Auto's & Moto's

Would you buy your car again?

Every year Consumer Reports asks its subscribers if they would buy their car again.

Pretty much every year, the Toyota Prius is one of the top ‘buy again’ vehicles, as it was again this year, coming in at number 5. But the Prius wasn’t the top hybrid on this year’s list.

Coming in at number 2 was the Ford Fusion hybrid.

Perhaps that helps explain why the Prius and the Fusion hybrid are the top two selling hybrid cars in the US?

Fusion hybrid sales up 73 percent

Compared to last year, this year’s November hybrid vehicle auto sales were up 21 percent. Still, total new car market share was only 2.7 percent for hybrid cars.

Almost half of all hybrids sold were Toyota Prius hybrids, and almost three-quarters of all hybrids sold were made by Toyota.

The only real bright spot outside of Toyota was the Ford Fusion hybrid with 2,361 total units sold. For comparison the similarly-sized Toyota Camry hybrid sold 1,465 units. However, the Prius sold 9,617 units.

The UP Lite at the LA Auto Show

There aren’t many details, but it has been reported that an EV version of the UP, based closely on the UP Lite concept version pictured in this post, is coming to the US market. Early word suggests the new EV will be called the Space UP! Blue.

7th Month in a Row

The Toyota Prius is again the best selling vehicle in Japan, as it has been for the last 7 months. In fact, one of every ten vehicles sold in Japan is a Prius. Overall, Toyota sold 26,815 Prius hybrids in November.

The Honda Insight came in at 5th at 9,413 units.

In the last year or so there have been some studies regarding the inability of tax credits to help move hybrid cars. Perhaps that’s the case in Canada, but it certainly isn’t the case in Japan.

For most Americans an increased gas tax is a bridge to nowhere

Congress has plans to spend some $500 billion in road, bridge and transit projects. Unfortunately, current gas taxes are insufficient to fund these projects according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. So, he and others have floated around the idea of an increase in gasoline taxes to fund these projects.

Hence, Rasmussen Reports conducted a national telephone survey to determine if there was support for such a tax increase. 15 percent of Americans said yes. Instead of raising the tax, most respondents would prefer that the government cut back on its transportation projects.