Hybrids evolve to deal with tougher market

The early adopters of hybrids were idealists or fanatics, who ignored the price premium and were blind to the real world fuel economy returns, which turned out to be far less impressive than the misleading government tests suggested.

Now that reality has set in, the bloom is fading from the economy-focused hybrids. The hybrid models that have sold relatively well in recent months have been performance-oriented designs, such as the Lexus LX400h. Complex and very expensive, performance hybrids are a distortion of the original hybrid premise.

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1970toyotamarc - 7/26/2006 2:05:05 PM

+1 Boost

Here we go again Plano.....

Wow, the Prius is down 12 whole percent form last year's numbers that were huge beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Meanwhile, the Toyota hybrid engine has made its way into 4 more vehicles, which is why you see no Priuses on Toyota lots. They still can't make enough.

The referenced article is filled with distortions and contradictions.

for example
"Honda Accord hybrid down by 58 percent" "the bloom is fading from the economy-focused hybrids. The hybrid models that have sold relatively well in recent months have been performance-oriented designs"
Contradiction. Lumping the Accord with economy hybrids like the Prius is a distortion. It has always been one of the performance hybrids.

"now we have Ford publicly espousing a series of solutions...(including) E85 ethanol fuel "
Myth. Hopefully people are understanding this myth by now, please. E85 is not a practical solution, at least not in the US. My only regret is that Toyota is appearing to jump on this bandwagon now. E10 is much more practical, but doesnt get the CAFE credits of E85.

"the public discovered that the economic reality of hybrid purchase was less attractive than anticipated"
Distortion. This is a broad assumption that hybrid owners have been duped, and somehow the public has wised up. The fact that there are still waiting lists for hybrids and that more and more models are increasing total sales each month contradicts this.

BTW, how come no one is adding the high sales of the redesigned Civic hybrid in these equations. Disinformation (the absence of facts) combined with misinformation (lies) makes these premises seem logical. I only ask that people read articles with a little critical analysis.