by Peter Lampros

Created on: September 15, 2009   Last Updated: September 16, 2009

Hybrid vehicles, on the whole, demand a higher resale value than their similarly equipped counterparts. This is due to the ever-increasing demand for the most fuel efficient vehicles possible. It should be noted, however, that not all hybrids are cut from the same cloth; some are "mild" hybrids or electric assisted gas engines, while Toyota continues to produce a full hybrid system in their Prius, Camry, and Highlander models.

The resale value of hybrid vehicles are, as every type of commodity, directly proportional to demand and inversely proportional to the supply. In our post "Cash for Clunkers" market there is a heightened awareness toward "green" vehicles. There were many hybrids sold during the Cash for Clunkers campaign, which reduced supplies, while the demand continues to be high.

Hybrid vehicles are technologically advanced, which, in and of itself, trends toward more value and therefore, a higher price. The ever fluctuating price of gasoline keeps the market continuously stimulated. At this point, even a reduction in the price of gasoline is almost a harbinger of higher future prices, as was the case in 2007 and 2008. The apprehension associated with the perception of painful prices at the pump fuel the demand for hybrid vehicles.

Additionally, hybrid vehicles have only been available in the United States for the past ten years. Thus, the available pool of vehicles to meet the demand is smaller than that of conventional vehicles.

Hybrid vehicles, when sold new are seldom, if ever, discounted and never have rebates or incentives applied to them. The lack of incentives on new vehicles all but guarantees a higher resale value.

As we begin to recover from the latest recession, hybrid vehicles will continue to be a high demand item. Those who are enjoying their hybrids now, barring potential and actual problems with American brand hybrid vehicles, will also enjoy a higher resale value. Those manufacturers whose quality has suffered through the years, bankrupting their companies, will have a tougher time with their resale values, but overall they only account for a small percent of hybrid vehicles available.

The leaders in hybrid technology continue to be Toyota and Honda. Their hybrid vehicles have proven themselves, like their other high quality vehicles, over the years since being introduced in the United States. Their conventional vehicles demand a higher resale value than their competitors and the hybrids are higher still. The magazine Consumer Reports has included the Toyota Prius in its top ten vehicles for the bettter part of the past ten years. It also lists the Prius, the other Toyota hybrids, and the Honda hybrids, on its list of best buy used vehicles.

Supply and demand, influenced by real and artificial stimulus virtually assure that hybrid vehicles will continue to have higher resale values in the future.

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