Another sticky situation has risen like a Phoenix from the ashes of the American auto industry.  It seems that hybrid sales are way down.  In fact sales dropped 50% in November alone.  According to Keith Johnson, writing for the Wall Street Journal:

U.S. hybrid sales in November fell to 16,571 units, notes Green Car Congress.The slump affected everybody from Toyota and its market-leading Prius to smaller hybrid players like Ford and General Motors. That puts U.S. hybrid sales back where they were in November, 2005.

That also raises questions about the wisdom of Congressional insistence that Detroit retool its product line to build more hybrid and electric cars and fewer trucks and SUVs. As we noted earlier, Ford’s most resilient product in November was its F-150 pickup truck.

This raises obvious questions about the congressional bailout of the auto industry.  If Nancy Pelosi wants her “car czar” to report on the progress of retooling GM to an eco-friendly hybrid company via our tax dollars, then should hybrids be the sure fire future of autos?  Well not if gas prices stay low.  It seems that no one wants a hybrid as long as it doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg to fill their tanks.  So what now?  Do we bail out the big three and tell them to retool?  Retool to what?

For more information about how to rent a car during the Thanksgiving or Christmas seasons, contact Triangle Rent a Car today!

Tags: Triangle Travel Advice // Add Comment »