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The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have
Business Week ^ | September 4, 2008 | David Kiley

Posted on 11/09/2008 7:02:49 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor (F), known widely for lumbering gas hogs.

Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.

Automakers such as Volkswagen (VLKAY) and Mercedes-Benz (DAI) have predicted for years that a technology called "clean diesel" would overcome many Americans' antipathy to a fuel still often thought of as the smelly stuff that powers tractor trailers. Diesel vehicles now hitting the market with pollution-fighting technology are as clean or cleaner than gasoline and at least 30% more fuel-efficient.

Yet while half of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel, the U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel. Taxes aimed at commercial trucks mean diesel costs anywhere from 40 cents to $1 more per gallon than gasoline. Add to this the success of the Toyota Prius, and you can see why only 3% of cars in the U.S. use diesel. "Americans see hybrids as the darling," says Global Insight auto analyst Philip Gott, "and diesel as old-tech."

(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: automakers; automobiles; diesel; economy; energy; environment; ford; fordmotor; globalwarming; oil
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To: org.whodat
it is all about who gives them the checks and the hoes.

You spelled that wrong, it is the checks and the HO's. Hoes are for those who work to pay for the HO's.

61 posted on 11/10/2008 12:41:14 AM PST by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

btt


62 posted on 11/10/2008 1:00:46 AM PST by Cacique (quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat ( Islamia Delenda Est ))
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To: American in Israel

The problem is most emphatically NOT Ford, but FEDERAL REGULATIONS.

Don’t kid yourself, if any MFR could simply bring over cars that they have in inventory and are in demand, and sell them here, you don’t think they would do so?

Even GM isn’t THAT stupid.


63 posted on 11/10/2008 1:08:54 AM PST by Don W (To write with a broken pencil is pointless.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The closest gas station to me, a Chevron, just converted their diesel tank/pumps to E85, which is a pure boondoggle in my book, meant to placate the ADM lobby / Iowa voters.


64 posted on 11/10/2008 4:19:17 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Obama: Carter's only chance to avoid going down in history as the worst U.S. president ever.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My old boss had 300Ds of that era. He’d pick them up lightly used, from people who had to have a new car every two years. He religiously changed the oil every 3000 miles, and did standard stuff like brakes and windshield wipers, and they ran on and on and on and on and . . .


65 posted on 11/10/2008 4:21:23 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Obama: Carter's only chance to avoid going down in history as the worst U.S. president ever.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

By the time you pay a dollar a gallon extra for special fuel you might as well own the 40mpg diesel Volkswagon has.


66 posted on 11/10/2008 4:23:45 AM PST by DainBramage
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To: gridlock
It costs less per gallon to produce diesel

With the new EPA Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel requirements, I am not sure that is true anymore.

67 posted on 11/10/2008 5:25:23 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I can say confidently from my own experience... I would never buy a Ford FIESTA, even if it got 700mpg.
68 posted on 11/10/2008 6:36:09 AM PST by Constitutionalist Conservative (ACORN is a criminal enterprise)
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To: Paul R.

The proof is in the past! They MADE the cars with great gas mileage so why not now? Why not here in the U.S.?


69 posted on 11/10/2008 7:36:26 AM PST by ConfidentConservative (I think, therefore I am conservative.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My comfortable, mid-sized, luxury, 0-60-in-5.9-seconds Mercedes gets about 30 mpg off the highway (except in stop-and-go traffic) and about 38 mpg on the highway at 75 mph. Not an econobox, plenty of trunk space, terrific handling, seats five.

Diesel is cool.


70 posted on 11/10/2008 7:41:01 AM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: Spktyr

“Canada’s emissions standards are also looser than the US’s. Heck, they allowed Russian-made Lada Nivas there.”

Not really, any longer. We hold to about the same emissions standards as the federal regs in the US, although not California’s standards.

I don’t really know about what Ford Fiesta with a diesel that is sold in Canada you guys are talking about. I’ve never seen one here, nor does Ford’s Canadian website have them. Generally speaking if it’s not available for the US market it’s not available here, either, and sometimes not even then. It’s not cost efficient to qualify a car just for the Canadian market, when the US standards are almost exactly the same.


71 posted on 11/10/2008 8:26:31 AM PST by -YYZ- (Strong like bull, smart like ox.)
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To: gridlock

24.4 cents/gal diesel vs. 18.4 cents/gal gas. Doesn’t sound like much of a discouragement to me, unless it’s taxed at the wholesale level as well.


72 posted on 11/10/2008 3:02:57 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvxiG56M-eU)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Hey, thanks for the post here. I’m a big Diesel fan; if the monies/R&D that’ve been poured into Gasoline engines had been put into Diesels, I think we would be in a much different place (in oil consumption/independence).


73 posted on 11/11/2008 6:09:29 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S."

Actually, the reasons center around the federal government's inane environazi regulations concerning diesel engines. The fuel is more expensive than gas, even though the actual cost to refine diesel is less (regulations at fault here). And, the emissions on diesels have become very strict in recent years - so strict that diesels that are prevalent around the world cannot be sold here.

74 posted on 11/11/2008 6:16:28 PM PST by meyer (We are all John Galt)
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To: Spktyr

I did a little Googling and came up with:

2009 Ford Focus wt. = 2623 lbs.

2008 Honda Fit = 2512 lbs.

1985 Honda CRX HF = 1713 lbs.

So, “less than half” is a bit of a stretch, but, nonetheless, your point is well taken. All these nits who think the auto companies can just increase fuel economy at will are not taking all factors into account.


75 posted on 11/14/2008 2:26:26 AM PST by Paul R. (We are in a break in an Ice Age. A brief break at that...)
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To: Paul R.

At this point, what with all the regulations, the auto makers have run out of aero and engine tricks. The last straw was the Euro-mandated and US-recommended high hoodlines “for pedestrian safety”. It is almost impossible to get something with a mandated high bluff front to get better fuel economy than something small and low slung, yet that’s exactly what the government wants companies to do.

Even before then, all the makers were sounding off about running out of things they could do for fuel efficiency while keeping cars affordable.

There is a story running around about Honda taking a look at remaking the CRX idea in a manner that would get the 55-60mpg of the original but meet modern standards. Turns out they’d have to make it mostly out of carbon fiber and titanium and it would cost $65,000 a copy.

Honda shelved the plans.


76 posted on 11/14/2008 2:59:46 AM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
...Ford Motor (F), known widely for lumbering gas hogs.

Was this written in 1971? ;)

77 posted on 11/14/2008 3:11:23 AM PST by TankerKC (I'm waiting for my government ration of hope.)
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To: TankerKC

Let’s face it, their best selling model is the F-150 (not that efficient) and their most visible model is the Crown Vic.


78 posted on 11/14/2008 3:31:58 AM PST by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Spktyr

I guess I’d better hold on to my Mazda MX-3 GS 5-speed!!! (I know, it’s not the best mileage car around, but it sure is a delight to drive on a curvy road!)


79 posted on 11/16/2008 12:13:09 AM PST by Paul R. (We are in a break in an Ice Age. A brief break at that...)
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To: greeneyes

A good chunk of that $12,000 cost differential is from building the car in a European auto factory, paying European wages, and with European environmental regulations.

Combined with the weakness of the US dollar versus the Euro.

Build the same car, with the same parts... in Mexico, using US parts makers and with Mexican labor, and you’d be able to drop most (if not ALL) of that price difference.


80 posted on 11/23/2008 4:57:09 PM PST by gogogodzilla (Live free or die!)
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