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By John O'Dell, Senior Editor No surprise, hybrid sales in January went down the drain along with the rest of the industry. The gas-electric cars, pricier than their conventional counterparts, typically don't do well when gas prices are cheapish, as they are these days. ---------- Lexus RX 400h was one of only two hybrids to post a gain over January '08 sales. ---------- Add in a recession teetering on the edge of depression and the picture is grimmer. Piling on, Toyota and Honda -- the industry's hybrid sales leaders -- have new models coming out in a few months, a situation that doesn't do much to promote sales of models that are soon to be outdated. The only good news is that, as a percentage of an overall abysmal market, hybrids gained in January, rising to a 2.33 percent market share from 1.97 percent in December and 2.14 percent a year earlier. In terms of market share, January was the seventh-best month for hybrids since the first model went on sale in the U.S. in 1999. Good market share in a bad market isn't much to cheer about, though. In terms of sales volume, January was the worst month for hybrids in almost three years. Total sales of 15,393 hybrid cars and SUVs were down 12.8 percent from December and plunged 31.2 percent from a year earlier. The last time sales were lower was February 2006, when only 14,957 hybrids were sold. Gains As usual, Toyota's Prius was the month's volume leader with 8,121 sales -- almost 53 percent of the total. The Prius also was one of only five hybrid models of the 16 tracked by Edmunds.com to post a gain from December, up 3.3 percent. Prius sales were down 28.6 percent from a year earlier, though. The other January gainers were: The Lexus 400h crossover hybrid, up 6.3 percent with 1,556 sales; Toyota's Highlander hybrid SUV, up 10.6 percent with 984 sales; Honda's Civic Hybrid, up 3.8 percent with 1,076 sales; and The Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV from Ford Motor Co., up 19.8 percent with 127 sales. Despite the one-month gains, the Civic Hybrid was down 38.3 percent from January '07, the Mariner was off 28.7 percent from a year earlier, and the Highlander was down 54.1 percent. Potential buyers holding back in anticipation of the improved 2010 Prius and Honda's new 2010 Insight Hybrid, both due later this year, didn't help any of the January-over-January sales comparisons, said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com's manager of industry analysis. "Hefty price tags combined with the promise of newer, more-efficient models to come within the next few months have really hindered hybrid sales in January," she said. Two hybrid models did post gains from their year-ago, marks, though. ---------- Nissan Altima Hybrid joined Lexus in winner's circle with an increase from January '08 sales. ---------- The Lexus 400h was up 28.3 percent from 1,211 sales a year earlier -- the only model to gain for the month and the year -- while Nissan's Altima Hybrid, with 644 sales last month, was up 36.1 percent from 473 sales in January '07. Big Losses The rest of the pack lost ground, although most are such low-volume sellers that the losses didn't make much impression on January's total sales picture. General Motors Corp.'s hybrid cars and crossovers were the biggest losers, percentagewise, all but one falling more than 50 percent from December (none were in the market a year ago, so there are no January '07 numbers to compare to). The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid SUV was hit hardest, down 69.5 percent with 299 sold versus 981 in December. The Chevy Malibu Hybrid sedan was a close second in the loser column, its 145 sales a 68.1 percent decline from 454 sales a month earlier. The GMC Yukon Hybrid SUV (a twin to the Tahoe) was down 62 percent to 168 sales from 442 in December; Cadillac Escalade Hybrid SUV sales fell 56.8 percent to 132 from 306; the Saturn Vue Greenline Hybrid crossover was off 54.7 percent with 153 sales, down from 338; and the Saturn Aura Hybrid sedan was down 44.1 percent to 19 sales from 34 in December. Sales of Ford's Escape Hybrid SUV fell 27.9 percent from December, to 753, and were off 41.9 percent from January '07, and Toyota's Camry Hybrid sedan dropped 39.6 percent from December, to 1,141 sales, and was down 49.7 percent from a year earlier. In Toyota's luxury stable, the Lexus LS 600h L hybrid sedan posted 33 sales, down 34 percent from December and 68.6 percent below January '07 sales, and the Lexus GS 450h crossover hybrid dropped 19.6 percent from December, to 41 sales, and was off 35.9 percent from a year earlier. Although the new models from Toyota and Honda could pump a little excitement into the hybrid market later this year, Caldwell and other analysts don't expect much improvement before the latter part of the year.