Hybrid Battery Shortage Explained: Poor Planning

Gasoline has topped $4 a gallon and the market for hybrids is so hot, the auto industry can’t produce enough of them to satisfy demand. What gives? Carmakers point to a shortage of battery packs, but the real story has nothing to do with a shortage of materials. Car companies—including Toyota, which owns about 80 percent of the hybrid market—did not plan on the rapid escalation of gas prices that drove hybrid sales in recent months.