Hybrids, Concept Cars Generate Buzz

Apr. 20--ALBUQUERQUE -- The Toyota dealers didn't expect it -- a list of 20, 30 people waiting months to buy a hybrid-electric car that promised great gas mileage. The combination of being good for the environment and the gasoline bill drove demand beyond what the company was able to immediately supply.

That was two years ago. Today, the Toyota Prius isn't so hard to find. The Prius and severalother hybrid electric cars from Ford and other companies are on display at the New Mexico International Auto Show, which opens today in Albuquerque.

"The manufacturers are now listening to the public," Charles R. Henson of the New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association said. "It shows all throughout this room. The manufacturer is understanding that this is where the industry is going."

The purpose of the show, sponsored byMotor

Trend Magazine and others, is to allow consumers to look at new models from all different brands without getting pressured by salespeople, Henson said.

"We hope to excite the public about the new cars," he said.

"We're very proud that we have a family atmosphere here."

The show features about 350 models from all the major manufacturers. There's affordable, like the Honda Civic, and not so affordable, like $50,000 Ford pickups. There are also a number of concept cars that have been created by car companies to gauge public reaction at shows like this. Some of those cars also have hybrid technology, which involves a traditional gasoline engine combined with batteries and electric motors that can power the car at certain times.

A regional sales manager for Toyota said Beaver Toyota in Santa Fe is one of the West's leaders in Prius sales. The company has ramped up its production to meet demand.

"We have increased hybrid production on the Prius 60 percent over last year," regional manager Brad J. Thomas said.

Pricing for the Prius ranges from $22,795 to just over $27,000.

It goes about 55 miles per gallon, and that's better than any car sold in the country right now.

There's also a hybrid Ford Escape sport-utility vehicle on display, which has a suggested retail price of $27,490 with fourwheel drive. It goes about 28 miles per gallon.

Thomas also said Toyota is expected to have hybrid technology on all of its vehicles, including trucks, by 2010.

But he and other car expertsacknowledge that sometimes consumers save money by buying an affordable car with good gas mileage for less than what it costs to buy a hybrid car.

One could buy a Ford Focus or Civic, for example, and have thousands leftover to fill the gas tank for years or remodel the kitchen.

Jeff Holland, a regional manager with General Motors, said his company makes 30 models with gas mileage of 30 miles per gallon or better.

General Motors is expected to launch a so-called plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle in 2010, the Chevy Volt. That car's batteries could be recharged with an electric cord, he said. No price has been determined for that model.

While Holland acknowledged increased interest in hybrid cars, he noted that his company is selling record numbers of pickups and sport-utility vehicles.

"We wouldn't make them if people weren't buying them," he said.

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