Given how often the heads of Detroit’s automakers were chastised during their initial congressional testimony for not building more green vehicles, one might have thought they were at a Greenpeace convention rather than grovelling for billions in taxpayer assistance. The criticism stung enough that they made their return trip to Washington by road, and not in just any cars – they drove hybrids.

Long a fashion statement more than an economical choice, sales of such hybrids as the category-leading Toyota Prius, along with those of regular subcompact cars, surged last summer as regular gasoline prices hit $4.05 a gallon. Six months later, pump prices are at about $1.67 and Prius sales were down nearly half from July – a bigger drop than Toyota saw for light trucks. By tapping into Washington’s fascination with all things green, Detroit was able to create the impression that its companies, even if they had lost sight of the bottom line, at least had an eye on the future.