Ford, Toyota to Lead Plug-In EV Sales in U.S.

Ford and Toyota will dominate the American market for plug-in electric vehicles through 2020, predicts Boulder, Colo.-based Pike Research.

The firm's Plug-in Electric Vehicles report forecasts that Ford will be the only carmaker to sell more than 400,000 plug-ins in the U.S. between now and the end of the decade. The carmaker was relatively slow to enter the market but has since announced ambitious plans for the sector, Pike notes.

Nissan will trail Ford, Toyota and General Motors by a "significant" margin in spite of the Japanese company's big marketing effort to promote its Leaf electric sedan, according to the report.

Pike expects plug-ins will outsell regular electric vehicles in the U.S. But it says the reverse will be true in Europe and Asia, at least through 2020. Carmakers everywhere are introducing plug-in technology at a "very measured pace" and are sharply focused on regional differences in demand, the firm observes.

Plug-in vehicle sales in the U.S. will total only about 48,000 units this year, but that volume is greater than any other national market, the report says. Pike expects the U.S. to maintain its lead at least into the first part of the next decade.