The headline seems to be stark – a 29% drop in the sale of light hybrids in the US with 16,020 units sold but is this really bad news!

It is pretty bad news for all those who have not invested in a new hybrid car because they are going to be losing out on huge fuel economies and minimizing environmental impact.

But aside from that, the bad news is non-existent because when you compare the 29% drop with the trend for the entire light duty vehicle sector which dropped 41% – in this context, hybrids are stacking up pretty well despite the fierce competition for business and the adverse economic conditions.

January 2009 figures show hybrids took 2.3% of the entire car market but this was flat during February 2009 with no change – compare this to 1.9% for February 2008 and you can see that though a small section of the total market, it is bucking the trend of decline we are seeing elsewhere.

Toyota has been suffering with only the Rx 400h showing positive sales growth up by almost 31% while all other models dropped off.

GM came in second slot for total hybrid sales but management have got to have their attention focused on bringing in the merger/takeover with Fiat after being given enough working capital to get through the next 30 days by the US government (i.e. you the taxpayer).

Nissan, Honda and Ford all reported drops in the monthly sales numbers of their hybrids too but all their falls are less than the drop in volume sales for non-hybrids which are proving a less attractive selling proposition than hybrid equivalents.

With so much happening in DC with GM and Chrysler the executive focus may not be on the green ball at the moment but as Fiat/GM move to closing a deal and resolving the Chrysler issues becomes more problematical, the green issues are taking a back seat but not in the sales leagues.