German Cars Don't Deserve Dirty Reputation, Expert Says
Are German car makers doing enough to keep up with consumer tastes? Or should they be setting an example? DW-WORLD.DE spoke with an expert on the industry's current approach to environmentally friendly vehicle design.
Henning Wallentowitz has chaired the Institute for Automotive Engineering (IKA) at Germany's elite RWTH university in Aachen since 1993. In a conversation with DW-WORLD.DE ahead of the Detroit Auto Show, which opens Saturday, Jan. 19, he explained why German cars are small enough, and why engineers are waiting for consumers to set the pace for further green development. . . .
Ordinarily I would not pay much attention to an article like this but then there was this quote:
"The Japanese are selling hybrids in America. But we are quite sure they don't earn money with them. The price for those cars is too cheap to make a profit. Some people in America have made hybrids into a cause; from what I hear it is a lot of artists and actors. But hybrids make up just one percent of the market. And that isn't going to change in the near future. . . ."
No one has a monopoly on hubris. Still, I guess that makes us all "artists and actors."
Why aren't they selling here now? In the US it seems hybrid cars are constantly in the news.
They make it seem that hybrid news is good news- All I've read (Except from actual owners) are that they are slow, too expensive, are worst regarding EPA estimates and too complicated.
Take the same article- All the batteries make the car too heavy, and the batteries are not developed well enough.
They say Japan is loosing money on hybrids, yet most articles say they are too expensive.
Can they have it both ways? I wonder which one is it?
-Steve
Efficient drivers do it better. 1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT
More quotes:
They make it seem that hybrid news is good news- All I've read (Except from actual owners) are that they are slow, too expensive, are worst regarding EPA estimates and too complicated.
Take the same article- All the batteries make the car too heavy, and the batteries are not developed well enough.
They say Japan is loosing money on hybrids, yet most articles say they are too expensive.
Can they have it both ways? I wonder which one is it?
-Steve
For argument's sake, it can be both ways. If it cost, say 10k more to make a hybrid version (not a real number, just to illustrate the point) and they sell it for 5k more, then the manufacturer would lose 5k, and someone would complain that the hybrid cost 5k more than the non-hybrid model. Everybody is mad.
Despite that, I doubt Toyota is losing money on each one, but I seem to recall in another thread that Ford likely is (sorry, no reference link).
Hybrid hate will not fade away soon. I'm neither a doc nor an artist... I'm actually a Chemist, so I guess the writer of the article might want to include scientists on his list.
I've had co workers try to claim hybrids get worst mileage than the EPA estimates. I've proven them wrong on a daily basis. I actually believe the estimates for the TCH are at least 4 mpg lower than they should be because I consistently get above 38mpg even in cold weather.
Toyota broke thru in 2006 and now makes money on each Prius sale.
My source reports:
Quote:
. . .
Toyota officials recently told Bloomberg News that Prius is turning a small per-unit profit after some 75,000 worldwide sales as of late December 2001. Starting with 2002, the company will increase yearly Prius deliveries to the U.S. by about 40 percent to some 17,000 units. Even so, Toyota says sales will remain insufficient to offset research and development expenses, capital investment, and perhaps warranty costs. . . .
Achieving a "per-unit profit" is a major threshold. As for R&D and other costs, it looks like Toyota is getting a great return on their investment. Something every other car manufacturer is trying to copy . . . 10 years late.
"The Japanese are selling hybrids in America. But we are quite sure they don't earn money with them. The price for those cars is too cheap to make a profit. Some people in America have made hybrids into a cause; from what I hear it is a lot of artists and actors. But hybrids make up just one percent of the market. And that isn't going to change in the near future. . . ."
I would have expected this from an American Auto manufacturer, not from a German auto engineer (Henning Wallentowitz has chaired the Institute for Automotive Engineering (IKA) at Germany's elite RWTH university in Aachen).
Apparently, we won't be seeing any competitive hybrids from Germany!
Optimism doesn't wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.
German Cars Don't Deserve Dirty Reputation,
Re: German Cars Don't Deserve Dirty Reputation,
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT
Re: German Cars Don't Deserve Dirty Reputation,
