The hybrid vehicle niche

Honda, the world's most efficient automaker is coming out with a new truck, called the Ridgeline. Recently, a BusinessWeek article covered the release of this truck and happened to make a reference to hybrid vehicles.

"The Ridgeline, though, has the biggest growth-and profit-potential. While hybrids have carved out a trendy and growing niche, Americans show little sign of abandoning gas guzzlers, and margins on pickups can be double those for compacts such as the Civic."

"Margins on pickups can double those for compacts such as the Civic."

Hmmmm. If I'm an American CEO, and I can double my margin on pickups, instead of fuel-efficient vehicles, where am I going to spend my marketing dollars?

Often, American consumers are blamed for America's dependency and desire for gas-guzzlers. But where have American auto marketing dollars gone? How often do you see an ad on T.V. promoting the coolness of fuel efficiency? How often do you see ads on T.V. comparing SUVs to supporting terrorism? And the connection between SUVs, Middle East Oil, and terrorism is far greater than the connection between drugs and terrorism - a marketing message far more common on television.

Americans are not abandoning gas-guzzling because they have been duped by billions of dollars worth of marketing because that marketing offers greater "margins". Corporations care about one and only one thing, profit.

If that profit has costs is only an afterthought - if even that.

Why can't media and industry just be honest?

The truth is, Americans just really have never had a choice. More important, the downsides of gas-guzzling have never really been marketed by the auto industry as a way of upping the margins on fuel-economy.

It's very easy to blame American consumers for the woes of the auto industry, but the truth is, the blame is almost solely that of the auto industry, particularly the American and European auto industry.

Of course, mainstream media is dependent upon corporate advertising; therefore, the blame will never be fully be placed upon them.

Hybrid cars, like the Toyota Prius, Honda Accord hybrid, or Ford Escape hybrid are much better vehicles than any other cars in their price range. Moreover, if the same amount of marketing dollars went into promoting fuel efficiency and foreign-oil-reducing technologies, as is spent on promoting SUVs, most SUVs would disappear.

Margins are controlling the market, not American consumers. Consumers are simply the patsy.

Make no mistake about it, corporations are at fault here, not the people. Unfortunately, only the people can change this.