Interest in Hybrid Cars is Surging

According to cars.com, hybrid car interest has surged in the month of May. Most likely related to the high cost of gas, the Camry Hybrid, Escape Hybrid and Prius have hit the top of the list in search activity on Cars.com.

Search numbers for those three hybrids increased over 52 percent from April. At the same time, the Prius entered the top 10 list for new cars with the most searches. It also ranks second in e-mail inquiries to dealers.

At the same time, seven of the top 10 in largest decreases were SUVs or trucks.

"The more that gas prices rise, the more consumers start doing their
homework on fuel-efficient cars available on the market," said Patrick
Olsen, managing editor of Cars.com. "Fortunately, there are more hybrid
models to choose from in 2007 and more coming in 2008, including eight
hybrid SUVs."

Top New-Car Searches (May)

1 Honda Civic
2 Toyota Camry
3 Honda Accord
4 Nissan Altima
5 Acura MDX
6 Toyota Prius
7 Ford Mustang
8 Toyota Corolla
9 Honda CR-V
10 Toyota RAV4



New Cars With Largest Increases in Searches (May)

1 Toyota Camry Hybrid 60 %
2 Ford Escape Hybrid 55 %
3 Toyota Prius 52 %
4 Nissan Sentra 33 %
5 Volkswagen Jetta 29 %
6 Toyota Yaris 27 %
7 Volkswagen Beetle 27 %
8 Honda Fit 25 %
9 Mazda3 22 %
10 Toyota Highlander 22 %



New Cars With Largest Decreases in Searches (May)

1 Toyota FJ Cruiser 23 %
2 Infiniti FX35 19 %
3 Chevrolet Tahoe 17 %
4 Toyota Tundra 17 %
5 BMW X5 12 %
6 Dodge Ram 10 %
7 Chevrolet Impala 10 %
8 Chrysler 300 9 %
9 Dodge Charger 8 %
10 Chevrolet Silverado 7 %



Email Leads Sent to Dealers (May)

1 Honda Civic
2 Toyota Prius
3 Toyota Camry
4 Honda CR-V
5 Toyota Corolla
6 Toyota RAV4
7 Honda Accord
8 Honda Odyssey
9 Toyota Sienna
10 Nissan Altima