Posted on 02/15/2010 8:31:08 AM PST by neverdem
Detroit — What if the vehicles of the future don’t make money?
General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz continued his habit of talking truth to power last week — despite the fact that his company is now a subsidiary of the U.S. government. GM owners Barack Oama and Nancy Pelosi routinely claim that America is transitioning to a green transportation future, but Lutz stepped all over their lines at an industry event Friday when he said that hybrids will never comprise more than 10 percent of the U.S. market. Lutz was only expressing an industry consensus that hybrid-electrics are niche vehicles (like muscle cars) that enhance a company’s image but are too limited in appeal to go mainstream.
Worse, Lutz said that hybrids are money pits that will have to be subsidized by other GM vehicles.
Lutz has spearheaded GM’s plug-in Chevy Volt (due later this year) as a “halo car” enhancing GM’s green image. But he has also been skeptical of hybrids, pointing out the paradox of consumers who say they like fuel-efficient vehicles even as they are unwilling to pay hybrid premiums.
Meanwhile, Washington is pushing Detroit companies to build more hybrids. A good idea? GM’s taxpayer shareholders may want to listen to car guy Lutz.
— Henry Payne is an editorial writer and cartoonist for the Detroit News.
Why would you drive a hybred if it cost you more money? What’s the point?
IIRC, no Prius batteries have been replaced due to age yet.
This is exactly what happens when government sticks its nose in where it has no business. The idea that a bumch of clowns sitting in Washington take it upon themselves to dictate what people must buy is ludicrous. Soviets tried with their serial 5 and 10 year plans and it never worked.
So now, at the behest of Washington politicos, is finding out it is building cars nobody wants. Thank you Onada, Reid anf Palosi—the dullest knives in the drawer.
Simple liberal solution to a small hybrid share in the market. Tax gasoline until hybrids make financial sense.
And the baby boomers all haven’t started collecting social security either, but it’s coming.
And the Prius’ bigger footprint to build than the Hummer. Not even out of the factory it starts off at a loss to a HUMMER!!! Think how far back it starts to a good fuel car like a Chevy Cobalt. Or even a regular Civic.
Do those people have the same mentality as biology profs in AL?
You'll build what your Master tells you to build.
I have a co-worker who got a Honda hybrid. He told me that it "Gets 30 mpgs, but that number is actually higher because the motor cuts off at intersections".
I didn't have the heart to tell him that if you put 10 gallons in the car, and go 300 miles..... you're getting 30 mpgs regardless of whether your car spontaneously shuts itself off, or not.
The mental gymnastics that people go to, to justify their hybrid purchases, never cease to amaze me.
When the hybrids were first introduced, the engineers stated that this design was not good for the market. It was not a worth it limited advantages with its extended cost.
You seem to be implying that one is the cause of the other? Why not say that the higher your consumption of electricity, the more solar panels you have on your roof?
They cost too much.
Big Lie Level Orange
The batteries probably slowly degrade as opposed to outright failing. That would mean that the gas engine part of the hybrid ends up working a bit more. A driver might not notice the slow decline in efficiency for a while.
Also as people start to save gas, I have been hearing rumblings from govts on new taxes - they just aren’t making their money on taxing gas any more.
By the way, everytime I go onto a lib website they blame the failure of the car companies on the idea “they won’t make the green cars Americans want - only SUVs and such”.
I always laugh at people like this. My ultimate argument is always “If people want something, they buy it.”
surprise surprise.
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