Hybrid Truck Sales to Boom in US, Firm Predicts

The market for hybrid trucks and buses is set for a thousand-fold increase within five years, with more than 300,000 hybrids sold by 2015, Pike Research says.

Hybrid heavy vehicle sales will climb from about 9,000 in 2010 to 100,000 in 2015, according to Pike's June 2 report on hybrid trucks and buses.

The Boulder, Colo.-based company predicts the U.S. will remain the largest market for heavy-duty hybrids, followed closely by China.

Although buses have dominated demand for heavy-duty hybrids, trucks will be increasingly prominent, the clean technology research firm said.

Pike Research forecasts that sales of medium and heavy-duty hybrid trucks will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 63 percent from 2010 to 2015.

Its report covers hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric trucks.

New hybrid designs “hold strong potential to strike a balance between efficiency, cost, and performance,” said Dave Hurst, a senior analyst.

“Everybody is looking at hybrid technology,” said Anthony Greszler, a spokesman for Volvo Powertrain North America, which makes engines for Volvo and Mack Trucks in the U.S.

“There are vocational applications where hybrid trucks can be a huge contributor,” Greszler told The Journal of Commerce, especially urban delivery routes.

--Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.