Toyota’s Prius hybrid passed Honda’s Civic and Accord to become the best-selling vehicle line this year in California as higher gasoline prices drove up demand for fuel-efficient cars.
Toyota, the world’s largest seller of gasoline-electric autos, sold 46,380 Prius models to Golden State drivers in the first nine months of the year, the California New Car Dealers Association said in its Auto Outlook report. That vaulted the Prius three levels above last year, when it ranked behind the Civic, Accord and Toyota’s own Camry.
Recovering car and light-truck sales in California, the nation’s largest auto market, are lifting industrywide sales across the U.S.
Registrations through September are up 26 percent in California, exceeding the 14.5 percent increase for U.S. light-vehicle sales, according to the report.
“Gas prices are up 80 cents per gallon in California over the national average,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst for Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, Calif. “That’s really driving up the appeal of hybrids, as well as plug-in vehicles in California.”
Drivers in the state bought 1.25 million new cars and trucks this year through September, according to the report. That would be 11 percent of the U.S. total of 10.9 million. Purchases of Prius models this year in California account for 25 percent of the 183,340 Prius liftbacks, plug-ins, v wagons and c subcompacts sold in the U.S.
Ford Motor Co.’s F-Series pickup trucks are the top-selling vehicle line across the U.S. this year, followed by Camry, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Nationally, Prius is only the 12th best-seller among all vehicle types this year, and seventh by sales volume among car models, according to Autodata figures.
The hybrid, first sold in Japan 1997, hasn’t previously led sales in the state, based on California Auto Outlook reports back through 2006.