May 2015 Dashboard - Hybrid Cars News
com and Baum & Associates, a Michigan-based market research firm focusing on automotive issues including the hybrid and electric vehicle market. Sales for the overall U. S. market in May were strong – in fact they were at the best seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) since July 2005 – and the industry showed continuing improvement from year-ago, as most automakers showed gains. SAAR takes the actual number of sales in a month and annualizes it based on the number of selling days in the month and historical data that compares sales in May of this year to May results in other years. With that fact as a backdrop, all of the alternative vehicle categories had their best month of the year in terms of both volume and share of total sales. As noted, sales for full electric vehicles were up strongly for the month from year-ago due to strong sales from the category leaders, namely the Model S and the Leaf. Tesla had a strong month based on interest in and availability of the Model S “D” varieties, particularly the high-performance P85D. A larger number than normal of total sales were U. S. -based, leading to a strong result. While the Leaf is down so far this year, it had a relatively strong month. Sales are likely to trail the strong results of year-ago for some time, with an updated version expected late this year. Source: www.hybridcars.com
