U.S. Sales of Electrified Vehicles Up 6%

Sales of electrified vehicles grew 6% last year to more than 477,000 units, Autoblog.com reports.

The increase was caused by a 23% gain for plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles to a combined 168,000 cars and trucks. Sales for conventional hybrids, which account for nearly two-thirds of the U.S. green car market, slid 2% last year to 309,300 units—including a 16% year-over-year drop in December.

The hybrid drop-off was most notable for market leader Toyota/Lexus, which saw a 9% decline in “green” car sales to 225,800 units. The combined volume of the company’s three Prius hybrid variants—excluding the plug-in Prius—fell by more than one-third from 2016 levels.

General Motors’ hybrid/EV sales in the U.S. jumped 46% last year to nearly 50,000 units. The increase was led by the launch of the Chevrolet Bolt EV, which tallied more than 23,000 units in its first full year on the market.

Ford posted a 20% gain to 93,000 electrified vehicles, while Honda’s volume more than doubled to some 27,000 green cars. Tesla’s sales were up 17% to 56,000 units.

Carmakers reporting sagging demand for hybrids and electrics in 2017 are Audi (-33%), BMW (-27%), Nissan (-20%) and Daimler’s Smart unit (-14%). Nissan predicts a rebound this year because of its redesigned Leaf EV, which was launched late last year.