This game has been going on for years. So I can add my two cents through experience and research.
First some folks will bend over backwards and touch their ankles to defend the energy interest here in America. It is kind of like "thank you can I have another" concerning why does the most technologically advanced country in the history of Mankind not have the ability to market a car that gets 100 mpg? And IMO it is an interesting answer. We have the technology, the means and even today the demand. So what gives?
In 1978 I thought that I was so F ing cool when I ordered a brand new 1978 Trans Am at 18. It was custom ordered with all the shit and got about 18 mpg with a 400, 6.6L. turbo 400 transmission. If you floored it on the freeway going to Las Vegas you could actually watch the gas gauge move. In 1979 will had the second gas crisis. You remember odd days even days to buy gas and the panicked ensued. In 1978 the Volkswagen Rabbit diesel had a waiting list to get/order as it got 40 mpg. It was a cool chick car and came in a convertible. Fast forward to today 35 odd years later and you be lucky to get 40 mpg in your car. What gives?
Is there some kind of energy/auto interest collusion going on for the last 40 years? I would say yes and no. Are they trying to keep this awesome concept car the XL1 out of the American markets? Well not in today's mpg conscious market. So why has it only been lately that little light weight wheel barrels of cars have taken to the mainstream if the gas shocker of the 70's happen so long ago? Why are the cars today barley getting a little over 40-50 mpg when the cars were almost getting this in the 70's? And the answer has been brought up here and there in this thread. It is all about marketing. The great America way is to make you want and buy shit you do not need and or drains your pocket book. It is the American way of waste and conspicuous consumption. Our vehicles are our statements and our status symbols in this rat race.
I bought that 1978 Trans Am because it made me look cool. It attracted chicks and tickets like a cold sore that would not go away. Some of my friends drove little Japanese cars as all of us "macho" Americans laughed at them. All the cool guys drove trucks, vans and V-8 sport cars; you know like Z-28's, Corvettes, Mopars, TransAms' etc. The "real " Americans would never be caught driving around in foreign wheel barrels. Little cars were for girls and nerds. Fast forward today and we still see the marketing of trucks, SUV's and sports cars as having this cool factor.
Look at the remake of the Mustang, the Camarro, the Challenger, etc in today's domestic market.They all pretty much suck at mpg. The Ford, Dodge, Chevy and GMC trucks are the mainstay in the auto industry. And how many people are usually in these trucks? Why usually one person! So the marketing aspect of driving cars, trucks and SUV's that get a MPG just south of 20 mpg is one of reflection. And we always hear the need and utility of big cars and trucks. You know my kids, my stuff and my need for the safety of my kinds and stuff. IMO all just marketing ploys.
We have the technology to get 100 mpg cars and trucks on the roadway today. Yet the people will not want to drive these kind of cars because the perception and the cool factor. I mean look how stupid the H2 was in the 90's and 2000's. It is obvious that the car manufactures make more money selling bigger cars that get lesser mpg. And marketing has done this quite well for years.
As a reaction to this we are seeing the recent phenomenon of the marketing of the hybird and other "eco, green" friendly cars. Today these cars are the new "cool" factor. I see this in Sonora with a segment that traditionally drives the Subaru line of cars. It can snow pretty good up here and the little Subaru's have 4 w drive along with decent mpg. Yet they pretty much all look kind of goofy. But heck what do I know some of us are still stuck in the 80's!
It is obvious that marketing cars with lower mpg's is a pleasant added plus for the energy interest. And since the first gas crisis cars today are barley getting better mpg then 40 years ago. So the question beckons why? GM had a whole line of electric cars in the 80's that were all recalled. Why did they have to kill the electric domestic car in the 80's? And of course you are going to hear that is was the, fill in the gap; the batteries, the safety issue, the parts cost too much and so on and so forth.
Tesla can do it against all the attacks and odds. So why can not the others do it? More and more Americans are following their European counterparts and understanding that a car is to get you from point A to B. But man or man I tell you. My brother's Pirus sure sucks. It is about a few inches above the ground and rides like a wheel barrel. But it looks cool though even with the lame ass interior and winky dink tires! I shall take my Ford Explorer any day of the week over those match boxes on wheels. At least it holds my dog and the ice chest with ease. Ah nothing like America.
Peace
Pegasus
