While neither company has specified the platforms which will be targeted, it’s no secret that both need to work on improving the fuel economy of their SUVs and pickup trucks as the year 2025 and its 54.5 mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards draw ever nearer.

Toyota, of course, has a leg up since it already builds the Prius – the most popular hybrid in the United States. Ford, on the other hand, plans to triple its existing output of hybrids to over 100,000 vehicles/year by 2013.

While both automakers currently use hybrid architectures that are pretty similar, at least in the front-wheel drive Toyota Prius and Ford Fusion Hybrid, a rear-wheel drive system will be essential in order to provide enough towing power for trucks like the Ford F-150 or the Toyota Tundra, both of which represent lines that show no sign of slowing sales, but lack hybrid options.

Such heavy vehicles, said Toyota vice president Takeshi Uchiyamada in a statement, “…are indispensable to American customers.”

What are they? Here’s the list:

1. 2011 Smart Fortwo: 33/41/36 mpg city/highway/combined
2. 2011 Audi A3 TDI: 30/42/34 mpg city/highway/combined
3. 2011 Volkswagen Golf TDI: 30/42/34 mpg city/highway/combined
4. 2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI: 30/42/34 mpg city/highway/combined
5. 2011 Ford Fiesta SFE: 29/40/33 mpg city/highway/combined
6. 2011 Hyundai Elantra: 29/40/33 mpg city/highway/combined
7. 2011 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI: 29/39/33 mpg city/highway/combined
8. 2011 Ford Fiesta: 29/38/33 mpg city/highway/combined (non SFE)
9. 2011 Mini Cooper: 29/37/32 mpg city/highway/combined
10. 2011 Toyota Yaris: 29/36/32 mpg city/highway/combined

One of the technical issues that had to be solved before a mass roll-out of the inflatable seat belt technology was the force of inflation. Because these belts don’t need to burst forth from an instrument panel, and because a significant number of back-seat passengers are children, these belts had to be much gentler than front-seat airbags. One of the other differences is that standard air bags use hot gas. These will use cool gas instead.

As part of the testing procedures, Ford actually used what they call a “sleeping child situation,” which is described as “…where the child puts his head on the seat belt and sleeps.” These belts worked well even in that situation, and when tested with various types of car seats and booster chairs.

These belts, which are already available on the 2011 Ford Explorer will be available on many more options next summer. So far, Ford has said that the three-row Ford Flex crossover and two not-yet-disclosed Lincoln models will get these belts.

Not surprisingly, the inflatable seat belts are proving to be extremely popular with parents.

A few weeks ago, on May 9th, representatives of those automakers sent a letter to the chair of California’s Senate Transportation and Housing committee, Mark DeSaulnier, which stated, in part, “It is… unfortunate that there is an effort underway yet again to extend the yellow sticker program, and that legislation to do so is being sought. We do not support any further extensions of the yellow sticker program.”

The point of the letter isn’t that Ford, Honda, et al, believe such incentives are bad, merely that the original class of hybrids are no longer in need of such an incentive. As the letter explains, “Continued extensions of the program do not serve to incentivize sales of hybrid vehicles as the cap on yellow stickers was reached approximately seven years ago, shortly after the program’s inception.” The letter also adds that, the extension of such privileges to July 1st was granted “…without any public airing of the issue during two years of debate over the future HOV program.”

Currently, Ford and Honda are tied as the second-biggest hybrid car sellers, behind the reigning Toyota. All three companies, along with GM, Nissan, and others, have plug-in and alternative-fuel cars in their present or future product lines, and those vehicles are eligible for white stickers (solo EV drivers) and/or green ones (solo plug-in hybrid drivers).

Leland Yee, the California Senator who authored the bill granting the HOV extension until July 1st, said at the time that the goal of doing so was to give hybrid owners in his state time to purchase the electric and plug-in vehicles coming to market, but now those cars have arrived. The all-electric Nissan LEAF and the plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius due in 2012 both qualify, and while the 2011 Chevrolet Volt does not, the 2012 Volt should.

The letter in questions was signed by officials from Ford and Honda, as well as representatives of the California Natural Gas Vehicle Association, Clean Energy Fuels, and Plug-In America.

If this sounds like yet another way for the federal government to invade our privacy, consider that such devices are already included in new cars, and since 2005 65% of new vehicles have boasted some kind of onboard recording device. Among the brands using them today are Ford, GM, Mazda and Toyota.

The government’s proposal, then, would simply make such devices mandatory. Already, another law set to take effect two years from now will require that the data collected by EDRs and the method of retrieving that data be made more universal. That rule came as a direct result of unintended acceleration cases in Toyota vehicles over the past few years.

Currently, most auto manufacturers are showing public support for the concept of mandatory EDRs, but they also say they don’t want such devices to be terribly complex, as this would cause them to be more expensive, which costs would have to be passed along to buyers.

The magazine explained that Toyota’s decline is directly linked to the recall of over 8 million vehicles worldwide, over the last two years, while Ford’s improved reputation as much to do with being the only major American automaker to avoid bankruptcy, and to high consumer satisfaction with its safety, quality and value.

In a statement this morning, representatives of Consumer Reports said, “Ford built on the momentum seen in last year’s study, likely the result of a model lineup with improving performance, reliability and styling. The massive recalls announced by Toyota earlier this year contributed to the tarnishing of its public image as measured by the poll.”

Safety, quality, and value remain the three most important factors to consumers.

Consumer Reports also said that Toyota maintained its lead in a category that is becoming less and less important: green tech/being environmentally friendly. In this category, the Japanese automaker has a score of 46 as compared to second-place Ford’s 18. Without Toyota’s standing in this category, Ford would have claimed the top overall score, rather than tied, the magazine said.

The magazine’s survey found that the “green” and “environmentally factors” are continuing to drop, however, with only 28% of consumers considering it important, a decrease of 4% since last year, and 12% since 2008. That drop, they say, is due to lean economic times and a general unwillingness to spend more for green tech.

Based on the perceptions of car owners, the top ten most recognizable brands, according to the Consumer Reports survey, are:

1. Toyota (147)
2. Ford (144)
3. Honda (121)
4. Chevrolet (102)
5. BMW (93)
6. Mercedes-Benz (90)
7. Volvo (84)
8. Lexus (69)
9. Cadillac (66)
10. Subaru (50)

On the Monday after Christmas, crude oil hit $91/barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which caused an average increase of 7 cents/gallon at pumps across the country, bringing the average price to $3.05/gallon, nearly 45 cents a gallon more than we paid for gas at this time last year. Diesel prices have been affected as well, and currently sit around $3.29/gallon, or 56 cents more than last year.

Despite this, Kelley Blue Book’s lead analyst for vehicle evaluation, Alec Gutierrez, says that SUV sales have only decreased by about 1 percent since the last major upturn in gas prices, in Spring, 2008, and he says that unless gas prices move into the $3.50 – $4.00/gallon range there won’t likely be a dramatic drop, but that there won’t be the same rush to get ride of SUVs and other larger vehicles that there was almost three years ago.

“If you see a 20-to-30 cent price increase per gallon over the course of a couple weeks then of course people are going to panic,” Gutierrez explained, “but if it increases steadily over time that gives the market a chance to react rationally.”

Even though consumers are more aware, this time, about what they may face at the gas pump, buying habits may not change all that much.

According to Gutierrez, “The Ford Escape, the Nissan Rogue, the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4 — the compact crossover segment — that’s where we’ll see a lot of growth in terms of production and sales overall. The American consumer still generally wants to have a vehicle that offers a lot of utility but at the same time they are conscious of the fuel economy that the vehicle offers and what they are going to pay at the end of the month.”

But consumers aren’t the only segment with budgetary concerns, Gutierrez said. Dealers may not want to buy back SUVs if they can’t make money on them at auto auctions. “The days where a dealer could just go to auction and stock up on a bunch of SUVs and hold them for 40 or 60 days are over.”

Dealers, then, are being extremely cautious about their inventories this year.

Jason Stewart, general manager of Earl Stewart Toyota in North Palm Beach, FL, explained to reporters, “Our small SUVs are doing OK but the large SUVs and large trucks have definitely cooled off since the pickup in gas prices.”

Stewart added that at the same time, Toyota Prius sales have tripled, which is the reverse of the sales picture from the gas price crash late in 2008.

Stewart explains that two years ago, “…when gas was in the low-to-mid twos, we did a 180 the other way where Prius sales fell off the mark and we were selling more of the Sequoias and Tundras. My gut is it ties right into people’s pocketbooks.”

Stewart also said that the trade-in values of SUVs completely tanked the last time gasoline prices reached this high, though he added that these vehicles have never been terribly popular in his part of Florida. Nevertheless, the dealer said, he plans to cut back on the number he has for sale.

Another dealer, Dennis Egglefield, who owns Egglefield Ford in Elizabethtown, NY, said that sales of SUVs dropped by fifty percent during 2008′s gas price peak, but have leveled out since then. Egglefield’s dealership is in the Adirondack Mountains roughly 100 miles south of Montreal, Canada, and four-wheel-drives are the vehicles to have there. Nevertheless, Egglefield said that he’s noticed more customers leaning toward the smaller Ford Escape rather than the Explorer or Expedition

He explained that, “SUVs are still important in this area, but people are downsizing to more fuel efficient SUVs instead.”

He also said that as gas prices continue to go up, “…we are still stocking with the idea that it may go either way. Hoping for the best, but prepared for anything.”

Based on figures through November, 2010, the Ford F-150 pickup truck is now the most-searched-for vehicle, moving up from the number two position it held last year.

Every vehicle on this year’s list of the top ten most-searched-for used vehicles was also in the top ten last year, though there has been a lot of jockeying for position, and the Toyota Camry has had a significant drop.

So what are the top ten? Here’s the list, with last year’s ranking in parentheses.

1. Ford F-150 (2)
2. Chevrolet Tahoe (3)
3. Ford Mustang (4)
4. Honda Accord (1)
5. Jeep Wrangler (7)
6. Nissan Altima (9)
7. Honda Civic (6)
8. Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (10)
9. Toyota Tacoma (8)
10. Toyota Camry (5)