The WSJ reports that registrations for hybrid cars are declining in the Bay Area.
“According to R.L. Polk & Co., which analyzes the auto industry, new hybrid-car registrations in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland area have steadily declined since peaking in 2007. That year in the region, there were new 27,292 registrations of hybrid cars, which are more fuel-efficient than cars that run only on gasoline. By 2009, that number had dropped 36%, to 17,575 registrations.”
The WSJ article was pretty lame on analysis about how that stat compared to the overall drop of non-hybrid registrations, due to the recession. Also, the CA market is so much more mature than regions seeing their first hybrid in 2010, so I presume the economic are different. The overall findings may be accurate, but coming at it from a tone of “those wacky Californians had a fad and now it’s over” is a stretch. The quote from the roadster buyer adds nothing – of course he’s going to say that after dropping 100K. Here’s the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704868604575433491885339452.html