The Secret of Hybrid Owners

By 2010 GM promise to come up with a plug-in electric car that will be available to the mass market. At the moment success depends on whether GM can develop a lithium ion battery durable and affordable enough to attract average consumers. But while crowds of engineers are sweating over the battery issue, GM top designers are digging in as well!

It turns out that to be a success this new auto has to have rather distinctive looks. Well, there’s no doubt, the exterior is important, but when it comes to environmentally friendly cars the issue takes a slightly different turn. Apparently, electric and hybrid car owners want their car to make a clearer statement about how green they are. Statistics shows, that among Toyota hybrid cars Prius has become a best-seller due to its peculiar design. Prius owners admit that their choice was determined by their desire to show that they care about the green issues. By contrast, you could distinguish Toyota Camry hybrid, Honda or Ford hybrid only by a small badge on the trunk or side panel.

I imagine, marketing departments should be pretty puzzled. On one hand we have genuine tree-huggers, who really care. On the other hand we’ve got a decent size of the market, represented by those who purchase electric and hybrid cars to reduce gas expenses. And now we seem to have a third segment! Those, who want to save on fuel, but make it look as if they are saving the planet. Don’t take me wrong, it is great that the market of electric and hybrid cars is expanding. By any means :) It’s just funny to observe how hybrids are finding their ways into our lives