Hybrid Cars

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.