Are hybrid sales running out of gas?

People who drive Hummers don't care about MPGs!
It's that simple. Hybrid sales are not running out of gas. A hybrid SUV is practically an oxymoron.
They do actually make sense, but most SUV buyers don't have sense, in fact a lot of them are downright nasty us Prius drivers. Are these the people they are marketing to? The angry Prius basher? Or are they trying to convince a potential Prius buyer into buying an SUV? Neither marketing strategy is real wise.

Ford should have made a Focus hybrid 1st, not an escape. It would have waiting lists like the Prius.
Chevy still has its head up its tailpipe.
Honda is suprised that the Accord doesn't sell like the Prius. People who want speed and performance don't care about gas prices, and hence won't pay the extra up front. But Honda's fine, as they can easily scale back the Accord and scale up the Civic, which IS targeted correctly.

History repeats itself. When the 70's gas crunch happened, it seemed there were VW bugs as far as the eye could see. It's happening again, except with the Prius.

And when exactly is the industry and the media gonna figure out that regardless of fuel source, hybrid technology will still apply? Bio diesel? ethanol? hydrogen? They will all still need to get the most out of its fuel, which means regeneration, engine off coasting, etc.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daver969 @ Apr 14 2006, 03:05 PM) [snapback]239885[/snapback]</div>

Actually, the math would say you fix the lowest MPG car representing the largest segment of the market of all the classes. This currently means the SUVs for the American market, and that's what Ford targeted with the Escape.

Toyota targeted the 2nd biggest segment which is compact passenger cars, and looks like the sweet spot is the mid-sized segment (with gen 2.5 Prius), but now we're awaiting the Camry Hybrid to nail that as a fact into the wall.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NuShrike @ Apr 17 2006, 03:16 PM) [snapback]241121[/snapback]</div>

true true, that's a good point. I assume all segments are of equal size, but they surely aren't. So of course the equation would need to be adjusted to weight for group sizes.

to put it another way to better express my point, suppose you had a fixed number of vehicles you could improve. The first vehicle you would choose would be the one which has the highest gasoline cost per person over one year of driving. By summing the gas cost over a year you take in account cars that drive a lot vs a little. By doing it "per person" you take into account low mileage vehicles that carry lots of people, like busses, which clearly have the lowest MPG, but aren't necessarily the first vehicles to fix. Generally the cars you would pick first would be low MPG vehicles that people tend to drive solo.