While automakers continue to invest heavily in EVs, hybrid vehicles continue to command a large slice of the market. In fact, Ford currently dominates the hybrid truck market, in particular – largely thanks to the unexpected success of the Ford F-150 PowerBoost – and Blue Oval CEO Jim Farley doesn’t expect that popularity to taper off anytime soon, which is precisely why it plans to continue to build and sell hybrid vehicles for the foreseeable future. Now, new data from S&P Global Mobility also shows that both retail and fleet buyers keep coming back to hybrids as well, adding even more credibility to this ongoing trend.
While much of the press these days is dedicated to EVs, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles continue to prove incredibly popular among buyers. In fact, this past August, hybrids accounted for 9.7 percent of total registrations in the U.S. market, which is nearly triple its pre-pandemic share. Counting only retail registrations and not fleets, hybrids have accounted for more than 10 percent of the market in two of the past three months, too.
On top of that, S&P also found that an increasing number of ICE owners are choosing hybrids when it comes time to buy their next vehicle, growing by 3.4 percentage points or 61 percent over the past year. Once those customers go hybrid, they aren’t quite as likely to go back to a strict ICE vehicle either – hybrid loyalty hit 40.1 percent in August, which is its highest level since May 2021 and an increase of 8.5 percentage points or 27 percent versus a year ago.
A sizable chunk of hybrid sales growth comes from commercial fleets, as 13.3 percent of total hybrid registrations came from that segment in the time period between January and August 2023, and 14.2 percent in July alone – the highest such rate in over three years. In that regard, Ford has a strong position, ranking as the fifth most popular hybrid brand among shoppers through August, with multiple models ranking among the top in terms of fleet registrations, too.
We’ll have more on the future of Ford hybrids soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.
Comments
Yes. Hybrid makes sense for many people. There are still way too many issues with EVs unless you have a very particular use case.
As suggested many, many times on various platforms, hybrids WILL BE the bridge to an 100% EV. So many manufactures were in such a rush to leapfrog this category and go straight to EV platform. Now they’re finding an overstock of EV’s with hybrids holding their own. Some Asian manufacturers made better decisions and haven’t gone all in on EV. Human nature being what it is, plus all of the already well known negatives, perceived or otherwise, to going all in on an EV by the consumer from an ICE system was expecting a little too much, too soon, and the market is now bearing this out. Patience wins the day!
Agree. That is one reason I bought a hybrid Maverick I am not ready to go all in on EVs.
Swell. They have two separate and complex system that can go bad. I won’t keep cars longer than their warranties.
Toyota has made the Prius for almost 30 years and there are many Prius that are 20 years or more still on the road with their original hybrid battery not exactly new. The 1932 Ford with a V-8 was much more complex than a Model T Ford and both held up. The Ford hybrid system is very similar to the Toyota hybrid system and even Ford has been making hybrids for 20 years.
Hybrids make much more sense than EVs.
Bring back the Ford C-Max hybrid. I have 175k miles and may need a new one before the end of the decade.
What the hell is hybrid? A Ford with a Duramax Diesel than runs on gas with a electric motor in there somewhere from woof solar panels backed up by batteries?
I had a 2020 Escape hybrid and was happy with it. Got 41+ mpg for the 3 1/2 years I owned it. Need some bigger so I bought the best of both words a PHEV Santa Fe. Have 935 miles on it and still running on the dealerships gas. Averaging 90+ mpg.
Sadly Ford decided to not listen to consumers and try to ram EVs for $80,000 down the consumer’s throat with the government holding their hand.
As evidenced by the stock price that was a mistake.