Greentech Lead Asia:The market for hybrid and electric cars has remained
resilient even though the gas price has declined, according to Kelley Blue
Book’s Blue Book Market Report for July 2012.
With gas prices expected to continue their descent,
hybrid and electric vehicle sales could slow; however, today it appears as
though the sales decline will be relatively mild, the report said.
Usually sales of alternative-energy vehicles fall rapidly
after fuel prices peak, and although sales are down from the March 2012 high,
they remain stronger than in previous years.
Sales of the Lexus CT200h improved nearly 500 percent
year-over-year. In addition, the Chevrolet Volt was a strong performer with
sales improving more than 200 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile Honda CR-Z,
Honda Insight and Nissan Leaf all fell short of figures from just a year ago.
The Volt has outsold the Nissan Leaf nearly 3-to-1
so far this year, even though it has a higher manufacturer’s suggested retail
price (MSRP) and is not considered a “true” all-electric from a
purists’ standpoint, according to the report.
Toyota Prius was the most significant driver of segment
gains, with sales surging more than 300 percent from June of last year.
China to sell more than 152,000 plug-in electric vehicles by
2017
Recently Pike Research noted that the production of
plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) in China will fall well short of the
government’s ambitious goals of manufacturing 500,000 PEVs a year by
2015. However, PEV market in China will grow at a compound annual growth
rate (CAGR) of 60 percent from 2012 to 2017, surpassing 152,000 units sold
annually by 2017 says Pike Research.