Yes, but it's not a 1-1 correlation. I can see with the Prius some people will just not like the car. I didn't care for the rear seat headroom at all (or lack of it), and the controls and instruments were very unconventional. The engine-motor noises also don't always seem to correlate to any speed, which can take some getting used to. At 28,000 dollars, it was also ridiculously overpriced. Gas will never be so expensive that buying a Prius at that price would be worth it.
The Honda Civic, especially the 2006 model, looks to be a better bargain than a Prius. Sure, it doesn't have as high gas mileage but it also costs alot less. Some dealers are selling them with a discount too. And it actually looks and drives just like a regular car (except for the CVT- but I found it "sounded" more like a regular car than the Prius). Rumor is in 2006 it will have a regular 5 speed auto transmission and upgraded safety features as standard (side curtain airbags standard, possibly stability control), and also is said to have a fuel economy improvement as well. I have heard rumors that Honda is not satisfied with the CVT's, the economies of scale are better for the regular auto transmissions, and actually a CVT is not necessarily more efficient (especially with engines with wider power bands, and the fact that a CVT still has a torque converter).
Volkswagens diesel sales in the US have also increased in the last couple of years, even while their gas engine sales have not been great. Honda may come out with a diesel-engine Civic in a year or two in the US; if so they could likely cut into VW's sales. I went the diesel Jetta wagon route because the car was only 16,500 dollars, had side curtain airbags, and of course was diesel, and I was also interested in biodiesel (of course, it's hard to find in Florida but not impossible).
