drossless:

Your point is moderately valid, in that every major purchase has some symbolic significance to the purchaser. But it is easy to make far too much of this and imply that the symbolic significance is the sole or primary element in the purchase decision. For instance, people who claim that the odd shape of the Prius is significant mostly for advertising the purchaser's environmental virtue, ignore that the odd shape's intention was to lessen drag and is one of many significant design choices that make Prius indisputably the most efficient existing hybrid. Does it look different? Yes. Is it the best hybrid? Yes. So which fact is truly the most significant to a purchaser?

Your example of the Accord exemplifies this confusion. Yes, the Accord does not look like a hybrid, and on casual consideration one might therefore decide that this is the reason for its failure in the marketplace. But, Honda decided to use hybrid technology in the Accord not to significantly improve mileage, but to increase the car's power. The hybrid Accord was the most powerful and well-quipped model in the Accord line. But it's improvement in mpg was minuscule. Therefore, a purchaser interested in a hybrid could see the hybrid Accord, which cost significantly more than a normal Accord, as a poor solution to his or her desire to significantly increase mpg, and reject it for that reason. Did the Accord hybrid look like a normal car? Yes. Did it significantly improve mpg at a reasonable cost? No. So which fact was truly more significant to a potential purchaser?

Consider as well that they hybrid Civic, which looks like a normal car and is second only to Prius in hybrid mpg, has always been the second best selling hybrid, and this argument is further undermined.

i think we're kind of saying the same thing, but from mirror images. indeed, those after the absolute best mileage will go after hybrid subcompacts, the prius and the civic. (and the insight, r.i.p.) but the regular civic gets decent mileage without hybridization, IIRC, the third place mileage champ after the prius and civic hybrid is the Mini, nonhybrid. so you're chasing after diminishing returns. it's like trying to cut down your energy consumption by removing the nightlights in the house, while leaving all the 100 watt incandescents.

similarly for the accord hybrid; as you point out, those who want mileage most of all wouldn't see it as an improvement. but those whose biggest goal was a snappy car in the accord line should have jumped at it; it wasn't designed to sell as pure economy over all, it was designed to sell as a satisfying and well equipped and quick car, with no penalty in mileage. apparently, there's no market for that.

of course, this is like a while back, when honda brought out the accord station wagon, a terrific and roomy station wagon that got 30 mpg; and everybody ignored it and bought great big suvs.