Automotive News - February 11, 2008 - (Page 16) 16 • FEBRUARY 11, 2008 ADVERTISING STAFF Hybrids: A curiosity, not a phenomenon They have 2% of U.S. market; thus 98% reject them John K. Teahen Jr. Hybrids. That’s all I hear anymore. Newspapers, TV, magazines, radio. You name it. They’re all full of hybrids. We’re led to believe that hybrids are the greatest automotive development since Boss Ket’s self-starter or General Motors’ automatic transmission. Sorry, but I ain’t buying — at least not yet. For the most part, hybrids are itty-bitty cars, and I don’t care for itty-bitty cars. I drive a Lincoln, and I will continue driving Lincolns and Cadillacs as long as the state of Michigan will permit me to roam its roads. Yes, I know, Lexus has a hybrid, but it’s not for me. You see, my family has been involved in the American auto industry since 1907 (that’s nineteeno-seven) when my Dad went to work for Barney Everitt. Dad died in 1956, but if I ever bought a foreign car, I’m sure he would return under cover of night and slash the tires. With the 35-mpg CAFE in place for 2020, I may have to join the hybrid band someday. But maybe by that time, the brands I prefer will be among the gasoline-electric marvels. How now, hybrids? U.S. hybrid sales of reporting brands CARS 2007 sales % change from 2006 Circulation 313-446-0450 Advertising 313-446-6790 Classified Advertising 313-446-6065, 800-388-1800 E-mail lschlagheck@crain.com Web site www.autonews.com ADVERTISING AND SALES DETROIT 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2997 313-446-6790 Fax: 313-446-8030 Larry Schlagheck, Advertising Director lschlagheck@crain.com, 313-446-6790 Rick Greer, rgreer@crain.com 313-446-6050 Kathleen C. Lightbody, klightbody@crain.com, 313-446-6037 Russ Procassini, rprocassini@crain.com 313-446-0350 Karen Rentschler, krentschler@crain.com 313-446-6058 Jerry Salame, jsalame@crain.com 313-446-0481 Regional Sales Managers Bryan Foster, Marketing Director bfoster@crain.com, 313-446-6013 Ellen Dennehy Director of Relationship Marketing edennehy@crain.com, 313-446-6039 Cheryl Rothe, Marketing Manager crothe@crain.com, 313-446-6767 Lance Graves, Promotion Art Director lgraves@crain.com, 313-446-0469 Brandi Johnson, Marketing Coordinator bnjohnson@crain.com, 313-446-0326 Marie Hingst Classified Advertising Manager mhingst@crain.com, 313-446-6065 Dolores Lanivich, Denise Hendricks Classified Advertising Sales LOS ANGELES Justus Breese jbreese@crain.com, 323-370-2446 Pacific Region Sales Manager Lauren Ford, lford@crain.com 323-370-2447 Todd Landau, tlandau@crain.com 323-370-2466 Regional Sales Managers 6500 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048-4947 Fax: 323-655-8157 NEW YORK Scott Ghedine sghedine@crain.com, 212-210-0126 Henry Woodhouse hwoodhouse@crain.com, 212-210-0125 Regional Sales Managers 711 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017-4036 Fax: 212-210-0489 CHICAGO Jim Farnan, Regional Sales Manager jfarnan@crain.com, 312-649-5257 360 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60601-3806 Fax: 312-649-5265 Toyota Prius Toyota Camry Honda Civic Honda Accord Lexus GS 450h Lexus LS 600h Honda FCX Honda Insight Total cars 181,221 54,492 32,575 3,405 1,645 1,049 10 3 274,400 22,052 21,386 17,291 3,722 64,451 338,851 69.4 73.9 4.2 –39.2 –7.8 – 66.7 –99.6 54.4 –30.0 10.4 –14.2 – –13.1 34.5 Hybrid cars and trucks accounted for 10.6 percent of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.’s sales last year. A 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is pictured. TRUCKS salestales John K. Teahen Jr. is senior editor of Automotive News. that occurs, the answer is generally not very darn many. General Motors is the holdout. GM lists hybrids for the Chevrolet Malibu and the Saturn Aura on the car side and for the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Saturn Vue on the truck side, but the General says nary a word about how many move off the lots. The only hybrids for which sales numbers are available are the Honda Civic Hybrid and Accord Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid and Prius and the Lexus GS 450h and LS 600h cars, and the Ford Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, Lexus RX 400h and Toyota Highlander Hybrid trucks. They did well last year. Well for hybrids, that is, but they were a mighty puny part of the overall sales mix. Sales of the reporting nameplates totaled 338,851 last year, an increase of 34.5 percent over 2006. But those 338,851 sales were an almost-invisible 2.1 percent of the new cars and light trucks sold in this country. Obviously, 98 percent of new-car and truck buyers are as keen about hybrids as I am. Toyota Highlander Ford Escape Lexus RX 400h Mercury Mariner Total trucks Total cars, trucks Source: Automotive News Data Center Prius stands out The Prius posted the only significant total: 181,221 sales, 53.5 percent of the hybrids but only 1.1 percent of overall sales. Hybrids picked up a respectable share of deliveries for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. The Prius, Camry and Highlander and the Lexus models accounted for 10.6 percent of the company’s sales. Hybrids scored 2.6 percent for American Honda Motor Co. GM won’t say a word I wish I could write about how many hybrids are sold in the United States, but that isn’t possible because several of the purveyors refuse to disclose how many they purvey. When So I’m not too excited about the green machines: lots of talk but darn little action. As I have told electric-car fanatics, when you get one that goes 300 miles between charges with the air conditioning and other accessories going full blast, driving uphill and fighting a Los Angeles freeway jam, come and see me. Until then, I’m not interested. The same general rule holds for hybrids. Knock on my door when there’s a good selection of comfortable, fully equipped upscale models and a market share of, let’s say, 8 to 10 percent. Until then, I’ll continue to think of them as toys or novelties. You can e-mail John K. Teahen Jr. at jteahen@crain.com Shelby yanks Shelby club’s license Kathy Jackson kjackson@crain.com CONFERENCES Libby Irwin, Conference Director lirwin@crain.com, 313-446-0420 Shauna Vercher-Morrow Special Events Manager svercher-morrow@crain.com, 313-446-0485 WWW.AUTONEWS.COM John Fitzgerald, Director of Business Planning and Online Commerce jfitzgerald@crain.com, 313-446-1679 LOS ANGELES — Carroll Shelby has terminated his company’s licensing agreement with the Shelby American Automobile Club. The 85-year-old car builder and former race driver has demanded that the club turn over its financial statements and all Shelby-related merchandise. The 5,000-member organization keeps records on Shelby cars and verifies their authenticity. “They’ve made hundreds of thousands of dollars from my memorabilia and have never shared the financials,” Shelby says. “I want the registrations and records under my control.” The club filed a lawsuit on Jan. 28 in U.S. District Court in Boston asking that it not be forced to turn over documents to Shelby. Carroll Shelby’s lawyers fired back with a lawsuit on Jan. 29 in the Superior Court in Los Angeles County, demanding all documents. On Jan. 31, Shelby ended the licensing agreement. The 33-year-old organization has been licensed by Shelby since 1999. Rick Kopec, the club director, says Shelby can have the license back but says all documents belong to the organization, adding: “Shelby’s problem is that he can’t control us.” c CIRCULATION subs@crain.com 888-446-1422 (U.S. & Canada) 313-446-1662 (all other locations) Fax: 313-446-6777 To subscribe via the Web www.autonews.com/subscribe.htm Patrick Sheposh, Circulation Director Lauren Cialella, Circulation Manager Jennifer Natone, Circulation Coordinator Subscriptions U.S. 1 year, $155; 2 years, $266. Canada $239 (U.S.); other countries, $395. Single copy sales, $5 per issue plus shipping. Reprints Kristi Fulkerson, The YGS Group, 800-494-9051, Ext. 144 kristi.fulkerson@theygsgroup.com Microfilm ProQuest Information and Learning Co. 800-521-0600 PRODUCTION Terry Driscoll, Production Manager tdriscoll@crain.com, 313-446-6062 Larry Williams, Production Supervisor AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE www.autonewseurope.com Jason Stein, Publisher jstein@craincom.de/+49-8153-907522 Nina Sauer, Sales and Marketing Director nsauer@craincom.de/+49-6992-884646 AUTOMOBILWOCHE www.automobilwoche.de Helmut Kluger, Publisher hkluger@craincom.de/+49-8153-907402 Thomas Heringer Sales and Marketing Director theringer@craincom.de/+49-8153-907404 http://www.autonews.com http://www.mudd.com http://WWW.AUTONEWS.COM http://www.autonews.com/subscribe.htm http://www.mudd.com http://www.autonewseurope.com http://www.yourchevyagency.com http://www.automobilwoche.de
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.