The Federal Government has released all the details on the 2010 model-year vehicles, highlighting who wins and who loses in the fuel economy war. Surprise surprise, the Toyota Prius is still the most smug of them all with 51 Highway MPG.

Toyota has been the undisputed Hybrid-car leader of the world. Thier Prius has sold more units than all other hybrids combined... not that's what I call a hot-hatch! According to some estimates, Toyota has sold over 144,000 hybrids in the first 9 months of 2009. While this is a 28% decrease in sales when compared to 2008, that is still a lot of cars. Honda stands in a distant 2nd with only 29,000 hybrid car sales. But Ford has had an impressive surge in hybrid sales, up 73% over 2008, and now sits with 26,000+ hybrids added to their bottom line. To give you even better perspective on Toyota's dominance, GM has sold a paltry 12,500 hybrids in '09, and Nissan follows in the 5th spot with just 7,700 units sold.

Ford's Escape and Fusion hybrids are leading the sales pack for the Blue Oval and there's good reason to believe that Cash for Clunkers had a big impact on their sales numbers. Many American's don't want to trade down their SUV's for something with less cargo space, so the Escape makes perfect sense.

Ever heard of CAFE? No, it's not your local java hut, it's the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards set by the EPA. The gist of it is that auto manufacturers need to meet a fuel economy average set by the EPA to ensure a fleet of green-er vehicles. The standards are set pretty high; by 2016, all auto manufacturers need to have an average 42 MPG for cars and 24 MPG for trucks. Aggressive, yes, neccessary, absolutely.

Tata has a gem on their hands. They've developed the cheapest car on earth, which makes owning a new car affordable to the largest segment of people in India (and on earth), the middle class. The Nano costs a little over $2,000, it's tiny, weighs next to nothing and at 50+ MPG, it gets excellent fuel economy.

Many felt that the Nano would be so poorly made, and have so many corners cut, that it would feel and drive like a power wheels. But journalists who got their hands on a pre-production model are saying that it actually drives like a car should. The steering is tight, handling is decent and it safely gets you from point-A to point-B.

And this is the reason for the Nano's success. Orders are flowing into their HQ at a rate of 2,500 per month. Tata says they expect even more orders over the holidays and thus they are increasing production by 20% to meet demand. With them selling so many cars, I hope they don't have a recall over something silly like floor mats.