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What’s next for hybrid vehicles?
Lately hybrids have been a hot topic in the auto world. Spurred on by the price of gas, many auto makers have begun to focus aggressively on producing and marketing them. However, discerning consumers may have seen that in some cases the purchase of a hybrid will not save them much or any money at all.
It is true that you will save money because of the increased fuel efficiency but a hybrid car will cost around $3,000 more than its standard gas powered equivalent. So, your driving habits will determine how much money you will save in the long run. Most of the time it will end up being a wash.
Up to this point, most hybrid owners purchased their vehicles because of environmental and social reasons. If the hybrid is to make it big, it’s going to need to become cheaper.
However, for hybrids to take a major slice of the mass market, it will require the ‘hybrid price premium’ to be slashed from it’s current $3,000+ level to less than $1,000. Toyota, for one, is focusing on achieving this as soon as practicable.
Better technology and more efficient manufacturing techniques will be needed to bring the hybrid price down. However, there is another option. Flex fuel hybrids may help consumers get the most bang for their buck.
What makes real sense is the upgrading of current hybrid offerings to become ‘flexible fuel hybrids’, and full support from manufacturers that all new hybrid models will run on any mix of gasoline and E85. Less than $200 is added to the production cost of a conventional gasoline vehicle in upgrading it to handle E85. Congress, realizing that we are confronted by Global Warming, Peak Oil, and Energy Insecurity, has put the necessary ethanol pump-priming into the new Energy Policy Act.
Saving the environment is a very noble and worthy reason to own a hybrid but most car buyers are looking for one thing: A cheap fuel efficient car. Hopefully, that option is on the way.
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A top advisor leaves after less than a year.
It seems like every other day somebody important is stepping down or leaving a company. Late last week is was Stephen Girsky’s turn. Girsky was a full-time advisor for GM for a little under a year. Before that, he was an analyst on Wall Street.
As usual he cited family/personal reasons for his departure. He wanted a job closer to home. He was currently having to commute from New York to Detroit on a regular basis, and felt good about leaving at this time for business reasons.
Simonetti [GM Spokesperson] also said Girsky felt it was a good time to leave GM because the automaker’s North American turnaround plan is on track. GM narrowed its first-quarter loss to $323 million, down from $1.3 billion the year before.
That is definitely an improvement, but his replacement and the rest of the GM brass have their work cut out for them to get back to positive numbers. It just makes you wonder sometimes when people just leave for “family reasons.” However, GM shares rose 9 cents after the news became public.
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GM CEO thinks so.
We have been talking about the price of gas a lot lately. It seems that everywhere you turn you are reminded of $3.00 a gallon gas and the threat that it might go higher. There are a lot of people afraid of just that happening. However, Rick Wagoner is not among them.
Wagoner, chief executive of General Motors, is optimistic that gas prices will come back down in the future. But how near is that future? I’m not sure but hopefully soon.
"They are too high right now and they will come back down," Wagoner said of oil prices during a conference at the company’s headquarters in Detroit that was broadcast over the Internet. He said consumer behavior isn’t expected to be negatively impacted by current gasoline prices, which are averaging about $2.92 a gallon according to the American Automobile Association.
This kind of thinking does seem to go against the latest trends. Some consumers do seem to be moving toward smaller more efficient cars and automakers like Ford and Toyota are rushing to accommodate them with lots of hybrids. GM is also working on its own share of hybrid vehicles but are not as focused on it as the other two I just mentioned. They are still committed to bigger vehicles as well as the small.
Wagoner said GM aims to keep developing engines for its vehicles with improved fuel economy in mind. He said buyers tend to gravitate to bigger, more-powerful vehicles that typically consume relatively high levels of fuel. GM has touted its new full-size SUVs as being capable of achieving 20 miles per gallon, and the auto maker has a number of vehicles capable of achieving better than 30 miles per gallon.
The truth is that no one can predict exactly what will happen. Each manufacturer will have to make its own adjustments as they go. However, for the sake of our wallets I hope Mr. Wagoner is right.
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Toyota out sells Chrysler in the month of April.
Everyone knows that the North American automobile market has been dominated by the big three (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) for a long time now. Pretty much since people have been driving the things. However, Toyota, Japan’s top auto maker, has been steadily gaining ground over the past few years. Recently, they have benefitted from increased sales among smaller more fuel efficient cars.
This trend has helped them to out sell Chrysler (number 3 of the Big 3) in the month of April as Chrysler’s sales dipped and Toyota’s rose. During this same month, GM and Ford both saw a drop in sales as well.
Does this mean that Toyota will be able to out sell Chrysler for the year and cut the Big 3 down to 2?
To that end, both Toyota and Chrysler spokesmen were noncommittal. "We don’t really care" that Toyota’s sales are increasing, said Jason Vines, Chrysler Group spokesman. Vines noted that strong sales of the new Caliber compact and a slew of upcoming new models would keep Chrysler’s sales momentum strong for the rest of 2006.
Toyota has been equally aloof about this possibility but you know it has to be in the back of their minds. The North American companies have had many struggles of late but Toyota seems to keep expanding its American market.
No matter what happens, hopefully this competition will bring about good result for the industry and for the drivers.
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GM�s hot new concept car.
GM has had its share of bad luck recently. So I guess the company is glad to have some good news, even if it comes in the form of a minor controversy.
In January the auto maker unveiled its new Camaro concept car. The buzz about it has been growing since then. It’s grown so much that people are willing to put down cash deposits on the car. Keep in mind, that it is still a concept car, and GM has not confirmed that it will produce the car.
There has been unsolicited deposits offered, but the controversy surrounds a dealership in Dearborn Michigan which has advertised the coming of the new Camaro and offered to take deposits.
Les Stanford Chevrolet in Dearborn has solicited deposits from enthusiasts who want to order the Camaro. In the May edition of the national car-enthusiast magazine duPont Registry, Stanford published an ad that says “the new Camaro is coming,” advising readers to “reserve yours today.”
The dealership took five deposits of about $1,000 each after placing the ad, owner Paul Stanford said.
However, there seems to be no real intent to scam anyone here. It’s just a case of people getting excited over the car. The Dearborn ads will be modified and any mention of the Camaro will be removed.
There has been similar excitement about concept cars in the past as well. In 1989, Chrysler received unsolicited deposits for the Dodge Viper.
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Controversy over higher fuel standards.
Late last week the White House asked Congress for the power to raise the fuel standards for passenger cars. They already have this ability concerning trucks and SUVs. They want to raise the minimum average miles per gallon the auto makers will have to meet with their cars.
They are trying to help calm people’s fears and complaints over the rising gas prices. However, not everyone thinks this is a good move.
Mineta said a simple increase in standards under the current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) system "would increase fatalities on America’s highways, raise health care costs and reduce employment. As a result, the administration would oppose any increase in passenger car CAFE standards without corresponding reform."
Those sound like some serious charges. Other opponents note how this would not have any immediate effects anyway. The auto makers will have a few years to comply with any changes.
This may be true but we definitely need to plan for the future.
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Honda�s new subcompact car.
A week ago I talked about the rise in subcompact cars. It seems like every major manufacturer has a new small car coming out, and one of the most anticipated models is the new Honda Fit. It sounds odd, but honda forsees fit doing fine with youngsters who want to help the enviroment and save on gas money.
Honda started a massive advertising campaign on its new models behalf earlier this week. Estimates suggest they will spend between $20 and $50 million in advertising for the Fit this year. The ads will target young first time buyers labeled as “metro-funky.” Does anyone really want to be fitted with that label?
The Fit is targeted, according to RPA, Honda’s long time advertising agency, at consumers with a non-conformist mindset. The words used were “metro-funky” a demographic/psychographic term I don’t recall being used before, but do understand.
It’s the new generation of first new car buyers – they’re well beyond the “grown-up with TV” generation designation. These are today’s real media mavens – some call them media monsters. It’s a hugely savvy, expressive, independent market with lots of RTS, or ready-to-spend cash and plastic.
As well as these hip, non-conformist youngsters, Honda is hoping to draw in the older crowd. The thinking is that retiring boomers will want something small and inexpensive.
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A new engine design to compete with all those hybrids.
Yesterday, I talked about a very fuel efficient vehicle that was not a hybrid. Today its not a car. It’s an engine; well, an engine design. The whole process doesn’t sound too complicated, but I’ll let the experts explain it to you.
Whether or not you wanted the full explanation, it boils down to this; the new design will produce a smaller more efficient engine through the use of adding ethanol to the gas at certain points (Ethanol Boosting System or EBS). The smaller engine will also make the car lighter.
The designers claim that this engine will be able to match today’s hybrid systems and will be cheaper. Now that’s a word we all love to hear. However, this technology is still 5 years or so away from mainstream and could face a few hurdles. For example, the driver would have to keep a smaller separate tank filled with ethanol, however, there are problems that come along with this design:
The challenges EBS is likely to encounter he says, have more to do with logistics — two fuel tanks in a vehicle can be hard to implement, and there’s the challenge of making sure ethanol is available at the corner gas station. Also, the engine will need a system that ensures it isn’t damaged if the driver forgets to fill the ethanol tank.
The new engine should be 30 percent more efficient than conventional engines, based on a computer model the researchers say accurately reproduces the behavior of internal-combustion gasoline engines.
I’m just glad to see all these new innovations. I don’t mind diverse answers as long as everyone is working on the problem.
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A look at an impressive new entry in the battle for better fuel economy.
Recently, I’ve posted several topics about auto news relating to the gas crunch and vehicles with good fuel economy. Today, however, I was very excited when I saw the Loremo. Not only does it get 157 miles per gallon but it just looks great.
The Loremo is produced by a six year old German car company name Loremo AG. Despite its gas mileage the Loremo is not a hybrid and still has good performance.
The base model Loremo LS is powered by a 2 cylinder 20 hp turbo diesel engine that will reach a speed of 100 mph and the GT model will reach up to 135 mph with a 0 to 60 mph acceleration of 9 seconds.
Wow! That sounds great but how did they do it? Well, the car is extremely light weight and aerodynamic. And even with its light weight, the Loremo still meets safety standards because of their patented “linear cell structure” method.
This sounds like a very ground breaking and interesting car but, sadly, at this time it looks like it will only be for sale in Europe
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Ford endured a first quarter loss and more may be coming.
Just yesterday gas was going for $2.85 a gallon in the city where I live. And I’m not talking about the premium stuff. We all know that it will continue to climb as summer approaches. Right now there is talk of $4.00 a gallon in the near future!
This is definitely not good for our wallets. It is also not good news for Ford. The automaker just posted a $1.19 billion first quarter loss. The company has a lot of problems right now, but the one that directly correlates with the high gas prices is the fact that they have been heavily dependent on their SUVs for years. Ford’s SUVs, along with its F-series trucks, have been bailing out the companies weak car sales for years now.
Ford’s CEO, Bill Ford Jr. seems to be ready to turn the company around inspite of gas prices:
"Three months in, we are in the very early stages of this strategy to transform the way we do business, down to its very core," said chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr.
However, as gas goes higher they may see declining SUV sales as motorists turn to smaller vehicles with better fuel economies. Their F-series trucks will also have to face some new competition as GM and Toyota take aim at them with their new truck offerings.
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