DETROIT – J.D. Power and Associates and LMC Automotive Forecasting Services now predict that hybrids and clean diesel vehicles will grab 11 percent of the U.S. market by 2012, a figure more than twice as high as today?s sales figures. The companies say at today?s 4.8 percent of the market, diesels and hybrids are set for major growth because of increasing fuel prices.

?Higher gas prices are acting as a catalyst for automakers and consumers to find alternatives to the traditional gasoline internal combustions engine,? said Anthony Pratt, senior manager of global powertrain forecasting at J.D. Power-LMC. ?We anticipate this will lead to dramatic growth, particularly with diesels, over the next several years.? Hybrids, which now account for 0.5 percent of the market, should rise to 3.5 percent of the market by 2012, the report indicates; diesels are expected to grow from 3 percent last year to 7.5 percent. In the same time span, the number of hybrid models should increase from 10 to 44 and diesels, from 14 to 26.

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