NEW YORK — Last summer was a good time to be in the hybrid business. Gas prices climbed to new records, and Toyota couldn’t make its Prius quickly enough as drivers turned their heads with envy at the sight of the gas-sipper’s eye-catching sloping roofline.
Just a few months later, prices at the pump have collapsed, and so too have sales of gas-electric vehicles, which have lost ground along the way to cheaper but still fuel-efficient conventional vehicles.
Paying thousands of extra dollars for a hybrid car when gas topped $4 a gallon wasn’t unreasonable because with enough driving, it only took a few years to recoup the added cost. But amid a recession and fuel prices at their lowest in six years, pinched consumers seem less willing to fork over the extra thousands of dollars for a car that coaxes just a few extra miles out of a gallon of gas.
“The cost-benefit analysis doesn’t support the decision to buy one of these higher-priced hybrids today,” said Stephen Spivey, senior auto analyst for the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. “Obviously, if fuel prices go back up, it’s going to be more attractive to look at a hybrid.”
Automakers are counting on that.
The cost of regular gasoline has fallen 56 percent from its all-time summer high, averaging $1.79 Monday, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
