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.
DON'T MISS: Toyota Racks Up 7 Million Hybrids Sold Since 1997 (Oct 2014)
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.
![2000 Toyota Prius 2000 Toyota Prius](https://images.hgmsites.net/med/2000_toyota_prius_100001083_m.jpg)
2000 Toyota Prius
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.
ALSO SEE: All-New 2016 Toyota Prius: What We Know So Far (Jul 2013)
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.
Honda sold 284,000 hybrids last year, up more than 50 percent from its 2013 sales, which were almost entirely aging and smaller hybrid vehicles.
![2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2013 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2013](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/2014-honda-accord-hybrid_100445726_l.jpg)
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2013
The 2014 sales increase for Honda reflects the launch of the well-received Accord Hybrid model, the first to use its new two-motor full hybrid system.
That technology reflects a shift in the U.S. market away from smaller hybrid vehicles--the Honda Insight has been withdrawn--based on the company's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) mild-hybrid technology.
MORE: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid (Oct 2013)
Honda has replaced the IMA system with a new, stronger single-motor hybrid system in its latest Fit and HR-V subcompacts, but that system won't be offered in the U.S.
Instead, the company is adding the hybrid system to its larger vehicles. The Accord mid-size sedan is the first, and the company has hinted it will offer additional hybrid versions of larger products in future.
Ford, the world's third-highest producer of hybrids, sold 84,600 in 2014, a 1.7-percent decrease against the 86,000 it sold in 2013.
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