Yesterday Volkswagen AG CEO Martin Winterkorn told Automotive News that plug-in hybrids and natural gas engines have a much better chance to succeed over the next decade than fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), and this is where the company will spend more of its efforts.

“I do not see the infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles, and I do not see how hydrogen can be produced on large scale at reasonable cost,” Automotive News reported Winterkorn said through a translator at VW headquarters. “I do not currently see a situation where we can offer fuel cell vehicles at a reasonable cost that consumers would also be willing to pay.”

The company says it will keep fuel cell irons in the fire, as it were, and continue studying the dilemma it sees with fuel cells, but its bearish tone rings in marked contrast to publicized efforts by Daimler, Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, and others.

If inclined to see things Winterkorn’s way, observers might say he has adopted the stance of the boy who commented on the “emperor’s new clothes,” in the classic fable where the king was actually unclothed, but no one would say it.

Reportedly speaking with a major rival in mind, Daimler, Winterkorn generally said that the way competing automakers have boasted of their fuel cell efforts, one could have anticipated their entire fleet would be fuel-cell by 2012.

Mercedes-Benz has made a number of efforts to drum up interest for its F-Cell. And it’s been at it for a while as it says the game is still on.

In 1994, Daimler AG introduced its NECAR – short for “new electric car” – and has recently struck an agreement with Ford and Renault-Nissan to launch jointly designed FCEVs in 2017.

Another year to watch on the FCEV front is 2015. This is when Toyota has said it will launch its FCV-R fuel cell car, and this same year Hyundai has said it will sell thousands of ix35 SUVs in all 50 United States.

Honda has plugged away as a lone pioneer, and has leased an estimated 40 of its FCX Clarity since 2008.

VW has started to increase development and announcements of plug-in hybrids, including the pending limited-production XL1 diesel plug-in hybrid (photo) said to achieve 261 mpg.

More trickle-down and shared technology is expected to follow into VW Group’s more everyday lines of vehicles.

The occasion for Winterkorn’s scorn for FCEVs, and plug for plug-ins followed the Geneva auto show this month. There, Volkswagen AG announced its strategy to eventually sell a plug-in hybrid version in every vehicle segment of all its various brands.

Automotive News

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This finding follows similar results UMTRI citied when it said earlier this year that the United States has become nearly 20 percent more efficient since fall of 2007 after the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard was raised five years ago as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act .

The Detroit Bureau reports that consumer response to high fuel costs combined with wide availability of fuel efficient vehicles from carmakers like GM and VW helped drive the record average fuel economy last year.

“Our investments in advanced powertrains are clearly paying off, and our smaller vehicles are resonating with customers,” Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, said.

“In 2013, we’ll introduce new diesel, eAssist and plug-in vehicles in the United States and expand the availability of turbocharged four-cylinder engines. This will give us the most technologically diverse range of fuel-efficient cars and crossovers in the industry,” said Reuss.

Even pickup trucks, traditionally strong sellers, but also notorious for poor fuel efficiency, have improved in mpg in recent years.

All three of the Detroit makers are emphasizing mileage with new, downsized powertrains, with Ford leading the way. The article says about half of Ford’s F-Series buyers shift to V-6 offerings over the past year, including the V-6 EcoBoost that can still match the towing and payload capacity of the Ford truck’s classic V-8s.

As Joseph Szczesny of Bureau writes, Dodge now boasts that its Ram pickup is capable of 25 mpg, the best on the market according to the manufacturer.

The Detroit Bureau

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