[RRRoamer]

It always amazes me when I see posts that just seem to believe that the free market doesn't work.

Neither GM, nor Ford, nor Chrysler, nor Toyota, nor BMW, nor Honda, nor ANY car manufacture gets to dictate what people buy! It's not all one company and they definitely do NOT have some kind of lock on it.

These companies build what they THINK people want to buy. When they get it right, they sell a lot of vehicles and make a lot of money on them. When they don't, they don't sell many cars and they lose money. If they do it poorly enough long enough, they either get bought out or they go out of business.

It really is that simple.

People where driving large, heavy, poor mpg vehicles because they WANTED to! Gas was dirt cheap so they could afford to fill up a 35 gallon tank and deal with only getting 12 mpg. When gas prices went up (supply and demand once more), some folks couldn't afford (or justify) that fill up, so people started either buying more fuel efficient vehicles or they changed the way the used their existing vehicle to decrease the amount of fuel they were using.

Right now, more fuel efficient vehicles make more sense than a lot of the alternatives (mass transit, hybrids, electric vehicles, bicycling, etc.) do for MOST people. If fuel prices keep going up, more and more people will change how they live to decrease the amount of fuel they need. But right now, things like hybrids, electrics, fuel cells, hydrogen fuel, etc are NOT economically sound purchases for most people.

Hybrids get better fuel economy, but they have this little issue with battery life. Anyone that has owned a power tool for any length of time knows what happens to batteries as they get older. Eventually, they have to be replaced and the old batteries disposed of. And have you seen the kind of chemicals that are in modern batteries??? Have you PRICED a battery pack for a hybrid car? You can buy a LOT of fuel for that much money.

The car companies will keep doing what they think is right to sell the most cars. Some times they will get it right, some times they will get it wrong. At some point, with the improvements in technology and a ongoing increase in fuel prices, I have no doubt that alternative vehicles will become not only competitive, but actually desirable. What that happens, the IC engine as we know it today will quickly fade away much as the horse and buggy did early last century.