Hybrid Car Makers taking over auto market

Honda and Toyota are the only two automakers to mass produce their own hybrid cars. They are also the two companies "announcing higher sales targets for 2005 and ambitious production increases worldwide (DetroitNews)."

Additionally, Honda is the cleanest auto manufacturer in the world.

Is there some connection?

A test drive of either the Toyota Prius or Honda Accord hybrid proves efficiency is about intelligence. Hybrid vehicles cannot not only surpass standard vehicles in fuel efficiency and pollution reduction, but in performance.

So why are American auto manufacturers continually announcing lost market share, while Japanese auto manufacturers are gaining share?

I don't have all the answers, but it seems to come down to inefficiency. Japanese companies seem to produce automobiles more efficiently than American companies.

The only real American hybrid, the Ford Escape hybrid, couldn't have been built without licensing hybrid technology from Toyota, and it will be the only American hybrid on the market for more than a year or two.

In reality, when it comes to the bottom line, inefficiency is ultimately equated with bad business. American auto manufacturers have survived in recent decades by building and promoting inefficiency, building and promoting capabilities completely un-utilized by consumers.

Is that really giving consumers what they want?