As the article says, both companies produced these as regulatory compliance vehicles. Now they're shifted that effort over to electric because the incentives are better for them.
The only companies trying to make hybrids for real are Toyota and Honda. Everyone else is just pumping out low effort compliance vehicles. It is hardly surprising that these vehicles haven't been hugely successful.
I'd love to buy an electric vehicle. Unfortunately prices remain impractical ($30K+ for a sedan) and the federal tax incentive is both expiring and regressive (the richer you are the more you'll get back up to $7.2K, after the new standard deduction ($25K) I'd need to earn near $90K with two dependants to get the full amount).
They're great for those living in California or similar. Our state offers no incentives and actually stabbed people who installed solar in the back (decreased the buy-back amount to almost nothing).