Are U.S. automakers already dead?
Would the Volt electrify GM's profits?There have been some very interesting stories in the media regarding the slide in pickup truck sales for U.S. automakers. In addition, SUV sales - at least on the larger SUVs - are also down, as gas skips over $3.00 per gallon on its way higher.
While U.S. automakers offer smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles, those vehicles are not money makers for Detroit. Pickups and SUVs offer the big profit margins that U.S. automakers need to survive. Thus, I wonder, can U.S. automakers survive if fuel efficiency rules the auto market?
Even if GM had developed the Toyota Prius and was the king of hybrid cars, rather than Toyota, would it even matter? The profit margins on the Prius are even more narrow than economy vehicles - many of which are not profitable.
Scary days. I absolutely want to see U.S. automakers thrive, but not at the expense of increased foreign oil dependency, and I won't even get into global warming. And, while Detroit might be able to compete at producing fuel efficient technologies, the real question is, can Detroit profit from fuel efficiency?
Labels: Foreign Oil Dependency, fuel efficiency, global warming, hybrid cars
posted by Dahcredyns at
10:49 AM
1 Comments:
I like the idea of plug-in hybrids, but seems rather a waste, to have all the extra weight (and cost) of a gasoline engine if most of your driving can be done 100% on electricity. So to me its sort of a marketing failure - there's perhaps a failure of imagination, to consider the possibility of "downsizing", that less could be more. Admittingly the same issue exists for people who drive trucks and SUVs with injen cold air intake because SOMETIMES they need to haul big stuff, but most of the time are just wasting energy on dead weight of an empty truck.
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