Reuters: Sales of hybrid vehicles in the United States hit a record high, with Toyota and Honda ranking in the top two

Jiwei network news, on January 6, local time, according to Reuters reported that when pure electric vehicles are becoming all the headlines, hybrid vehicles quietly achieved record sales in the United States last year.

While companies such as Tesla and Ford are pushing for electric vehicle sales, Asian automakers are also pushing for the expansion of hybrid vehicles. That's because many users are still abandoning electric vehicles because of higher prices, limited mileage or lack of charging stations.

According to analyst firm Wards Intelligence, sales of hybrid vehicles in the U.S. surged 76 percent last year to 801,550 units, accounting for 5 percent of U.S. light vehicle sales.

Meanwhile, sales of electric vehicles soared 83 percent to 434879, but accounted for only 3 percent of the market.

Among them, benefiting from the new high sales of hybrid vehicles in the US market, Toyota Motor surpassed General Motors in one fell swoop to become the highest-selling automaker in the United States.

Specifically, Toyota's sales of hybrids, plug-in vehicles and fuel cell vehicles increased by 73 percent to 583697, most of them from hybrids. But due to the risk of battery fire, GM has sold fewer than 25,000 electric vehicles.

"Hybrids offer a very practical combination of fuel economy without some of the huge drawbacks of electric vehicles." Brett Smith, technical director of the Automotive Research Center, said.

Pure electric vehicles operate solely on electricity and require charging infrastructure, while hybrid electric vehicles combine traditional internal combustion engines with electric propulsion systems.

Honda Motors, the second-largest hybrid car seller in the United States, also saw its hybrid vehicle sales rise 67 percent last year from 2020 to a record 107,060 units.

Dave Gardner, executive vice president of Honda Motor, said, "We want to significantly increase the sales of hybrids of our core products CR-V and Accord in the coming years to prepare for our all-electric vehicles. "

Honda plans to launch its first electric vehicle in the U.S. market in 2024 and expects the market to take off thanks to a range of new models launched by automakers and policy support from the U.S. government.

"It's just a matter of time, but I think it will take a while for consumer acceptance to catch up." Gardner said.

In addition, Jose Munoz, Hyundai Motor's global chief operating officer, said the company sees hybrids and plug-in hybrids as "boosters" that help accelerate sales of pure electric vehicles.

"Some of our competitors have gone straight into the pure electric vehicle space, but we still see many consumers hesitant when considering getting started with pure electric vehicles." He said. (Proofreading/Hidden Drei)