Of the hybrid, for the hybrid, buy the hybrid

C'mon, kids, everyone in the pool!

Hyundai, which has spent most of this year trying to muscle its way into the luxury market with its new Genesis line of rear-wheel-drive luxury sedans, has apparently seen the light on advanced technology drive trains: It's the latest carmaker going hybrid.

The South Korean automaker said this week that it would present a hybrid-electric version of its Sonata sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Hyundai hasn't announced a release date for the vehicle — although, at this rate, it looks like the 2010 model year would be the earliest possible date — but apparently will do so at the L.A. show.

Hyundai already has a fairly efficient fleet. The Sonata gets 25 mpg combined city/highway, and the Accent tops off the company's list with 29 mpg. (The powerful Genesis, on the other hand, gets only 21 mpg.) But the company has no true mileage stars, and a hybrid might make a lot of sense for a car company that's seen its passenger car sales increase 9.7% this year even as its light truck sales have tanked, down 28%.

Hyundai had been rumored to be working on an Accent hybrid for some time, and with consumers calling for more hybrids like Christopher Walken demands more cowbell, it was perhaps only a matter of time.

For those keeping score at home, here's a somewhat complete list of hybrids in the pipeline to some extent or another*:

BMW: X6 and 7-Series hybrids
Ford: Fusion hybrid/Mercury Milan hybrid
Honda: unnamed "Prius killer," Fit hybrid  and hybrid CR-Z
GM: Cadillac Escalade hybrid, Saturn Vue Two Mode Hybrid, Chevy Silverado hybrid, GMC Sierra hybrid, Saturn Vue Plug-In hybrid, Chevy Volt extended range electric
Chrysler: Dodge Ram hybrid
Porsche: Cayenne hybrid, Panamera hybrid
Daimler: Mercedes S-Class hybrid, Smart ForTwo hybrid
Volkswagen: Touareg hybrid
Nissan: unnamed Infiniti hybrid
Ferrari: unnamed sports car
Fisker: Karma plug-in hybrid

So who will be next to join the hybrid party?

*Considering how fast this marketplace is changing, this list is probably not complete. Commenters, feel free to inform of others in the works.

-- Ken Bensinger

Photo: Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Michael]

Volvo is rolling out a C30 plug-in

[Jim]

Why no hybrid minivans? OK, so I know we minivan owners aren't driving the sexiest vehicles but I thought driving a hybrid was supposed to be doing what is sensible above what is necessarily sexy. The minivan is hands down still the most practical vehicle for families. It offers good opportunities for improving aerodynamics when compared to higher COG SUVs. We minvan owners also tend to require less on demand welly than SUV owners. Please, reward us with the hybrid we'd love to be able to buy.

[Rhys]

The problem is the business model not the cars. Car companies should provide the service of having a car instead of selling, leasing, or renting them. If the cars are owned, fueled, and serviced by the producer then the onus of efficiency and durability will shift to them. If GM just looks at how much they want per customer per year and ask that in return for having a vehicle that is fueled, serviced, and ready it will benefit them to make it work all the time for the lowest possible cost per mile. Cars are currently produced to fail, 200k miles seems good to most people but Volvo made cars in the 1960's that have gotten over a million miles on a single engine with no rebuild. Electric cars will never be accepted by the dealer network because they require no service and so provide no ongoing profit for the dealers. We need a new system of selling cars, a new system of profit generation that is divorced from the throw away car.

[Toni, Nevada]

I was just thinking how pathetic McCain's little contest for green cars sounds. Car manufacturers have had this capacity for decades but have not, until this year, seen enough consumer interest or governmantal support to really get down to the business of making and selling these autos for profit. I think the McCain campaign can keep its $1 million prize.