THE FUTURE OF CARS

The viability of Detroit automakers depends on more than overcoming labor costs and debt; they must compete with Japan in building fuel-efficient cars. Possibilities for the future:
* Electric-hybrids. The Big Three say they‚ll use federal assistance to develop American-made batteries for cars you plug in. Right now Toyota is leading the way with the Prius, the most popular hybrid, which gets 48 miles per gallon, almost twice the average of most American-made vehicles. GM has high hopes for its hybrid, the Chevy Volt, expected in 2010. By 2013, analysts say hybrids will make up 7% of car sales.
* Hydrogen-fuel cells. This summer, Honda introduced the Clarity, a car that gets 280 miles a gallon on a tank of ∑ hydrogen. It emits water from its tailpipe and goes from zero to 60 mph in less than nine seconds. But there are problems. Where does one fill up on hydrogen? And the Clarity costs several hundred thousand dollars to produce, so it is heavily subsidized for sales, which are so far only in Southern California. Costs must drop significantly to make this viable.
* Smaller cars. No matter the fuel, analysts expect cars to get lighter (using carbon-fiber composites and other new metals) and smaller for improved gas mileage. Or at least they did when gas prices skyrocketed over the summer. Will Detroit learn its lesson and adapt or continue to churn out money-making SUVs now that oil prices have dropped again? More importantly, will American consumers?