President Bush's call for $4 billion in tax credits to encourage Americans to buy fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles has one big catch: For at least the next two years there will be virtually no hybrid production by the major auto makers, according to the Los Angeles Times. This year, only about 16,000 hybrids -- out of an expected 17 million passenger cars and trucks -- will be available in the U.S., all sold by Toyota and Honda. By late next year the annual total from the two companies could rise slightly, to about 26,000, according to the Times. The Bush plan proposes tax credits of $1,000 to $2,000, depending on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group confirmed on May 18 that, although they welcomed Bush's tax credit announcement, it remains a proposal and won't make them accelerate development of their hybrid vehicles. Some automotive experts believe production of hybrids will gather momentum eventually, but even a tenfold increase in the number of hybrids would bring them to only about 1 percent of all vehicles.