Comments on: Study Says Aggressive CAFE Increases Would Pay Big Dividends for Detroit

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 04:21:04 +0000

@Dom, that's how Automotive news reported the story.

BTW, a Cruze Eco with A6 is rated 36 MPG, for highway driving, 'only'.

By: Dom

Dom — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:41:33 +0000

Anonymous said "The Cruze Eco requires a manual transmission to reach 42 mpg on the highway. "

You say that like it's a bad thing...

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 18:22:42 +0000

Honda Fit sales +43%, Insight +62% both achieve new record sales for March;
CR-V sales +43%, all time record sales for the second straight month.

Total hybrid sales +112%.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 16:19:53 +0000

Toyota reported sales of 24,739 hybrid vehicles in March, +42.5%.
Toyota div. 20,839 +44.1%
Lexus 3,000 +34.8%.

Factoring out Prius, of which sales increased by 52%, I estimate that sales of the other Toyota hybrids actually fell by about 500 in MArch.

By similar measure, if sales of the newly launched CT200h is taken out, sales of Lexus hybrid actually fell by over 1,300.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 04:40:19 +0000

I think in mid-March, Nissan announced that 'more than 1,500 Nissan LEAF vehicles were either in transit from Japan or at port in the U.S.'

So, if not delivered in March, then shouldn't all of them be delivered in this month?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 02:06:56 +0000

March auto sales is in

LEAF sold 298 units and Volt sold 608 and thats 900 +.
Meanwhile Prius sold 18,000 + while CT200h sold 2,100 + - superb start.

Lincoln MKZ Hybrid reached a record 615

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:47:37 +0000

Regarding the Autonews story, forgot to mention [from the same article]:

"the [Chevy Cruze] Eco with an automatic transmission gets 5 mpg less on the highway." [when compared with 42 mpg from manual transmission model]

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 21:23:52 +0000

Dom, the biggest difference in safety requirements between the US and the EU, is that the EU lets stupid people be killed in their cars. We have requirements to protect the unbelted passengers, that the EU does not.

I would like to see convergence between the EU and US on auto requirements. I think the auto industry agrees.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:14:02 +0000

From Mar 28 2011 Autonews:
'On the Super Bowl telecast, also last month, a Chevrolet commercial showed a group of senior citizens who have difficulty hearing and believing the Cruze's 42 mpg.

But while Chevrolet and Ford tout their 40-mpg models in advertising, only a small percentage of Cruze, Fiesta and Focus models hit that mark.

Ford's optional Super Fuel Economy package, SFE for short, is available only with the SE trim. The Cruze Eco requires a manual transmission to reach 42 mpg on the highway. All of the 40-mpg or better Chevrolets and Fords are expected to be low-volume players.

IHS' Handler says Chevrolet and Ford "are using that advertising to get people in the door." [...]

Rich Brusky, new-car sales manager at Heiser Chevrolet, also in West Allis, says buyers don't care about the fuel economy difference. "The Eco has had quite a bit of interest, but they have been kind of hard to get. People who buy the automatic still get good gas mileage."

Ford, meanwhile, is touting its 40-mpg versions of the Fiesta and Focus. That's 2 mpg higher than the regular models with automatic transmission. Most of the 2 mpg increase stems from low-rolling-resistance tires, included in the optional SFE package.

Jim Heutel, president of Sunset Ford in St. Louis, says the 2 mpg increase is unlikely to sway a buyer. His challenge is Fiesta allocation -- he needs more cars. He does not have a Fiesta with the SFE package, nor is he sure he wants to order that model.

Heutel says: "When you only get a couple offered to you, which ones do you stock? Which one is going to be the fast turn?
"Would I really rather have the one that gives me two more miles to the gallon than the one that has the brighter color and a few more accessories?" '

By: George T.

George T. — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:56:18 +0000

"Study Says Aggressive CAFE Increases Would Pay Big Dividends for Detroit"

You do not need a study to confirm that. Plug-in cars right now are more expensive - more works goes into making them - hence auto industry will need more people to produce those cars. On the other hand people in USA need cars - the whole infrastructure is build for car owners - so not much less cars will be sold - people still need cars.

So indeed there are big dividends for Detroit. Why are they gearing up for a major fight? May be it is OPEC speaks?