of gas prices is seen by Kevin Bowie, General Manager of Shearer Honda in Rutland as an opportunity for the hybrid industry, "For people in general, I think their awareness has been raised that this can be a very big expense very quickly. People that are buying hybrids are aware that we could go right back to that again," he reportedly said.
It should be noted that the federal government has offered credit taxes to encourage people to purchase hybrid vehicles. Toyota was one of the companies that benefited from the tax credit incentive however new set rules on the credit taxes are now affecting the sales of Prius.

Before Oct. 1, 2006 buyers who chose to purchase one of Toyota’s Hybrid models like the Camry and Highlander received $2,600 credit for their tax returns while $3,150 tax return credit was provided for Prius buyers. However federal government new rules set a limit of 60,000 hybrids per carmaker to enable customers to receive the full tax credit. Unfortunately for Toyota since it has already reached the 60,000 hybrid car limit which means that its customers will no longer be entitled to the full tax credit. But there would still be tax credit to be given to Toyota hybrid customers but this time only 50%.

The quick turnover of Toyota’s hybrid vehicles was believed to be the result of high demand but limited supply. This explains why Toyota compared to other automaker has been able to quickly reach the 60,000 limit for hybrid cars. As matter of fact according to Mike Hughes, Courtesy’s general manager, "The Camry Hybrid has been on the market for five months, so there's really limited availability. Typically they're pre-sold before they come in."

Hybrid vehicles are the only ones affected by the new rules and would have no adverse effect on the sale of Toyota parts.

Mark Clarkson is a 35 year old marketing consultant for a leading auto parts store. This native of Denver is also an offroad enthusiast.

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