Hybrid cars: Sales are up as drivers look to cut gas costs.

Kim Fenske drives a bus in Colorado by day, but when he's not working, he zooms around the mountains in a 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid car.

Fenske, a lawyer by training, ran unsuccessfully for the Wisconsin Legislature on a renewable-energy platform in the early 1990s.

But he recently decided to make an environmental statement with his car.

"My decision is a very political decision. I want to get people in this country off their dependency on foreign oil," said Fenske, 48, who lives at the Copper Mountain ski resort near Frisco.

A growing number of buyers feel like Fenske. U.S. registrations of new hybrid vehicles rose 38 percent in 2007 to a record 350,289, according to data released yesterday by R.L. Polk & Co., a Southfield, Mich., automotive marketing and research company.

Hybrids made up just 2.2 percent of the U.S. market share for the year, but they were growing steadily even as overall sales declined 3 percent.

Lonnie Miller, director of industry analysis at Polk, said rising gasoline prices may affect some buyers, but they are not the main driver of hybrid sales. Instead, he thinks sales jumped in 2007 because buyers had more options, including the new Nissan Altima, Saturn Aura and Lexus LS600h hybrid sedans and hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Mazda Tribute sport-utility vehicles.

"The gas-price thing is a constant that is keeping consideration in their minds," Miller said.

Another important factor is that hybrids have been on the market long enough for consumers to trust the technology, Miller said. The Prius, the second mass-market hybrid after the Honda Insight, went on sale in the United States in 2000.

The Prius remained the best-selling hybrid in 2007, commanding 51 percent of the hybrid market, up from 43 percent in 2006 despite the influx of new hybrids.

Fenske's previous vehicle was a van, which he bought to move his belongings from the Midwest to Colorado. But Miller said most buyers appear to stay within the segment they were in previously when they opt for a new hybrid. For example, more than half of those who bought the Lexus LS600h had a previous vehicle in the luxury segment. Miller said that was why it was important for automakers to have hybrid SUVs, even though some drivers like Fenske argue that big hybrids do not save enough fuel.

"It's a good call on automakers' parts to not make their hybrids so funky and out of body style than what's already out there," Miller said. "People have requirements for what they need."

California remained the top state for hybrid sales in 2007. Twenty-six percent of all hybrid registrations were in California, up 35 percent from 2006. Florida, New York, Texas and Washington followed.

Miller forecasts more of the same this year, despite warnings from automakers that U.S. car sales could be at their slowest pace in more than a decade because of high gasoline prices and the weak economy. Miller predicts hybrid sales will rise 30 percent or more.

Fenske figures he is saving $3,000 a year in maintenance compared with his old vehicle, plus $2,000 to $3,000 a year in fuel costs for his 20-minute commute. He says he gets about 48 miles per gallon.

Here are the top 10 states and cities for new hybrid registrations in 2007. They are ranked by number of vehicles, in thousands, with their increases from 2006.

States          Vehicles        % Chg

Calif.          91.4       35.4

Fla.            19.3         49.5

N.Y.            17.4         49.4

Texas            17.2         37.0

Wash.         13.1         51.5

Ill.               13.1         37.9

Va.            12.0         14.6

Pa.               11.1         31.9

Mass.            10.0         35.5

N.J.              9.6         36.1

Cities          Vehicles % Chg

Los Angeles    40.6        31.1

San Francisco    27.3         32.3

New York       20.7         45.2

Wash., D.C.       12.7         12.2

Seattle          11.1         53.2

Chicago          10.6         39.2

Boston          10.4         33.9

Phila.            8.7         26.4

Sacramento     7.9         59.9

Phoenix           7.8         85.4

SOURCE: R.L. Polk & Co.EndText