Hybrid car sales to jump 7.6-fold in 12 yrs: research

I / Tokyo May 9, 2009, 13:41 IST

The global sales of hybrid motor vehicles will have a 7.6-fold jump to 3.75 million units within 12-years, a research institute study has pointed.     

On the other hand, the sales of electric vehicles will see a downturn and will be limited to 135,000 units till 2020, the research added.      As the distance the vehicles can travel per recharge is relatively limited and construction of a necessary network of recharging facilities is unlikely to make substantial progress, electric vehicles will see a downturn , Fuji Keizai Co said.     

According to the institute the hybrid car sales in North America will be around 1.85 million units, six times higher than 2008, while in Japan sales will amount to 800,000 units, up sevenfold.     

European sales in 2020 will likely jump 12-fold to 800,000 units, it said. Since Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co are funneling development resources into efforts to offer affordable hybrids, leading their rivals to scramble to release their own hybrid models, price differences between hybrids and gasoline engine vehicles will likely shrink, it said.     

The shrinkage will in turn encourage consumers to replace existing vehicles with hybrids, the institute added. The surge will contrast with the slow pace of increase in electric vehicles' global sales, which the institute projects at 3,000 units next year and 39,000 units till 2015.