If Lower Fuel Costs are Dissuading Hybrid Buyers, What Should Lexus Do?

By adpock - June 5, 2015

Lexus_LS_Hybrid_concept_car

For most of us outside the crazy state of California, fuel prices have come down significantly since 2012. Back then, with such high gas prices, hybrids were all the rage, remember? Well, now that prices have dropped, has interest in the hybrid dropped as well?

Well, it seems the answer is yes, according to the New York Times, based upon research provided by Edmunds.

“In all, 55 percent of hybrid and electric vehicle owners are defecting to a gasoline-only model at trade-in time — the lowest level of hybrid loyalty since Edmunds.com began tracking such transactions in 2011.”

Uh oh, there’s dissention in the hybrid ranks.

Obviously, as a leader in both hybrid tech and hybrid sales, Lexus has a vested interest in such data. If the trend continues, does Lexus diverge from their current course?

Personally speaking, I hope not. Regardless of the price of oil, we can’t afford to keep relying on it as our main energy source, not just in vehicles, but in everything that needs juice. It’s unsustainable. That’s not news. But Lexus has been right there, since before it was news, to lead the industry away from such a model.

However, realistically, without the advantage of savings at the pump, the extra costs for a hybrid become bad business. Especially if it means sacrificing power. We really like power.

But if Lexus can focus on making hybrids that are just plain fun to drive, then they should be all good.

The concern, as noted by Club Lexus forum member ericsan13, is that Lexus is not delivering the necessary power. At least not in the RX, the brand’s most import vehicle.

“The 450h no longer has a HP advantage over the 350 in 2016. This means that buying hybrid will mean buying the slower SUV,” notes ericsan13, in the thread he started about the NYT article.

Such sentiment has kicked off quite the interesting discussion. Indeed, there’s much more to be said about such findings, in both the article and the thread. So get to it, and let us know what you think.