Recently it has been good to be in the hybrid business. Gas prices skyrockeded and the Toyota Prius inventories were lowA few months later, pump prices have dropped, and the inventory of gas-electric vehicles has risen, they have lost ground to cheaper but fuel-efficient conventional vehicles.The extra dollars for a hybrid car when gas was over $4 a gallon made sense if you were driving enough miles, it only took a few years to recoup the higher cost. But with the recession and fuel prices at their lowest in six years, consumers are unwilling to spend the dollars for just a few extra MPG.Automakers are counting on gas prices going back up. Toyota Motor Corp. introduced its Lexus HS250h hybrid sedan at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and plans to show a redesigned 2010 Prius on Monday. Honda Motor Co. Insight hybrid, which will go on sale in April.Will compete with the Prius but will be priced lower than the larger, $23,650 Civic hybrid, a sign that Honda is targeting penny-pinching consumers.Ford Motor Co. unveiled a hybrid version of the Ford Fusion in November that can go up to 47 mph on batter power alone, and General Motors Corp. has turned out a number of hybrid versions of its vehicles recently, like the Chevrolet Malibu and the Saturn Vue.The cost of regular Fuel has fallen 56 percent from its all-time summer high, averaging $1.79 on Sunday up about 12 cents in the past week Hybrid sales plunged 43 percent in December and 50 percent in November. You would have to drive about 160,000 miles a year to break even. The average driver goes about 15,000 miles annually, that’s 10 plus years of driving for payback. At current pump prices you would have to drive 364K plus to break even, and that’s not counting the extra repair costs that a hybrid will accrue. The same dollars invested will double in less than 10 years. In addition the highway mileage is not that higher than a conventional, The Altima is only 2 MPG higher than a conventional.To be sure, hybrid premiums vary. The Toyota Prius is $3,800 more than a comparable Camry. On the other hand, a Mazda Tribute SUV hybrid costs $8,000 more than the conventional model.Drivers are worried about fuel economy, but they seem to be buying the smaller, fuel-efficient conventional car rather than the hybrid. The cars need to be more financially attractive, tax credits to hybrid buyers and, developing a domestic supply for hybrid batteries, instead of being imported and expensive.