Despite months of high gas prices, a bevy of new fuel-stingy cars with conventional gas engines may be eating into sales of pricier gas-electric hybrids.  Sales of high-mileage, high-value conventional compacts such as the Hyundai Elantra (shown above), Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze are hot, while hybrid sales have stagnated.  The hybrid share of U.S. auto sales peaked at 3.6% in July 2009, Edmunds.com says. Last month, it was 1.6%, depressed also by production cuts for some models due to the Japan disaster, but not enough to account for all the drop.  The new conventionally powered cars use various strategies to boost gas mileage to near-hybrid levels — without the batteries and electric motors that can add $6,000 on average to a vehicle's cost, according to J.D. Power and Associates.  "Even with the fuel savings, it doesn't make sense to buy a hybrid" for many buyers, says Power senior manager Mike Omotoso. "This year, we had $4 gas (in many cities) but we saw the introduction of compacts that get 40 mpg. All of these cars are considerably cheaper than hybrids."  While the nation's top-selling hybrid, the Toyota Prius, has a 50 mpg combined rating, other hybrid sedans get less:  Ford's Fusion hybrid gets 41 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway; Hyundai's Sonata hybrid gets 35 city and 40 highway.  Meanwhile, all Elantras and at least some Focus, Cruze and Honda Civic models are rated at 40 mpg or more on the highway.  Ford dealer Annette Sykora of Smith South Plains in rural Levelland, Texas, says hybrids have seen huge demand, but the new crop of high-mpg sedans like Focus now has caught buyers' eyes. "Our customers are thrilled," she says.  A study by consultants AutoPacific found interest in buying a hybrid — or even conventional compacts — didn't soar with the increase in gas prices this year the way it did when prices shot up to a peak past $4 in July 2008.  Don't be so quick to count out hybrids, says Toyota division General Manager Bob Carter. With a wagon about to join the sedan in the Prius lineup, more models will mean more sales.  "There are three things you can carve in stone: death, taxes and expansion of the hybrid market," Carter quips. He says hybrids have gone mainstream as more people are attracted by rewards of gas savings and environmentalism.  Tomorrow: The future of hybrid sales. (Hint: The share will grow).
Hybrid car sales stagnate as buyers opt for fuel-thrifty compacts - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive - USATODAY.com