Hybrid electric vehicle sales in the United States are expected to exceed 500,000 units annually by 2008 and 872,000 by 2013, according to research firm JD Power and Associates. Also according to te firm, US buyers purchased approximately 38,000 hybrid vehicles in 2002, and hybrid sales are expected to increase to 54,000 vehicles in 2003. "The biggest limiting factor on sales is that up until now, the hybrid engine option has been offered only in compact cars," said Walter McManus, JD Power’s executive director of global forecasting. "That's about to change, and when it does, we'll see sales increase dramatically." The first SUV hybrid, the Ford Escape, and the first full-size pickup hybrids, a Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, will hit commercial fleets later this year and retail dealers in early 2004. "By 2005, trucks should account for about 39 percent of hybrid sales," McManus said. "We know that consumers express interest in a hybrid powertrain option in the same segment as their current vehicle. Once those vehicles are available, and in most cases that will be very soon, hybrid sales could take off." The company says Hybrid vehicles are expected to take 1 percent of the market by 2005, reach 3 percent market share by 2009 and account for nearly 5 percent by 2013. Honda, which split the hybrid market with Toyota in 2002, should see its share of the hybrid market rise to 51 percent this year based on strong Civic Hybrid sales of more than 2,000 per month to the end of April. As other manufacturers enter the hybrid market, Toyota's hybrid share is expected to drop to 26 percent by 2007. Ford is expected to take 16 percent of the hybrid market by 2007, while General Motors is expected to see growth from 11 percent in 2003 to 25 percent in 2008, according to JDPA.