Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids beginning with the 2007 model year. Ford calculates the carbon emissions associated with each vehicle's production and invests in projects including renewable energy production that reduce emissions elsewhere by the same amount.

Ford customers purchasing Greener Miles TerraPasses are helping to fund renewable clean energy projects such as wind power energy or making power from dairy farm manure. The cost ranges from $29.95 to $79.95, depending on the type of vehicle and miles traveled, and the actual emissions reductions are third-party verified by Green-e, one of the country's leading authorities on renewable clean energy issues. Customers receive a vehicle decal as a visual symbol of their participation in the Greener Miles program.

"Your purchase of a TerraPass supports energy projects that balance out your car's climate impact and moves us all ahead on the road to a future of clean, renewable energy," said Tom Arnold, TerraPass chief environmental officer. "This is a way for individuals to take personal action and take advantage of our efforts at getting the maximum environmental benefit from every dollar. We are excited to have Ford as a partner in helping us address this very important issue."

The Greener Miles program serves as a natural extension of Ford's ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Since 2000, Ford has cut its manufacturing CO2 emissions by 15 percent worldwide through implementation of energy efficiency measures in its facilities. The company was a founding member of both the United Kingdom Voluntary Emissions Trading Program and the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Ford addresses vehicle emissions through initiatives to increase the fuel-efficiency of its fleet. Ford has announced several actions including: plans to increase production capacity of hybrid vehicles to 250,000 annually by 2010; the addition of four new vehicles that can run largely on ethanol for production of 250,000 Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) in 2006, and continued innovative research into development of clean diesels and hydrogen powered vehicles.

"Ford is tackling the challenge of climate change from all sides," Golightly said. "Greener Miles and Ford's relationship with TerraPass is the latest in our portfolio of innovations for reducing the impact of cars and trucks on the climate."

Beyond "Greener Miles"
Ford is engaged in a variety of innovative initiatives designed to address the issue of climate change by reducing emissions from its vehicles and its manufacturing processes. But substantial ongoing reductions in driving emissions will require progress on three fronts: the vehicle, the fuels powering them, and driver behavior.

Ford's Greener Miles program is a customer call to action - building awareness of driving emissions and of ways that individual drivers can take action to reduce them. The carbon offset partnership with Terrapass is a major element.

Another tool Ford will be offering its customers in early May is the Eco-driving interactive online training program that has been available to employees since early 2006. ECO-driving shows customers how to conserve fuel, save money at the pump, and help the environment by operating and maintaining their vehicles in the most fuel-efficient ways possible.

Hybrid SUVs stay on the lot longer

Despite higher gas prices, hybrid SUVs are staying on the lot longer than they did in December. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid was on the lot for an average of 34 days, according to the Power Information Network, J.D. Power and Associates’ number-crunching unit.

According to Edmunds.com, the Highlander Hybrid was on the lot for 38 days, even though the conventional highlander took 31 days to sell. The average vehicle took 63 days to sell in March.

The problem with the hybrid SUVs is price. When they are delivering some return on investment with better mileage, most buyers are not convinced to pay the up front costs. For instance, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid sells for $37 to $38K, but the conventional highlander can go for $28-$29K.

Despite that, sales have grown since December for the hybrid version, although the days on the lot have also grown from only 14 days on the lot. Still, the hybrid version is accounting for 27 percent of Highlander sales.

Some dealers are offering incentives on the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, at up to $3900 off the sticker price. While the Lexus RX400h sticker price was cut by $2350 in November by making the navigation system and rear camera optional.


Times Leader | 04/30/2006 | Gas price run-up not turning tide for hybrid SUVs