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Sharp fall in hybrid vehicles sales as US tightens belt By Bernard Simon in Toronto Published: January 1 2009 23:31 | Last updated: January 1 2009 23:31 Americans’ appetite for hybrid cars is evaporating as tumbling fuel prices and tighter household budgets trump environmental concerns. The sudden reversal in what was, until a few months ago, one of the hottest segments of the world’s biggest car market creates a new area of uncertainty for carmakers, such as Toyota, General Motors, Ford Motor and Honda, that are investing heavily in hybrids and other fuel-efficient technologies. Industry executives, including Alan Mulally, Ford’s...

The camouflage on the new Prius has come off a little sooner than Toyota had planned. We've known for quite a while that Toyota was going to bring the new Prius to the Detroit auto show next January. And there's been no shortage of spy shots of well-covered prototypes. But the new Prius has gone naked. The fans at priuschat.com posted pix of what was claimed to be redesigned Prius. And guess what? Toyota PR confirms that the photos are legit, although they won't say anything else about them.