Posted on 03/17/2009 3:10:54 PM PDT by nobama08
The Ford and Honda hybrids due out this month are among dozens planned for the coming years as automakers try to meet new fuel-efficiency standards and please politicians overseeing the industry's multibillion-dollar bailout.
Unfortunately for the automakers, hybrids are a tough sell these days.
Americans have cut back on buying vehicles of all types as the economy continues its slide. But the slowdown has been particularly brutal for hybrids, which use electricity and gasoline as power sources. They were the industry's darling just last summer, but sales have collapsed as consumers refuse to pay a premium for a fuel-efficient vehicle now that the average price of a gallon of gasoline nationally has slipped below $2.
"When gas prices came down, the priority of buying a hybrid fell off quite quickly," said Wes Brown, a partner at Los Angeles-based market research firm Iceology. "Yet even as consumer interest declined, the manufacturers have continued to pump them out."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Sounds like a good time to pick one up cheap when the dealers are trying to unload them, before gas prices go back up.
I just don’t think the majority of Americans are ready for CHANGE! LOL
Even if the price of gas went back up, you would have to drive one for half a million miles to break even in cost per mile.
Hybrids are good for people who do a lot of stop and go driving, but for those of us who do mostly highway driving, they’re not so good. I’ve got a Toyota Corolla that gets about 35 mpg combined, which is about what to expect from a hybrid doing mostly highway driving.
Mark
Whether it is a diesel, hybrid, or gasoline car, I don't know, but I will not tie myself to a new vehicle purchase that will screw me over when fuel prices jump back up, from either a wholesale price or a tax increase.
I rather have one of the new muscle cars. Screw a bunch of sissy ass enviroweenie golf carts.
My daughter got a used Mercury Mountaineer SUV last summer and loves it. I just feel better with her in a larger vehicle than some of these little washing machines. But at least for now, Americans have choices of what to drive.
there, fixed it.
They can build Volgas but can they sell Volgas. Of course not, why do you think they built the Zaporozhets.
My ‘05 Corolla still gets what the sticker says, 38/42 or sometimes even better. It’s a stick shift.
I would not even consider a hybrid.
I've got a 2000 with about 168,000 miles. I know that the newer ones get better mileage, but I can't justify a new (or used) car right now. I'm hoping that this one will last till at least 2012 or longer. I traded my last one (a 1990) on this one at 199,000 miles.
Mark
Why.
Nice. With the biggest gas eater v-8 you can get.
Bill Clinton got in BIG trouble with Hillary. She told him she wanted something that would go 0 to 180 in just a few seconds for her birthday....He got her a scale.
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