Honda chides US automakers on fuel economy

Honda predicted gas-guzzler fade?

While calling loans to US automakers the right thing for the US government to do, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui blamed US automakers for many of their problems saying, "Their response (to fuel economy) was too slow," according to the DetroitNews.

Fukui also indicated that even though the large truck and SUV market was highly profitable at one time, Honda didn't invest much in that segment because the company didn't believe gas-guzzling was sustainably profitable.

Ironically, when Honda was making this decision, the Big 3 were, collectively, betting the farm on gas-guzzlers, even after events like 9/11.

Yet, even today, it is very distressing how little effort the Big 3 are putting into hybrid cars to challenge the Toyota Prius and the soon-to-be-released Honda Insight. Do hybrid cars not make sense to Detroit the same way that large SUVs and trucks made so much sense just a few years ago?