US
automakers just hoping hybrid vehicles go away?
Friday, July 18, 2008
Dodge
Durango hybrid: Can hybrid versions of gas-guzzlers save
the US auto industry?
The other day I read an article that has echoed a
sentiment spewing out of the mainstream auto publications
the last few weeks, 'give US automakers a break' because
'no one would have predicted $4.00 gas 4 years ago.'
Perhaps many, but many others saw this possibility. Thus,
I can only refer to people that, after 9/11 and Katrina,
for example, whom thought that foreign oil and oil
dependency weren't going to be an issue in the next few
years, as foolish, and I've been saying that on this blog
for more than 4 years. But, whatever, the past is the
past, and now I'm more concerned about the future.
In the future and within the next couple of years, Toyota
might already be producing a million hybrid
vehicles per year. Likewise, Honda is ramping up to
produce several hundred thousand hybrids per year.
In terms of US automakers, GM has the Chevy
Volt, but the world won't see 100,000 Volts per year
until some time after 2015. The only other hybrid
powertrain that GM has mentioned in such numbers is its
mild hybrid powertrain, which will be given a very
interesting lithium upgrade in 2010/2011. While this blog
regularly pooh-poohs mild hybrid vehicles, this lithium
angle does have potential, but, like the Volt, the keyword
is potential.
The other 2 US automakers will make some hybrids, but
neither seems to be scaling towards a plan of anywhere
near 100,000 hybrids per year, which means even if they
decide to do it, it will still take years to ramp up
production.
Fortunately, in the very near future, a significant drop
in gasoline prices is likely, and such a downward move -
as has happened in the past - could be a temporary
band-aide for US automakers, but a band-aide is just a
band-aide for the ills facing US automakers. Consequently,
can US automakers really stop the bleeding without far
more serious and aggressive hybrid plans?
posted by Dahcredyns at
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