Gas 2.0 |
| Posted: 09 Dec 2010 03:03 PM PST
It's a fact that Americans love big vehicles. The best-selling vehicle for the past three decades has been the F-150 pickup. So it should come as no surprise that small car sales are still slow in America. The best-selling sub-compact in America, the Nissan Versa, sold just 6,724 units in November. Meanwhile, the outgoing Ford Focus sold over 13,000 units, almost twice as many as the cheaper Versa. It seems as though Americans gravitate towards the largest car they can afford. Big incentives on the Focus brought the price down substantially I reckon, and even though the car will soon be replaced, Americans decided they'd rather have more car. Just 3,473 2011 Ford Fiestas were moved from dealer lots last month, despite the car debuting to rave reviews and an intensive social-media campaign. It gets 40 mpg highway compared to the Focus's 35 mpg (and that's with a manual transmission compared to the Fiesta's automatic). By all accounts, the Fiesta is a far better car than the old Focus, but Ford sold three Focuses' for every one Fiesta. In March of 2010, Ford sold over 68,000 Fiestas in Europe. That's more than twice the total subcompact sales in all of the U.S. in the month of November. In fairness though, December is traditionally the best time to buy a new car, and incredible incentives might have convinced some people to wait a few weeks to make their automotive purchase. We’ll revisit this topic in a month, though something tells me getting Americans to rock smaller cars isn't gonna be easy. Source: KickingTires Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout. |
| Chinese Hybrid Sales Slow Despite Incentives Posted: 09 Dec 2010 01:43 PM PST
The Chinese Government has rolled out subsidies for both car buyers, and makings. In five select cities, automakers can earn up to almost $9,000 per hybrid or EV they sell, giving them a clear incentive to make the cars. New car buyers can get anywhere from $450 up to over $8,000 per hybrid or electric car, bringing many of these vehicles into the mid-teens in term of price. Sounds awful good for a hybrid vehicle, right? Apparently, not good enough. Changan Motors has not sold a single hybrid electric vehicle, despite having had a model on sale for most of 2010. BYD, a Chinese car company with hopes to sell EV's in the U.S., has sold just 54 EV's in ten months, and another 290 hybrids despite backing by Warren Buffet. Not a stellar start. Even Toyota has only sold 4,000 Prius's this year in the whole of China. It all comes down to cost. 89% of Chinese consumers surveyed by a Chinese company say that they aren't really interested in advanced technology if it comes with an increased cost. Perhaps the Chinese middle-class hasn't caught up yet, or maybe these cars aren't being marketed right. China is set to be a major automaker and consumer in the coming years, unseating even America in terms of cars purchased. By 2030, they could be buying upwards of 50 million vehicles per year. Perhaps if they stick to their guns, they can drive the cost of those hybrids and EV's way, way down, and make them even more affordable. Source: Green Car Advisor Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to Hemis. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout. |
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