Rising Gas Prices Don't Curtail Gas-Hog Sales

"So much for the notion that $2 a gallon will dramatically reduce our consumption of gasoline. When offered hybrid cars and expensive gas, people are buying V8 pickups instead.

Economists argue that prices may have to be viewed as permanently high in order for people to change their purchasing patterns. But it is a fact that hybrid sales peak with short-term price changes. Honda's first hybrid, the Insight, had its best month during the last gas run-up. (It is very expensive to produce this car, and since then Honda has ground production down to near zero). So there is a response to the short-term, but it's just underwhelming."

Thanks to C. Scott Smith