65 MPG Ford You Can't Buy In USA
- From: "JanOrme99@xxxxxxx" <JanOrme99@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 06:49:41 -0700 (PDT)
http://autos.aol.com/article/general/v2/_a/65-mpg-ford-fiesta/20080919094409990002
65 MPG Ford You Can't Buy In USA
Ford's Fiesta ECOnetic gets an astonishing 65 mpg, but the carmaker
can't afford to sell it in the U.S.??
If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it:
a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and
gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by
Ford Motor, known widely for lumbering gas hogs.
Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the
catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help
it compete with Toyota Motor and Honda Motor in its home market, the
company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's
an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But
there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main
one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.
Automakers such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have predicted for
years that a technology called "clean diesel" would overcome many
Americans' antipathy to a fuel still often thought of as the smelly
stuff that powers tractor trailers. Diesel vehicles now hitting the
market with pollution-fighting technology are as clean or cleaner than
gasoline and at least 30% more fuel-efficient.
Yet while half of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel, the
U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel. Taxes aimed at
commercial trucks mean diesel costs anywhere from 40 cents to $1 more
per gallon than gasoline. Add to this the success of the Toyota Prius,
and you can see why only 3% of cars in the U.S. use diesel. "Americans
see hybrids as the darling," says Global Insight auto analyst Philip
Gott, "and diesel as old-tech."
None of this is stopping European and Japanese automakers, which are
betting they can jump-start the U.S. market with new diesel models.
Mercedes-Benz by next year will have three cars it markets as
"BlueTec." Even Nissan and Honda, which long opposed building diesel
cars in Europe, plan to introduce them in the U.S. in 2010. But Ford,
whose Fiesta ECOnetic compares favorably with European diesels, can't
make a business case for bringing the car to the U.S.
Too Pricey To Import
First of all, the engines are built in Britain, so labor costs are
high. Plus the pound remains stronger than the greenback. At
prevailing exchange rates, the Fiesta ECOnetic would sell for about
$25,700 in the U.S. By contrast, the Prius typically goes for about
$24,000. A $1,300 tax deduction available to buyers of new diesel cars
could bring the price of the Fiesta to around $24,400. But Ford
doesn't believe it could charge enough to make money on an imported
ECOnetic.
Ford plans to make a gas-powered version of the Fiesta in Mexico for
the U.S. So why not manufacture diesel engines there, too? Building a
plant would cost at least $350 million at a time when Ford has been
burning through more than $1 billion a month in cash reserves.
Besides, the automaker would have to produce at least 350,000 engines
a year to make such a venture profitable. "We just don't think North
and South America would buy that many diesel cars," says Fields.
The question, of course, is whether the U.S. ever will embrace diesel
fuel and allow automakers to achieve sufficient scale to make money on
such vehicles. California certified VW and Mercedes diesel cars
earlier this year, after a four-year ban. James N. Hall, of auto
researcher 293 Analysts, says that bellwether state and the Northeast
remain "hostile to diesel." But the risk to Ford is that the fuel
takes off, and the carmaker finds itself playing catch-up?despite
having a serious diesel contender in its arsenal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The attitude here in the USA has to change about Diesel. And THAT
would also include the Politicians and Bureaucrats that tax diesel to
death.
Jan Eric Orme
DRILL DAMMIT
.
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