This post was contributed by Mr. Sunshine, a new greenerMIAMI correspondent.
Well, it looks like the American car makers are going to get their clock cleaned again.
An AP story in the Herald by Dee-Ann Durbin reveals:
Although a slowdown is expected in the second half of the year, J.D. Power is forecasting total sales of 345,000 hybrids for 2007, a 35 percent increase from 2006 when the current record of 256,000 was set.
The Toyota Prius continues to be the bestselling hybrid model, accounting for just more than half of all hybrids sold.
Remember the anti-Japanese 1980’s when US automakers would have symbolic “bashings” of some little Datsun or Toyota? You’d better dust off your safety glasses because I think the windshields are gonna get bashed again and our domestic auto manufacturers have nobody to blame but themselves.
Chrysler (the company that cheats fuel economy requirements by calling the PT Cruiser a “truck”) has turned into such a lemon for it’s former parent company Daimler-Benz that it dumped it at a loss to a private equity firm.
GM will officially lose it’s crown as the #1 car maker to Toyota this year which (surprise) pins it’s new found status as the world’s largest car company to their investment in fuel efficient and hybrid-drive cars.
From Yurika Geyama, AP Business Writer, posted on Herald.com 8/3/07:
Booming sales of fuel-efficient cars helped lift Toyota to its biggest quarterly profit and put the maker of the Prius hybrid on pace to beat General Motors as the world’s No. 1 automaker this year.
…Surging gas prices have proved a big plus for Toyota as drivers flock to its fuel-efficient models, including the Camry, the best-selling model in the U.S., and the Prius gas-electric hybrid.
Ford, which was on track to start turning out hybrids, has backed off, but at least offers one hybrid model – in an SUV of course.
GM is betting on the Back to the Future “Volt” which is half-Harry Potter fantasy car at this point since the engineers at GM admit they have no idea where the “Volt” will get the “juice” to “go.” I bet they wish they hadn’t smashed up all those EV1s now.
Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t think hybrids are the solution to all our global warming and "peak oil" woes. I’m not sure any car technology will do that really. But as gasoline settles uncomfortably around $3 a gallon with all expectations that it will inexorably rise as world demand grows, US car companies, still deluded to this reality, will try to stick a hybrid drive in a Hummer and call it the Eco.
Like Yogi Berra said “it’s déjà vu all over again.”
For a list of the most fuel efficient cars on the road, visit fueleconomy.gov
2 Responses to “Hybrid sales strong – Hummers and Expeditions soon to be sold for scrap value”
Great post!
If the economics don’t work, recycling efforts won’t either.
As our little contribution to make this economics of recycling more appealing, http://LivePaths.com blogs about people and companies that make money selling recycled or reused items, provide green services or help us reduce our dependency on non renewable resources.
I think Miami Dade gov, should do MORE AND MORE to improve on traffic problems, enviroment problems (uses of less polluting vehicules,etc) , and parking situation .
Should be more beneficies for citizens or miami residents who use better MPG cars, promote the use of bicycles installing more bicycles parking areas and bicycles path, also promoting the use of Motorcycles, they use less gasoline, and have better use of parking space, should be free the parking in miami beach and downtown of motorcycles, so people will use them instead of use big cars, more and more incentives should improve a lot, may be 20% or 30% on poluttion, parking and trafic situation .