DaimlerChrysler still tepid on hybrids

Bob Lutz changed his tune but it looks like the guys at DC are still a little wary. The vice president of advance engineering at Chrysler Group, Marc Chernoby, said that any significant impact the hybrid would make on the automotive market wouldn't be felt for years. We guess it's all in the meaning of significance. If being the topic of a billion stories on prime time news shows and making a world of PR for those companies that have them is significant, then it can already be felt. But Mr. Chernoby meant something different: high volume. 100,000 Prius' isn't Camry numbers but it certainly a wee bit significant. Dodge will be the first Chrysler Group full hybrid out of the gate with the 2008 Durango, that is if we haven't died fighting in the Thunderdome for a tank of gas by them.