Question:
There are a lot more hybrids on the market and a lot more people seem to be driving them. Are we finally reaching the point that as a nation we’re poised to be much more green, at least when it comes to our personal transportation?
Answer:
Not really, if you believe a J.D. Power and Associates study, “Drive Green 2020: More Hope than Reality.”
While governments, conversation groups, movie stars and the auto press love the notion of (and maybe even the arrival of) more fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, the study concluded that most consumers still hold out for conventional rides.
Even taking into account the much-publicized new Leaf from Nissan and the Volt from Chevrolet, the firm describes the apparent interest in hybrids as “over hyped.” The study authors predict it’s so unlikely that large numbers of consumers will be convinced to abandon conventionally powered vehicles that even 10 years from now, in 2020, various kinds of hybrids will represent only 5.2 million, or just about 7 percent of the total vehicles sold.
Consumer reluctance, they say, comes from concern about performance, design and price. The study predicts that without significant changes to public policy, including tax incentives, there won’t be a huge shift to green vehicles.
The report’s predictions may be right, or they may be wrong. But as the authors point out, the majority of buyers today continue to be quite similar to early converts: older, well educated and with higher incomes.
Question:
That tiny Smart fortwo, is going to get much bigger, I hear. What is the thinking?
Answer:
The Smart fortwo got a lot of attention when it hit U.S. shores a couple of years ago. But sales have been low.
Penske Automotive Group, which distributes the vehicles in this country, has a deal with Nissan to manufacture a new four-door version. It will still be tiny but the hope is the added inches will make it more appealing to a larger segment of the buying public when it debuts at the end of 2011.
E-mail questions to Sharon@ctwfeatures.com
