Despite the fact that China and Europe are the markets with the highest sales of hybrid cars in the world, in recent years, Latin America has shown an increase in the preference for green technologies in the automotive sector, so much so that in Mexico it has doubled its participation in marketing.
Until September 2021, the automotive industry sold 33,245 hybrid vehicles, representing an increase of 126% compared to the January-September 2020 period, when 14,678 units were placed, according to data from the Automotive Industry provided by Inegi.
This means that the sales participation went from 2.21% to 4.39%, in just one year, derived from the fact that the hybrid units presented an increase of 40% in the purchase intention and of almost 50% in the demand, according to a study by Mercado Libre. In the top 5 of the most sought-after hybrids in Mexico during this 2021, it is headed by the Toyota Prius, followed by the Jeep Wrangler, the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, RAM 1500 and the fifth place is held by another Toyota, the RAV4.
In this way, Toyota is positioned as the brand with the highest sales of hybrids in Mexico, because during the first nine months of 2021, it placed 21,000 cars with electrified technology, of the 33,245 sold by the industry, which is already considered the best year in commercialization for the Japanese.
According to Guillermo Díaz, Vice President of Operations of Toyota Motor Sales de México, the goal of hybrids sales by the Japanese company for 2022 will be 25% of the 90,000 units that they intend to place in the Mexican market, to continue leading electrification.
However, worldwide, Toyota’s commitment is to electrification, where it is already building a battery plant in the United States to meet the demand for this type of units. In the case of Mexico, the preference for this type of unit is incipient, since it only represents 0.07% of total vehicle sales in the country. From January to September 2021, 503 electric units of the 281 cars reported in 2020 have been sold, which implies an increase of 79%. The automotive industry has reported that there is no infrastructure or incentives in Mexico to accelerate the pace of electricity demand.
