In 2024, Japan remains the first market for Full-HEVs
- While Japan remains reluctant about battery electric vehicles (BEV = 1.5% of the market over 5 months 2024) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV = 1.9% of the market over 5 months 2024), it remains the country with the highest demand for full hybrids (Full-HEV = 33.5% of the market over 5 months 2024), thanks mainly to Toyota and its premium subsidiary Lexus.
- More than half of Toyota and Lexus sales in Japan are equipped with full-hybrid powertrains, which seems logical insofar as Toyota was the pioneer of this technology combining gasoline and electric powertrains, the first Toyota Prius having been launched in 1997.
- On the Japanese market, the full-hybrid powertrain seems to be crushing all other alternative powertrains, such as battery electric, plug-in hybrid or even fuel cell. As a result, Japan is crushing all the other major world markets with this type of powertrain (which has reached between 30% and 35% of the Japanese market since 2023, compared with 25% to 30% in the previous two years), while sales of full-hybrids in Europe and the USA have yet to reach 10% market share, although they have been rising steadily since 2018.
- The most hostile major market for this type of powertrain is China, where sales of full-hybrid cars don't even reach 5% market share, with Chinese customers opting instead for plug-in hybrid powertrains, whose influence continues to grow, with a market share gradually approaching 20% of the Chinese market by 2024.