What used to take Ford a year now takes less than five months. The automaker continues to expand its stable of hybrid-electric and plug-in vehicle models, and that’s one reason why the company is about to pass its previous annual hybrid-sales record this month, Bloomberg News says.
Through the first four months of the year, Ford’s advanced-powertrain sales increased almost fivefold to more than 30,000 units, including plug-ins. To compare, Ford’s previous company record was 35,496 hybrids sold in all of 2010. Ford is benefiting from a broader offering of advanced-powertrain vehicles, and its newer C-Max Hybrid has done particularly well, moving 11,708 vehicles through April. The revamped Fusion Hybrid has sold almost 14,000 units.
The company also appears to be eating into Toyota’s market leadership. The Japanese automaker, which still accounts for almost 60 percent of US hybrids, sold 19,889 vehicles last month across its four Prius variants, down 21 percent from a year earlier.
