Toyota Prius Prime Crushes Honda Clarity PHEV Sales In U.S. May 2019

Which plug-in hybrid is the sales champ for May? It's no contest this month.

By: Eric Loveday

Jun 5, 2019 at 10:54am ET

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Believe it or not, the Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid that had topped the plug-in hybrid sales chart for three months in a row has now been dethroned three times in a row too.

For three consecutive months, we estimated that the Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid outsold the Toyota Prius Prime in the U.S. However, the tide changed in March as the Prius Prime logged an impressive 1,820 sales (*estimated). Again in April, the Prius Prime took the PHEV sales crown with an estimated 1,399 sales to the Honda Clarity PHEV's 981 (*estimated).

Come May, the story remained much the same. However, the Prius Prime increased its lead over the Clarity PHEV. For May 2019, Prius Prime sales checked in at an estimated 1,914 units. Meanwhile, sales of the Clarity PHEV only amounted to an estimated 816 units.

Looking Back

By logging a confirmed sales total of 2,770 units in December 2018, the Clarity PHEV outsold all other plug-in hybrids offered in the U.S. for the first time ever. Then, it again topped the PHEV sales chart in January by edging out the Toyota Prius Prime. Clarity PHEV sales for January checked in at 1,192 units, to the Prime’s reported 1,123. But in February, the race tightened up considerably with just 8 sales separating the two models. Clarity PHEV sales came in officially at 1,213 to Prius Prime estimated sales of 1,205 in February.

Gallery: 2017 Toyota Prius Prime: First Drive

Along Comes March And Then April

With the close of March came a new top-selling plug-in hybrid. The Toyota Prius Prime regained the #1 spot by selling 1,820 units(*estimated) compared to the Honda Clarity PHEV's 1,311 sales. The Clarity has fallen sharply in April though.

In 2018, the Prius Prime was more often than not the top-selling PHEV month after month. However, the Clarity’s rise to the top came shortly after Chevrolet announced the death of the Volt. With Volt sales now dwindling, the Clarity PHEV’s only real challenger is the Toyota Prius Prime and in April it was once again the Prime that took home the top spot.

Gallery: 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid: First Drive

YTD Tally

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On the YTD side, the Prius Prime is far ahead of the Clarity PHEV in 2019. The Prime has logged an estimated 7,461 sales this year, as compared to just 5,513 for the Honda Clarity PHEV. Neither figure comes even close to the chart-topping Model 3 at 46,425 for 2019.