Toyota Hybrid Sales Flat In 2014, Honda Up By More Than Half Globally

With U.S. gas prices having fallen 40 percent over six months, fuel efficiency may be less important to car buyers than it was when gasoline cost $4 a gallon.

Meanwhile, smaller crossover utility vehicles are supplanting sedans and hatchbacks in more and more driveways.

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Added to an aging lineup of Prius models, those two factors may explain why Toyota's global sales of hybrid-electric vehicles actually fell 1 percent in 2014, to 1.27 million compared to 1.28 million the year before.

Toyota is by far the world's largest producer of hybrid cars; it pioneered the technology in 1997 with the first Prius (sold only in Japan until 2000) and has now sold more than 7 million hybrids over 18 years.

The mainstay Prius Liftback was launched early in 2009 as a 2010 model, and remains almost unchanged. It is expected to be replaced with an all-new model late this year, using the next generation of Hybrid Synergy Drive.

Toyota added three additional members to the Prius family in 2012: a plug-in hybrid version of the Liftback, the Prius C subcompact hatchback, and the Prius V wagon.

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But while Toyota's 2014 hybrid sales were essentially flat, as reported last week by industry trade journal Ward's Auto, those of the second-largest producer soared.