Doing business in Asia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Russia.

american car companies seem to be only pretending to get into the hybrid market. they say what they have to so people will think they are trying, but there does not seem to be a valid effort. how long have hybrids been out? ford has the escape, and gm has a full size truck. the japanese car makers have multiple models to choose from and they work. at least ford was smart and borrowed toyota's hybrid technology to make theirs.

I think gm and ford are lost. its as if they have no clue that the gas prices are high and that honda and toyota are making more sales with fuel efficient cars.

If I were a huge car company like GM and Ford with all of their resources, how hard can it be to figure out what to do?

I don't think it is just that GM and Ford are lame ducks, but pressure from government and simple economic balances create these stunning depreciation curves.

If a governments makes laws that shift sales towards fuel-economic or alternative-fuel cars hybrids have a real head start.
If the price of fuel rises and rises (you should come visit Europe if you're in for a shock) the mobilitymix shifts. It may make good sense to buy a fuel-economic or alternative-fuel car from a budget point of view, the cost of running such a car can outweigh the extra buying cost(easily?).

Isn't the question also: why don't these Japanese car manufacturers cash in on this and raise prices twofold?

Sicco Jan
Amsterdam

Wow. Where are you finding these overpriced hybrids? Perhaps the values are up in California, but in Ontario, Canada, their values have plummeted.

I believe people are afraid to invest in a used Insight because they don't know how much longer the batteries will last, and Honda Canada hasn't even set a replacement price for them yet. They've given me an estimated price of around $4,000, however.

A month ago I test drove a 2002 Insight that was listed at $12,950, with only 50K (30,000 miles) on the odometer. And a local dealership has a used 2005 Prius on the lot for $27,800. They're certainly not making a profit here in Ontario.

p.s. New Insight = $31,000 CDN tax incl.
New Prius = $35,000 CDN tax incl.

Insight-dude,
I recommend you buy a bunch of those cars...Insights and Priuses...but them on the back of a car carrier and haul them here to San Jose, CA.

You will get your money back and then some...no kidding.

Thanks for reading and commenting.