Automakers Offering Cash Incentives on Hybrid Vehicles

Gasoline prices have been steady and low -- even the traditional summer price hike didn't happen this year -- and the prolonged beat-down of fuel prices is combining with a slow auto market to short-circuit sales of fuel-sipping hybrid-electric vehicles. Not long ago, hybrids were one of the auto industry's hottest tickets. And during the recent Cash-For-Clunkers federal rebate program, the high-mileage hybrids were popular because they made it easy to maximize the Clunker rebate. But the Cash-For-Clunkers program proved to be what many critics suspected: a temporary shot in the arm. So despite Cash-For-Clunkers demand there are a lot of leftover 2009 models. And with new 2010 models already shouldering their way onto dealer lots, automakers are piling on incentives in the hope of clearing out leftovers -- even hybrids.