New posts from Gas 2.0!

BMW C is Scooting to America
BMW CEO Claims Electric Vehicles Won’t Work, Signals Retreat
Chrysler Cancels 40 mpg Ypsilon Premium Compact

Posted: 27 Apr 2011 11:49 AM PDT

With the price of gas climbing above $5/gallon in some parts of the country, fuel economy is becoming a major issue for many Americans. For some, the answer may “downsizing” to a smaller car or trading up into a new Volt or Leaf electric. For many, though, the answer is just as likely to be found on 2 small wheels instead of 4 big ones, and companies like Vespa, Genuine, and Suzuki are gearing up with new scooters aimed squarely at the commuter market.

Add one more name to that list for 2013, however, because BMW’s motorcycle division is bringing its C scooter to the US next year as well.

The Concept C shown here is BMW’s second stab at the scooter market (the C1 was their first), and the first scooter the company will be bringing to the US. Once here, the C will compete with maxi-scooters like Suzuki’s Burgman and Yamaha’s sporty TMax, among others.

No word yet on pricing or on what Transformer it turns into.

Sources: Hell for Leather, BMW Motorcycles.

BMW CEO Claims Electric Vehicles Won’t Work, Signals Retreat

Posted: 27 Apr 2011 10:00 AM PDT

Despite having less than 2% of the total US market share last month and lagging behind the overall market (which grew 17% this March, year over year, compared to BMW’s “mere” 12% improvement) BMW’s North American CEO Jim O’Donnell claims he knows what’s good “for at least 90 percent and maybe more of the population”, and it is not electric cars.

Now, before we go on, it should be noted that BMW’s corporate leaders in Germany are investing billions (with a b) in launching their new “i” sub-brand and getting their next-generation i8 flagship “just right”. The company has ~~sold~~ leased out its Mini E electric and recently announced the ActiveE electric BMW-branded cars as well … which begs the question: what the (he)ck is going on here?

The way I see it, BMW expects its new i sub-brand to be a spectacular, money-losing failure, and it’s already sounding a full retreat.

Why do I say this? Consider that BMW first announced that they were going to build the i8 (then called the Vision EfficientDynamics) there was no mention of a sub-brand. The car was, indeed, a “vision” of BMW’s future … or (at least) BMW’s future as it was seen by BMW’s corporate masters in the months leading up to the 2009 Frankfurt show.

You all remember 2009, right?

In case you don’t, I’ll sum it up for you: 2009 was a bad year. In 2009, sales of new cars dropped to their lowest point in nearly 3 decades. In 2009, everyone in the industry was staring down their own mortality. In 2009, even General Motors – once the mightiest corporation on the face of the Earth – was left begging.

Even on its best days, in the heady throes of orgiastic spending at the quivering peak of the easy-credit bubble, the whole of BMW’s product line-up couldn’t outsell GM’s pickup trucks – let alone GM’s passenger cars, trucks, commercial vans, and SUVs … surely BMW’s board watched intently as the mighty GM reached out to the American people with its palms up, and thought “there, but for the Grace of God, go I.”

In the end, BMW did go “there”, and the company dipped into America’s TARP fund heavily – to the tune of 6.2 billion (with a b) US taxpayer dollars.

Like Ford and GM, BMW was still reeling from the (then) record gas prices of 2008, and it was downright tough to sell V10-powered cars and heavyweight SUVs (and anything else, really) in the early part of 2009. So, what to do?

The General’s big-M Marketers had knocked one out the park with the Volt, and the car became a symbol of everything that was “right” with GM – held up as a shield to critics of the bailout. “We had to bail them out,” people said. “Look what they were about to build.”

BMW must have figured the only option left for them was an extended-range hybrid. A German Volt, if you will … and they built one: the Vision.

BMW’s Vision out-did the Chevy Volt in every marketable way. The concept Volt had wild styling and deep windows. The Vision had wilder styling and deeper windows. The Volt had an electric motor being fed by a clean-burning gas engine. The Vision had a bigger electric motor being fed by a clean-burning diesel engine. The Volt was going into production. The Vision was going into production.

BMW had gone for broke, but that was 2009. “Another time,” as the say – and corporate greed is nothing if not short-sighted.

By the time BMW had reached a decision to build the Vision it was the spring of 2010, sales were way up compared to the dark days of 2009. BMW was still under-performing the market, of course (up 3%, vs. the overall market’s 24%) but things were looking up. Compared to 2009, credit was getting easier to come by. Compared to 2009, gas was cheap.

2010 was shaping up to be a profitable year, in other words, so a decision was made – quietly – to back off the Vision’s promises. Better instead to focus on a faster, more powerful (and more profitable) 1 series and a pair of twin-turbocharged, V8-powered SUVs. These were known quantities, and surely the braintrust behind the Ultimate Driving Machine knew it.

BMW quickly hatched the “i” brand, which could put just enough distance between itself and BMW “proper” to achieve plausible deniability. “Bring it to market,” they must have thought. “Bring it to market and let it fail – it’s not our money anyway.”

It seems to me that O’Donnell and company, then, are either in deep denial about their actual position in the marketplace, or else they know something they’re not letting on, and are already digging up excuses for the i cars in a bid to save their jobs when (rather than the if) the brand tanks.

I, for one, hope they don’t need those excuses.

Sources: the Detroit News, the Truth About Cars, Autoblog, Jalopnik, and too many Kona Blend Java Monsters.

Chrysler Cancels 40 mpg Ypsilon Premium Compact

Posted: 27 Apr 2011 07:24 AM PDT

Despite the mini-luxe interior appointments and trick multi-air turbo engines, Chrysler’s planned premium compact car (first announced in Fiat’s 2009 bailout plan and teased back in December) is “as good as dead”, according to Car and Driver, because it would be “too close” in price and concept to the retro-styled Fiat 500 also being peddled in Chrysler showrooms.

In case you haven’t seen the Ypsilon, this is a taste of what we’re NOT getting …

The Ypsilon will be in good company though, joining the promised-but-never-delivered Chrysler EVs and the Ram Plug-in Hybrid pickup, among others. On the upside (if there is ever an upside to “you’re not getting a new Lancia” news), Ralph Gilles – president of Chrysler’s Dodge brand – promises that an upcoming small Dodge sedan will be “very competitive” in the fuel-economy department, and will draw on Fiat's expansive bin of efficient four-cylinder engines without “crowding” the hot-selling Fiat 500.

Here’s hoping Dodge gets it right, and delivers the goods.

Source: Car and Driver.