January Hybrid Car Sales Tank

Really? I can't imagine why, oh,right gas is $1.65 on my block.

My question is this, why does then the media/government give such a hard time to the American companies for not offering fuel efficient cars. When the most "fuel efficient" cars from outside the USA can't sell well.? I think it seems like the American companys can't do anything right even if the do offer the right cars...they get no respect. BTW...this is not an arguemment for buying hybrid vs. non-hybrid and how one costs more.

When are you going to get banned?

I don't think the government would give the big 3 such a hard time if they don't need to beg for help.

You just made my point....even if the American Auto Companys had fuel efficent cars/Hybrids, they still wouldn't sell in this envoirnment...So I don't think its about "green"/gas sipper cars to fix the problems that GM/Ford/Chrysler..and yet the government is telling them they need "green"/gas sipper's are the allmighty solution....And then Diesels aren't the solution.....even if the car gets 50+ mpg's....as long as the American buyer see's $1.00+ more per gallon over gasoline, they won't go for it. How many times I hear and see people complain for .20 cents extra for Premium gas for the car....You don't know how many times I see idiots put cheap grade in their BMW's/Mercedes etc at the pump.

BTW LexusQueen....I bet there are Deisel's that pollute less than your Corolla

LexusBeautyQueen, you just wait until like BMW has a hibrid car. They will make the ultimate hybrid machine like you never see. LOL! BMWs are so cool and fabulous, just like me...

Doukas You're THE idiot. Many people lease their BMW/MERC/Lexus/Audi or whatnot for only 2 years return it for a newer model after that. Do you think it's wise to fill up with expensive gas when the cheaper gas will do just fine?

I guess 20cents or around $3 per fill up is super expensive....and then you don't get the best possible performance/milage out of your car. No matter what the price of regular gas is, its allways been 20.cents..If Regular is $4.09, super is around $4.29.......People buy & or lease nice cars and then go cheap on the needed things to keep in top shape...Next time you sell a car Maikoazu, make sure you disclaim to the buyer that you put in the cheap gas and might need to clean the fuel injection etc...

Doukas, no offense, but I cant stand this bullshit perception that the domestics make less efficient cars than anyone else. Is the Camry more efficient than the Malibu? Corrola vs Cobalt? Tundra vs Silverado? Sequoia vs Tahoe (and im just comparing toyota to GM). With the exception of the Prius, this whole "detroit only makes gas guzzlers" is absolute bullshit. Detroit offers the whole market something good... its just the market shifts towards more thirsty vehicles when gas is cheap, and Detroit has better SUVs & trucks than its competitors.

Neutral - I think you read my comment as against American Auto's. I wish the media would just give them credit & positive's for the things they do well, and not think the lack of "hybrids" is the problem. Heck, I drive American. nice ol' 6.1 liter hemi :)

6.1 eh? Which one? you drive that, and you drive it proud brother! Don't let these eco-crazies guilt trip you into not having what you want! (As much as I love good old muscle, I really am waiting for the Cruze.... something about direct injected, turbo powerplants..... but then again classic muscle crossed with modern technology.... decisions, decision, decisions!!)

Chrysler, in black...

Americam car companies are building cars and trucks people want. Before soaring gas prices the Gov. was giving up to $4,000.00 incentives to purchase small hybrids. Toyota and Nissan built full sized trucks to compete with Dodge, Ford and Chevy. Buyers were forced to purchase small fuel efficent cars when gas prices soared.

No one was forced to buy anything. It is just this price of going across the city for shoes or an outfit hit them in their wallet driving mostly the 8mpg GM suv/truck shared platform. The people with the attention span of about 5 sec finally realized this is not cost effective. Its not efficient in the first place to buy a 5-8 seater suv for 2 people in the first place.

$4.00 a gallon did in fact force people to think about what vehicles they were buying. Veyron1001, show me the GM SUV that gets 8mpg you ignorant moron. Stop pandering... go drive you Sequoia with is 5000miles / gallon.

Do you think an American SUV gets hwy mpg in the city? Dont argue that they get 11-15 mpg city because almost no one drives it for the best mileage and gun it every chance they get.

What planet are you living on? A BIG guy at work has a new chevy truck with a V8 and routinely averages around 17-18mpg. Once again, its up the individual to be responsible about how they drive. I have a Merc roadster with a V8, and unless I actively want to gun it, I just drive the same way that I do with my small 4-cyl daily driver. I routinely average 22mpg, and its an OLD roadster (so thanks to f**king emissions BS, its underpowered and not as efficient as it should be). Have you heard of the Tahoe 2mode? Have you actually done ANY research on it? THere have been cases of people getting mid to upper 20's mpg! Even when people drive like asses they get around 20mpg average. People need to know how to drive, pushing stereotypes about GM/Ford/Dodge just further misinforms the public and hurts America. How about that Veyron...I heard it got 55mpg! (Sarcasm)

who cares. 2 years from now economy will bounce back and price of gas will start to rise again. 6 years from now the world will hit peak oil and the price of gas will sky rocket. electric cars not just hybrids are the future. watching the sale of hybrids per month and drawing conclusions from that is retarded.

WOW! Peak oil? Electrification and conservation in automotive industry by means of PHEVs.... I can't believe my eyes! Someone on this site is actually aware of issues that matter. And I thought everyone here is only interested in what car farts louder. ||| The only thing I barely agree is the economy bouncing back so quickly. With all the accumulated U.S debt, tragic balance of trade, mountains of printed dollars which trigger inflation avalanche, possible replacement of the dollar as the reserve currency with a basket of currencies including yuan (hence detoriation of U.S citizens' purchasing power)... I just don't see it.

I'm a pretty big minority here...If Obama manages to keep republicans away from economic policy I think we'll be fine in 2-3 years. This country has been going down the toilet since Reagan introduced the Reaganomics= rich get richer poor get poorer middle class is destroyed and huge budget deficits are piled up. Clinton managed to balance the budget for a little while but Bush pissed all over that and then some. RIP Reaganomics: 1981-2009.

keep the republicans away...... maybe, but its fiscal irresponsibility (mostly on the part of Curious George and Dr Evil's admin) that got us into this mess. "SPEND TONS AND GIVE IRRESPONSIBLE TAX BREAKS!!!" Yea that worked well... and as a nation we had the attitude "put it on plastic, you deserve it!". In any event, the worst thing for the entire auto industry is the having pelosi's lackey (obama) calling the shots. Guaranteed we quasi-nationalize the auto industry as a result. Then in 8-10 yrs, everyone is gonna be saying "why doesnt GM make cars people want", and unlike now (those people just are retarded now), the reason will be b/c a command style economy doesn't work for manufacturers of consumer goods. If Obama knows what good for the nation, he'll tell Komrades Pelosi/Waxman/Feinstein to stop bothering the auto industry and tax gas in their own state. Each state ALREADY has the ability to control fuel economy,...... like ive said a million times before... gas tax. Instead..... the same idiots who got the world into this mess (politicians---i dont give a f**k what party they are) are going to make bad decisions and screw over this country with their impractical, un-sustainable social & economic agendas.

I think some of the decrease in hybrid sales are in anticipation of the new Prius and the new Insight. Aren't they both out in the next 2 months?

maybe... maybe not. I think most people are just terrified that this is the worst recession since the great depression.... only this time common sense and logic fall victim to TV & the media... so the things we have to do (stuff that looks bad on the outside) are not going to get done.

Well since the only number quoted in that quality news source is 29%, I'd say that hybrid sales are not tanking. The overall industry was off, what 37%? Great story, guys. Keep up the good work.

Obviously hybrid sales are going to drop. The economy is a shambles, why would anyone living in the middle class, fearful of possibly loosing their job want an over-technical, possibly expensive machine when they can go get a high-mileage conventional vehicle for thousands cheaper? Do you want to spend $25,000 for a prius or $15,000 (sometimes cheaper--go check ebay for slightly used ones) for a Cobalt? In the end, neither car is about performance or style, they are just modes of transit (unless you get the Turbo DI cobalt). I can go on ebay and get a few thousand miles used cobalt for $12,000 and drive the living daylights out of it and still get great mileage. If something does go wrong, GM most likely will cover it (unlike Hyundai's 100K warranty) and if GM doesnt cover it, the car is simple and very affordable -in terms of repairs-. Im using the Cobalt here b/c I was just looking into that market segment and realized its the most under-rated car there. Don't like the Cobalt? --- Try the Focus or Elantra.

Not sure why this is news.