That is definitely the impression I am left with. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I cannot understand why the Clarity PHEV has not flooded the market....or rather why the company has not promoted, advertised, and made more vehicles available. I took delivery of my 2018 Clarity in June of 2018. I have only seen one or two other Claritys on the roads. With the exception of what has been going on with the maintenance minder telling me I am due for various services (which are certainly NOT required), this car costs very little to operate. I have used very little gas. I recently took a fairly long highway trip, meaning it ran as a hybrid all the way. Prior to that my fuel economy indicator read 1.7 litres / 100 km. At the end of the trip it registered 2.5 L/100 km. Excellent. Why would anyone who drives a vehicle of this size / class not want that???
So I can only think of a couple reasons why the company is not mass producing a vehicle that the public clearly wants.
1. The dealers have to invest in special tools and equipment and training to be able to service this vehicle.....a vehicle that requires less servicing and so less income. They don't want that.
2. The oil industry is somehow dissuading the company from ramping up production of the Clarity, and encouraging continued production of vehicles that must use gas. No doubt this has been going on for decades. Even so, although I do not see many Claritys on the roads, I do see more and more electric vehicles.....Tesla, Volt, Leaf, Ioniq, prius and others. Surely this will continue and I believe Honda is making a mistake in not becoming a leader in the field. They certainly are capable of it. At this time in history, in my opinion, the PHEV is the best option. If at all possible, I will never buy a single fuel (i.e. gas or electric) again. I enjoy the choice and ability to not have to pay for gas at whatever price the oil companies chose to gouge at. I am very surprised that Toyota has not introduced a car to rival the Clarity.