Hybrid auto insurance rates 24 per cent lower than last year

What do you know? It is easy being green!

A recent kanetix.ca study took a closer look at the hybrids that generated the most online auto insurance quotes in the first half of 2007, and the average quoted premiums for these increasingly popular vehicles.

First the hybrid autos
The top 10 hybrid vehicles quoted online through kanetix.ca's auto insurance quote comparison service in the first half of 2007 are:

1. Honda Civic Hybrid (tie)
1. Toyota Camry Hybrid (tie)
2. Toyota Prius
3. Ford Escape Hybrid
4. Saturn Vuew Green Line Hybrid
5. Toyota Highlander Hybrid
6. Honda Accord Hybrid
7. Honda Insight
8. Lexus RX 400h
9. Nissan Altima 2.5 S Hybrid

Now the auto insurance quotes
The top 10 list shows the wide selection available to Canadians looking to buy a hybrid. There is something for almost everyone and the options seem to grow every year when the new models come out. Perhaps it is the greater hybrid selection available to prospective buyers that explains the 77 per cent increase in the number of hybrid auto insurance quotes in 2007, over the same 6 months in 2006 through kanetix.ca.

Whatever the reason, clearly the popularity of hybrids is soaring. But, what did these drivers see when it came to the auto insurance quotes they received? Well, the study looked at the quotes and found, for example, that compared to the first half of 2006, this year's hybrid quote shoppers from Ontario would have seen rates that were on average 24 per cent lower than the previous year!

How can that be? After all, kanetix.ca previously reported that Ontario drivers in the first half of 2007 saw a 19 per cent drop-not 24 (see kanetix's News Bytes, "kanetix Q1 2007 study shows auto insurance premiums dropped 21%" and "kanetix study shows auto insurance premiums dropped almost 17% in Q2 2007"). How is it that hybrid drivers are seeing an even more significant drop in the car insurance quotes they're getting, then the group as a whole? After all, kanetix.ca has also widely reported that, "compared to their gas-powered alter-egos, the cost to insure a hybrid vehicle was neither consistently higher nor lower across the country." So what's up?

Well, the answer seems to be in the wider range of people getting insurance quotes for a hybrid. It seems all those television commercials mass-marketing the hybrid are working, and it's not just the hip, younger, environmentally conscious drivers getting quotes. Compared to 2006, the group getting auto insurance quotes for a hybrid were:

 • Older-the average driver was born in 1970.
 • Had their licence longer-the average driver was licensed 14.6 years.
 • Made up of fewer people under the age of 25.

And that's why shopping around is important!
The kanetix.ca hybrid study shows how drivers who shop around for their auto insurance have a tremendous opportunity to save money. Whether it's a 19 or 24% drop in the price of the average lowest quote provided online, year-over-year, it just goes to show that consumers have an incredible opportunity to significantly save money on their auto insurance premiums - never mind just on the money you can save at the pumps.

It's easy to get comparative quotes online in minutes to make sure that you're getting the best possible rate. At kanetix.ca, insurance companies compete helping you save money making kanetix.ca a better way to shop for auto insurance.