'Performance hybrid' designation fading from usage

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2007 | by Chris Woodyard

Automakers are starting to turn away from the notion of the "performance hybrid," the term coined to market gas-electric vehicles based on extra pep instead of fuel thriftiness.

Instead of just emphasizing performance, Toyota's luxury Lexus division plans to hawk its high-end hybrid vehicles as being better for the environment because they pollute less than rival brands.

"That was always supposed to be part of the message, but it just hasn't come through," says Mark Templin, the division's new general manager. "It legitimizes what we have been doing."

Honda has already dropped production of a six-cylinder hybrid version of its performance-oriented Accord sedan. It got poor gas mileage compared with other hybrids, such as Honda's four-cylinder Civic...