Is Frankfurt hybrid car talk just hype?

Hybrid cars have taken over the Frankfurt Auto Show, but is all this hybrid talk just marketing hype?

According to a BBC article, yes, "But despite the loud and confusing displays of hybrid concepts at the Frankfurt motor show, the efforts by the big car groups seem less than ambitious." Additionally, the BBC notes, "BMW's Mr Panke is even more blunt. He predicts that hybrid car sales will never rise above more than 1%-2% of the total market, and PSA Peugeot Citroen's chief executive Jean-Martin Folz agrees."

On the other side of the pond, the NYTimes article, At Frankfurt Auto Show, a Reluctant Embrace of Hybrids the Times notes, "But backstage at the Frankfurt International Motor Show, a different picture is emerging: Europe's auto executives remain privately skeptical, even dismissive, about the merits of hybrid technology."

It isn't hype if you ask Toyota, however. More important, the European auto industry and the American auto industry simply are not the dominant corporations they once were. Times are a changing and new leaders are emerging.

Still, in Europe, the common belief is that advanced diesel is just as effective as hybrids, and that assumption is correct.

But what about the future?

Hybrid vehicles are an emerging technology. When computers first emerged, it was thought only the Pentagon or huge corporations could ever utilize, or even afford one. Then came desktops, laptops, and now PDA's and more.

Already, plug-in hybrid cars and other experimental hybrid vehicles demonstrate that current hybrid technology can be adjusted to achieve as much as 100 or even 250 mpg. Others speculate that a new generation of biodiesel hybrids could achieve as much as 500 mpg.

Ultimately, the auto industry is entering a technological revolution and those companies that choose to follow the status quo will ultimately disappear.

Ten years ago, a laptop with 1000 Gig of RAM and 3 hour battery life wasn't just expensive, it was pure fantasy. Today, it costs little more than $1000.00.

Hybrid technology is not going away and it will continually get more powerful and cheaper. Within 10 years the Toyota Highlander hybrid, Toyota Prius hybrid, and the Ford Escape hybrid will be more than twice as fuel efficient as they are today, yet the cost difference between hybrid and conventional vehicles will be much less.

That isn't hype it's the reality of technology.