Edmunds.com Forecasts 2010 Automotive Trends

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--Edmunds.com, a resource for automotive information, forecasts that in 2010, approximately 11.5 million cars and light trucks will be sold in the United States.

The industry is currently on track to sell approximately 10.3 million cars and light trucks this year.

“Most car shoppers will focus on value and fuel economy as the economy continues to recover,” stated Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. “It has already become trendy to make sensible choices, and we expect that this will be a theme for 2010 sales.”

Edmunds.com analysts predict that about 3.2 percent of 2010 sales will be hybrids, about 2.2 percent will be diesel and less than one percent will be electric.

In 2009, hybrid market share will be approximately 2.8 percent. Edmunds.com anticipates a continued increase at the rate of about half a percentage per year for the foreseeable future.

In 2009, diesel market share will be approximately 2.1 percent of sales. In the past decade diesel’s highest market share, 4.1 percent, was reached in 2006.

“Given historical alternative fuel trends, the ‘early adopters’ will boost electric car market share upon launch, but it will take some time before significant market share builds for the segment,” commented Edmunds.com Senior Statistician Zhenwei Zhou, PhD.

About Edmunds Inc. (http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/)

Edmunds Inc. publishes four Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its most popular feature, the Edmunds.com True Market Value^®, is relied upon by millions of people seeking current transaction prices for new and used vehicles. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal and was rated "#1" in Keynote's study of third-party automotive Web sites. Inside Line launched in 2005 and is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. CarSpace launched in 2006 and is an automotive social networking Web site and home to the oldest and most established automotive community. AutoObserver.com launched in 2007 and provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.