Hybrid vehicles earn top spot in driver satisfaction

Hybrid car owners are the happiest drivers in today’s market, boosting overall customer satisfaction with the automotive industry up 1% from last year.

Driving the news: Fresh data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) helps explain why hybrid sales are skyrocketing in 2024 even as more buyers have turned to fully electric options.

• The aggregate consumer satisfaction score for hybrid cars is 82, with the mass market and luxury segments seeing respective scores of 81 and 84.

• That beats the average scores for both gas (80) and fully electric (77) cars. EV ratings were dragged down by the mass market models, which scored 73 on the index compared to 80 for luxury entries.

Zooming in: Consumers’ preference for hybrids is being driven by a few different factors.

• Drivers don’t want to worry about recharging their vehicles or running out of power on long-distance trips. This makes hybrids a more viable option for those without convenient access to chargers.

• While EVs are more cost-efficient over their lifespan than ICE or hybrid models, sticker shock and the added expense of charger installations deter many would-be buyers.

• Repair and maintenance are much more expensive for EVs than for hybrid and gas vehicles. The added costs often push insurance premiums higher for electric car owners as well.

Zooming out: Even though hybrids take the crown for customer satisfaction, scores for the broader car industry also saw a small but noteworthy increase, especially for smaller brands.

• Although the luxury and mass-market segments saw little to no change from last year, ratings for smaller brands jumped 7%, bumping the industry average up one point.

• While it would be reasonable to expect Toyota’s score to improve given its success with hybrids, it actually declined this year by one point. That leaves it tied with Subaru for first place in the mass-market segment, followed by Honda, Mazda, and Buick.

• Stellantis brands remain at the bottom of the list, reflecting the company’s troubles over the last year. That said, Ram and Jeep still saw respective score increases of 4% and 1%.

Big picture: In response to the success of hybrids, manufacturers are starting to prioritize them over fully electric models.

• In May, Ford CEO Jim Farley revealed that roughly a quarter of all new F-series pickups are being manufactured with hybrid powertrains. Comparatively, production of the fully-electric F-150 Lightning has been cut multiple times between 2023 and 2024.

• While Toyota has always been hesitant to adopt EVs, it has fully embraced hybrids. In comments to Reuters, executives at the company hinted that the brand may shift to a hybrid-only strategy for its lineups, ending ICE-only production.

Bottom line: With eco-friendly models taking the market by storm, it will be interesting to see which brands shift focus to hybrids and which ones continue to bet on fully electric cars. For legacy automakers that decide to tough out the EV market’s current struggles, boosting satisfaction will be critical for capturing market share.

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