The future of mass market quantities of electric cars is getting a big push today from one on the more "electric" leaders in the auto industry. Nissan/Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn is expected to announce his company plans to sell its first electric cars in the U.S. by 2010--according to the New York Times.

Here's one to make you scratch your head and say, "what the heck is going on here?" I suspected that higher gas prices have probably kept demand and prices up for hybrids, so I asked the folks at J.D. Power's Power Information Network and Kelley Blue Book to run the numbers.

The news out of Tokyo should not come as a surprise. Toyota, running neck and neck with GM to become the world's largest automaker, is running a little slower. The first quarter earnings make sense given the auto market slowing down in the U.S. and Toyota finding fewer markets and segments to enter.

There's an old adage in the car business that even in tough times, good cars will still sell. That might explain why certain models continue to fly off dealer lots and even sell at a higher price, even though the overall auto market is down. Perhaps the most interesting example is the new Chevy Malibu.

So it's come to this. Giving customers a guarantee they won't pay more than $2.99 a gallon if they buy a new car, truck, SUV. On the surface, it's a smart move by Chrysler. But I'm not sure how much it will help sales at the struggling automaker.