What vehicles will save hybrid-less Detroit?

Hybrids, small cars or EVs?

OK, before I get started, I have to give Ford a few props. Ford has been selling about 25,000 hybrid cars per year for many years now. Soon, it will lift that production to about 50,000 hybrids per year.

Of course, that's nothing compared to Toyota's hybrid vehicle sales, and Ford has yet to directly challenge the Prius.

So, what vehicles will save Detroit, if not a Prius-fighter?

Well, it isn't going to be plug-in hybrids, such as the Chevy Volt, according to CNN. In the near term, such vehicles are "pricey and unprofitable" and mostly about "public relations and marketing benefits".

Likewise, small cars also aren't very profitable to US automakers, which Detroit builds purely for first time buyers whom later trade up for more profitable vehicles.

Yet, what if gas hovers around $3.00 or $4.00 for the next four years?

At such prices, fuel efficiency will matter, but it won't matter enough to push a majority of Americans into expensive PHEVS, for instance. They'd probably go smaller, or buy cheaper hybrids, such as the Honda Insight.

Again, however, this is a segment that US automakers seem not able to compete. So, what kinds of vehicles can guarantee the viability of Detroit without massive government assistance, especially amidst turbulent energy prices?