They're not too worried over at Toyota Motor Corp., the world's leader in sales of gas-electric cars and trucks, but Honda Motor Co. says that global sales of its hybrids have now topped the 300,000 mark.
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Civic hybrid is Honda's top-selling gas-electric model now...
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Honda began marketing hybrids in 1999 in Japan and the U.S. with the now discontinued two-seat Insight, beefed up its offerings in 2001 with a hybrid Civic and briefly added an Accord sedan to the lineup from 2004 through mid-2007.
The company said in a brief announcement today that it had sold 300,740 hybrid models around the world through Jan. 31.
Of the total, 234,252, or almost 78 percent, were sold in North America, with the U.S. market accounting for most of those sales.
...but expects the 2010 Insight to quickly overtake Civic as its leading hybrid model.
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Global sales of the new Insight are expected to top 200,000 a year, with half the total gobbled up by North American buyers.
The 2010 Insight already has gone on sale in Japan, where 5,000 orders in the first week outstripped Honda's expectations for the entire month.
The new hybrid goes on sale in the U.S. in April.
Worldwide, Honda's hybrid sales include 255,246 Civics, 28,471 Accords and 17,020 original Insights.
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