I recently sampled the Toyota Camry Hybrid:
http://www.in-the-raw.com/archives/234
If the price of gas continues to be high, people will very easily move to this sort of a car. Over a full tank, including city and highway driving, the car averaged out 41 MPG (6.9l / 100 kms) and was okay to drive. Except for some loss of space in the trunk, the car is the same nice Camry that everyone is driving.
If the cost of oil suddenly shoots up ever to $80 per barrel, which is entirely possible considering the situation in the middle east, nigeria, and the recent actions of Hugo Chavez to seize control of his country's oil fields... well, you could see Toyota take a major lead that they might never give back.