i agree that the prius has a completely different image, aided by the huge amount of publicity and "celebrity" exposure it gets. and this is a huge factor, but it's not the "only" or "entire" reason why the prius is so successful. i also agree that honda does a painfully small amount of advertising. but if you take all that away, an average buyer is going to see things like cost, power, EPA fuel efficiency ratings...

while the fuel economy numbers may or may not be accurate, with significantly more power, a competitive price, and seemingly better efficiency, how does your average non-enthusiast buyer know any better? most people aren't looking into the inner workings of each hybrid system, which one they think makes the most sense - no, one is more efficient than the other.