http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,...048843,00.html

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."

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

Well, I guess I'm BUSTED!

BFA Fine Arts, 1974
Carnegie-Mellon University

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

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

Anyone Google that in 2007, the Prius outsold the Ford Explorer?

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

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).

rcomeau

Toyota broke thru in 2006 and now makes money on each Prius sale.

2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best Interstate tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain.

Best Interstate tank trip E30 MPG 34.6 for 271 miles along I-80 in Indiana and Ohio.

Best multiple road tank trip E30 MPG 36.2 for 202 miles in Southwestern Pa.

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.

#.html" style="border:0" title="Hybrid Cars Mileage">6041/signature.png" border=0 alt="Hybrid Cars Mileage">

My source reports:
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffwor...yota-prius.htm

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.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

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.

Doesn't the old saying go something like this - you gotta spend money to make money?

Toyota already made losses on the old Prius. After 10 years, they're raking in the profits.

Mods: EV mod, VVT-i emblem, sport pedals, OEM cargo mat, JDM Prius interior footwell lighting, Sylvania Silverstars 9003ST, DICE iPod kit, OEM all-weather mats, TomTom ONE v2, LED licence plate lights.