(July 3, 2024) Customer loyalty to hybrid vehicles reached a record high in the first quarter as demand for electric vehicles continued to wane, according to an Automotive News report. Forty-two percent of hybrid owners who returned to the market in the first quarter purchased another conventional or plug-in hybrid, according to S&P Global Mobility.

Sales of conventional hybrids more than doubled in the quarter compared with a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive. Plug-in hybrid sales rose 59 percent. Together, they made up about 11 percent of light-vehicle sales, a record high, Cox said.

Hybrid growth contrasts tepid EV demand. EV share was relatively flat at 7.2 percent in the first quarter, compared with 7.3 percent in the first quarter of 2023, according to Cox estimates.

While hybrid consumers keep coming back, EV buyers are looking elsewhere. More than 40 percent of U.S. EV owners said they want to go back to internal combustion engines gasoline-powered vehicles, according to a McKinsey study. Inadequate public charging infrastructure was a primary reason.

This was the seventh consecutive quarter that hybrid loyalty increased.

Source: Automotive News