Americans are rushing to buy hybrid cars. They’re turning to Asian brands to do so

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All it took was $4 a gallon gas to make Americans embrace hybrid cars. But with limited offerings from the big Detroit automakers, people are turning to their Asian rivals in droves.

Korean automaker Hyundai reported Thursday that hybrid sales rose 39% in the third quarter, while Kia’s hybrid sales more than doubled, rising 152% percent. Japanese automakers also reported exceptionally strong hybrid sales in the quarter, with Toyota sales 29% and Honda up 21%.

Gas prices have soared since the start of the war with Iran in late February. American car buyers are now seeking out more fuel-efficient cars, like hybrids. But unlike their Japanese and Korean counterparts, most American automakers sell very few hybrid vehicle lines.

“It just stresses how important it is to have the right product at the right time, but you can’t predict that nearly as well as you would like,” said Ivan Drury, director of insights at car buying site Edmunds.

Sales of pure electric vehicles, however, have fallen sharply over the past year. They are more expensive than gasoline-powered cars, even more so following the end of a $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers last September. Tesla, the nation’s largest EV maker, reported Friday that third quarter sales fell 2% from a year ago. EV sales were off across the industry.

But hybrids, which use a combination of gas engines and electric motors, are much more affordable.

“I think that this is one of the most clear-cut examples of how consumers are going to find that going with a hybrid is going to fulfill their needs far more conveniently, and at the lower price point than an EV,” said Drury.

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The sales boost from hybrids nearly allowed Korean automakers to overtake Ford in US sales for the first time ever. Hyundai and Kia posted combined sales of 506,200, rising 5.4% from a year ago. Ford, the third largest American automaker by volume, saw its sales fall 6.6% to 509,764, according to figures from the company Friday. (Because Hyundai owns a significant stake in Kia, most analysts count them together when ranking sales.)

Ford lost its title as the second largest US automaker to Japan’s Toyota in 2007, part of a decades-long trend of Americans ditching the Big Three Detroit companies – Ford, General Motors and Jeep and Chrysler-maker Stellantis – for Asian automakers. Asian brands first make significant inroads into the US market during the oil price shock 50 years ago, and were clearly helped by the latest gasoline price spike.

Asian automakers sold more than half of all the new cars during the quarter, according to Cox Automotive. US companies clocked a record-low share.

“With the (Detroit automakers) having limited hybrid powertrain options and few passenger car offerings, this trend seems likely to continue,” said Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist for Cox Automotive.

For decades, Detroit ’ s Big Three like Ford have discontinued lines of fuel-efficient sedans and smaller cars to produce large SUVs and trucks with higher profit margins. And before the war in Iran, American shoppers had no problems buying larger, fuel-hungry vehicles.

But as the national average surges above $4 per gallon, Americans are giving new attention to fuel efficiency when car shopping. And American companies have few options.

Ford only has one hybrid midsize pickup, the Maverick, and discontinued its hybrid Escape SUV. Sales of all versions of the Escape were down 85% as its supplies of the car on dealers’ lots dwindled. GM has only one hybrid model, which is a version of its niche Corvette sports car. Stellantis announced in January it was phasing out its plug-in hybrid models in North America with the 2026 model year. While both Ford and GM plan more hybrid models in coming years, it takes time to change course.

The sales results come just days after the Trump administration announced new, less stringent fuel efficiency requirements for automakers.

That may save the Detroit automakers money in terms of fines if they miss mileage targets. But a lack of fuel-efficient models, like hybrids, can hurt long-term growth if buyers go elsewhere, Drury said.

“The momentum that the Big Three have given up is tremendous,” he said. “Repeat purchases is the lifeblood of automotive industry. If you lose somebody, clawing them back is the hardest thing you can do.”

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仅仅因为汽油价格涨到了每加仑4美元，美国人就纷纷接受了混合动力汽车。但由于底特律大型汽车制造商提供的混合动力汽车种类有限，人们正成群结队地转向亚洲竞争对手。

韩国汽车制造商现代汽车周四公布，第三季度混合动力汽车销量增长39%，而起亚汽车的混合动力汽车销量更是翻了一番多，增幅高达152%。日本汽车制造商也报告称，第三季度混合动力汽车销量表现异常强劲，丰田汽车销量增长29%，本田汽车销量增长21%。

自2月底伊朗战争爆发以来，汽油价格飙升。美国购车者现在都在寻找更节能的汽车，例如混合动力汽车。但与日本和韩国的同行不同，大多数美国汽车制造商销售的混合动力车型非常少。

“这恰恰强调了在合适的时间推出合适的产品是多么重要，但你无法像你希望的那样准确地预测这一点，”汽车购买网站 Edmunds 的洞察总监 Ivan Drury 说。

然而，纯电动汽车的销量在过去一年里大幅下滑。它们比汽油动力汽车更贵，尤其是在去年9月电动汽车购车者7500美元税收抵免政策结束后，价格差距更加明显。美国最大的电动汽车制造商特斯拉周五公布，第三季度销量同比下降2%。整个电动汽车行业的销量都出现了下滑。

但是，采用汽油发动机和电动机组合的混合动力汽车价格要实惠得多。

德鲁里说：“我认为这是最清楚地表明消费者会发现，选择混合动力汽车比选择电动汽车更方便地满足他们的需求，而且价格也更低。”

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混合动力车的销量增长几乎使韩国汽车制造商在美国的销量首次超越福特。现代和起亚的合计销量为506,200辆，同比增长5.4%。福特是美国销量第三大的汽车制造商，根据该公司周五公布的数据，其销量下降了6.6%，至509,764辆。（由于现代持有起亚的大量股份，大多数分析师在对销量进行排名时会将两家公司的销量合并计算。）

2007年，福特失去了美国第二大汽车制造商的地位，被日本丰田超越。这延续了数十年来美国人放弃底特律三大汽车公司——福特、通用汽车以及吉普和克莱斯勒的制造商斯特兰蒂斯——转而选择亚洲汽车制造商的趋势。亚洲品牌在50年前的石油危机期间首次大规模打入美国市场，而最近的汽油价格飙升显然也助推了这一趋势。

据考克斯汽车公司的数据显示，亚洲汽车制造商在本季度售出了超过一半的新车。美国公司的市场份额则创历史新低。

“由于（底特律汽车制造商）的混合动力系统选择有限，乘用车产品也很少，这种趋势似乎可能会继续下去，”Cox Automotive 的高级经济学家 Charlie Chesbrough 表示。

几十年来，底特律三大汽车巨头（如福特）为了生产利润更高的大型SUV和卡车，已经停产了燃油效率高的轿车和小型车。在伊朗战争爆发之前，美国消费者购买大型、耗油量大的汽车并没有什么问题。

但随着全国平均油价飙升至每加仑4美元以上，美国人在购车时越来越关注燃油效率。而美国汽车公司别无选择。

福特目前仅有一款混合动力中型皮卡——Maverick，并已停产其混合动力SUV Escape。由于经销商库存锐减，Escape所有版本的销量均下降了85%。通用汽车也仅有一款混合动力车型，即其小众跑车Corvette的混合动力版本。Stellantis于今年1月宣布，将从2026款车型开始逐步淘汰其在北美的插电式混合动力车型。尽管福特和通用都计划在未来几年推出更多混合动力车型，但改变策略需要时间。

就在特朗普政府宣布对汽车制造商实施新的、较为宽松的燃油效率要求几天后，销售业绩便公布了。

如果底特律的汽车制造商未能达到燃油效率目标，这或许能帮他们省下不少罚款。但德鲁里表示，如果消费者转向其他品牌，缺乏像混合动力车这样燃油效率高的车型可能会损害汽车行业的长期增长。

他说：“三大汽车巨头放弃的势头是巨大的。重复购买是汽车行业的命脉。一旦失去客户，再想把他们拉回来是最难的事情。”