The use of hybrid engines is becoming more mainstream, but Ottawa needs to help increase interest in the low-emission technology among consumers, industry officials said yesterday .

Several car makers are increasing their promotion of hybrid systems, which draw power from two different energy sources, typically a gasoline or diesel engine combined with an electric motor. Generally, they're seen as a bridge to zero-emission vehicles, largely still at the testing stage, powered by fuel cells.

However, while some hybrid vehicles are heading into higher production, the auto makers developing such vehicles say the federal government could speed up demand by offering more incentives.

"We, along with several others in the industry, have been trying to encourage Natural Resources [Canada] to put a program in place that would encourage consumers to accept this technology and to change their buying habits," Honda Canada spokesman Jim Miller said at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto.

He said federal tax rebates or other purchase incentives -- similar to programs offered in Ontario and British Columbia -- could go a long way in swaying consumer interest.

General Motors is also looking for Ottawa to promote its hybrid transit buses, one of which was displayed at the auto show.

GM sold 235 of the buses to Seattle and hopes the federal government will help share the cost of such vehicles with Canadian municipalities, said GM Canada president Michael Grimaldi.

While acknowledging that such sales would boost GM's profit, he noted that auto makers are being challenged by governments to reduce emissions across the industry, and that sales of such buses would fit with the Canadian government's own agenda of meeting Kyoto emission targets.

Natural Resources Minister John Efford didn't commit to any purchases or rebates.