AutoblogGreen

The momentum that General Motors was starting to get with its hybrid sales hit a major speed bump last month. October was a month were the business news was largely dominated by the a fast freeze in the world's credit markets making it incredibly difficult for anyone to borrow money. Relatively few people can actually afford to buy any new car for cash. That's especially true for big trucks and SUVs like the Chevy Tahoe which often list prices upwards of $50,000. In September, GM finally managed to top 1,000 sales for the two-mode hybrid Tahoe and Yukon. October saw the addition of the Escalade hybrid to the mix for the full month and yet combined sales of the three dipped by over 20 percent to only 795 units. While that's nowhere near the 78 percent drop in overall sales for the Tahoe, it does represent the first month-to-month slowdown for the big hybrids. Chrysler didn't break out the sales of the hybrid versions of the Durango and Aspen but the combined total of the two was down nearly 50 percent to just 2,029. No wonder Chrysler has decided to just give entirely on the segment and stop production at the end of the year.

[Sources: General Motors, Chrysler]