One of the tenets of our automotive industry is that given cheap fuels,the automobile will come roaring back generating employments in the millions and restoring private and public financial heath.
There are two problems with this belief ,IMO.First , the American public’s purchasing power has been decimated in the past twenty oddyears by the deliberate impoverishment of the middle classes.We are now looking at a situation not unlike that of the Soviet Union where consumers who did not have any money to buy anything with were given tantlizing glimpses of what stylish clthes, scents and shoes would look like.
The second problem with this idea is that simply switching from fossil fuels to electricity would bring people out in droves to buy the new cars.Those who have spent hours on clogged roads and highways do not expect that experience to change any.
This is why in spite of GM’s perennial boast that it has an ace in the hole with an electric car looks like an empty one and its nose dive in the market and the collapse of its stock price are omens.
.
(TIME) – Amid the gruesome headlines generated by the world’s auto industry these days, this one almost reads like a typo: new car registrations in Germany rose 21% year-on-year in February, the country’s Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) announced on March 3. This, though, was no error. The 278,000 cars put on the road, crowed Matthias Wissmann, the VDA’s president, amounted to “the highest level of sales in the month of February for 10 years.”
Why the splurge? German drivers have latched onto a juicy new deal. Under a scheme started in January, car owners who trade in a vehicle that is more than nine years old for a new, greener model can expect $3,172 from the German government as well as a break from paying road tax for at least a year.
Sales abroad plummet
(Deutsche Welle) – As good as the domestic numbers were, figures for German car exports were down dramatically, falling by more than 50 percent in February to just over 200,000 vehicles. Production was also cut back by 47 percent.
In France, new car registrations were down by over 13 percent, despite similar governmental consumer incentives. Drops in Spain and Japan were 48.8 and 32.4 percent respectively.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Even assuming that one is able to obtain credit, the Chevy Volt has been estimated to cost as much as $40,000. Government subsidies may reduce the cost somewhat, but much more likely to get the attention of consumers is the new Honda Insight hybrid, starting at less than $20,000.00.
B.B.King’s wail captures the public sentiment accurately about cars:The thrill is gone.
I can get a new Honda Insight hybrid (with seats and a CD player) for LESS than $20,000?
Sure I can.
yes you can:
you pays your money and takes your choice, and there’s deals to be made/had, if you’re really in the market. on top of that, when you add the fed tax credit for hybrids into the equation, which could be as much as $3400, you’re talking about a potentially game changing scenario…assuming the buying public can get past their myopia.
ymmv