Katsumi Kasahara, Associated Press Honda said it would discontinue the hybrid version of its Accord sedans, seen here, conceding Toyota's dominance. Click photo for larger image.

Despite the popularity of hybrid cars, Honda Motor Co. is discontinuing the hybrid version of its Accord, which fell victim to a number of miscalculations that led to poor sales.

"Honda sales of the hybrid Accord were really quite low. This year, they sold fewer than 2,000 year to date, and that was down 40 percent from the same period of a year ago," said Jack Nerad, editorial director at Kelley Blue Book. The Accord hybrid will be discontinued after the 2007 model year.

Honda, which marketed the Accord hybrid's strong performance and luxury equipment, misjudged how much people would pay for a hybrid car and the importance consumers who are inclined to buy hybrids place on fuel economy, analysts say.

The Honda Accord hybrid, which had a V-6 engine, got little better mileage than a conventional four-cylinder Accord -- and cost a lot more, Mr. Nerad said.

"The Accord four-cylinder automatic gets 24 mpg in the city and 37 on the highway, while the Accord hybrid got 28/35 miles per gallon," Mr. Nerad said. "Meanwhile, the Accord hybrid cost around $33,000, while even a loaded four-cylinder Accord cost around $27,000. And you could get a four-cylinder Accord for a lot less than that -- $20,000 or so -- in the marketplace."

Honda spokesperson Chris Naughton said, "We have found that our hybrid system works better on smaller cars."

On the other hand, the size of the car may have had little impact on sales. The Toyota Camry hybrid, which is similar in size to the Accord, accounted for about 14 percent of the 44,179 Camrys sold in May, according to data from the Power Information Network of J.D. Power & Associates. In contrast, the Accord hybrid accounted for 1.4 percent of the 31.915 Accords sold in May.

Toyota's decision to base its hybrid Camry on a four-cylinder model made all the difference.

"When they introduced the Camry hybrid, I remember that Toyota people were quite happy that their hybrid was based on four cylinders, and was lower priced than Honda's Accord hybrid," Mr. Nerad said.

"And the Camry hybrid got quite a bit better fuel economy, too. They believed all that would stand them in good stead, and it turns out they were right."

Another issue may have the styling of the Accord hybrid, especially when compared with another more distinctive hybrid car -- the Toyota Prius, said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis from J.D. Power Information Network.

"The Honda Accord hybrid didn't look any different from a regular Accord so you couldn't really tell it was a hybrid. But the Prius, another hybrid, has its distinctive look," Mr. Libby explained.

Although the Accord hybrid is disappearing, Honda continues to sell the hybrid Civic and is expected to introduce a totally new hybrid in 2009.