Hybrid SUVs proving to be hard sell for U.S. carmakers

[far2000]

The Detroit 3 have been berated from every direction for failing to anticipate the growth in sales of fuel-efficient vehicles, and now the trio are engaged in an uphill battle to reclaim market share largely lost to foreign rivals that offer a range of compact models and advanced hybrids. Catching up is proving to be arduous for the American automakers, and right now only Ford appears to be headed in the right direction.

GM and Chrysler are both focusing on offering hybrid SUV’s as a compromise between utility and efficiency, but so far customers aren’t biting. has only sold around 1,100 units of the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon hybrids since January - well under their goal of 12,000 units per year.

Toyota, meanwhile, has managed to sell 64,000 units of its hybrid Prius over the same period.

Chrysler is also looking to hybrids as the brand’s savior, considering that sales of Chrysler’s big SUVs have dropped by 22% this year.

Going by GM’s lack of success with similar products, Chrysler also faces a long road to gaining customer appeal for its hybrid SUV’s, which are planned for release this fall.

While Chrysler and GM are betting on hybrid SUVs bringing consumers back to the large car market, Ford has stated that they are not considering such a model.

Speaking with the New York Times, a Blue Oval spokesman explained that customers downgrading from fuel-hungry SUVs would likely prefer a crossover or premium compact vehicle as opposed to a hybrid utility.

 

[Centurion]

Well what did they expect. A hybrid SUV is the biggest oxymoron on the planet. How stupid did they think consumers are?? If you want low fuel costs the last thing you would be looking at is an SUV.

 

[VroomVroom]

Well who said it was going to be easy?? Good point Centurion

 

[modena_360stradale]

Well what did they expect. A hybrid SUV is the biggest oxymoron on the planet. How stupid did they think consumers are?? If you want low fuel costs the last thing you would be looking at is an SUV.

To be fair, though, the idea isn't fuel-saving in itself, but towing capacity, power, etc. with better fuel economy.

20 miles per gallon in the city from a 6 Liter V8 isn't bad -- especially considering the practical abilities (and capabilities) of the car.

 

[cawimmer430]

Aren't hybrid sales in the US generally lagging at the moment?

Have consumers finally woken up?

 

[Centurion]

To be fair, though, the idea isn't fuel-saving in itself, but towing capacity, power, etc. with better fuel economy.

Although you made some valid points towing capacity is the last thing on the mind of the average SUV buyers. Heck I can't even recall the last time I saw a privately owned SUV towing a trailer.

 

[JadeVetti]

Some manufacturers seem to have their hybrids and SUVs on the same page.

Take Lexus for example. The mpg for the RX400h is not much different than on the RX350.

So you have buyers, determined and excited thinking that they are showing some sort of responsibility going into the dealership, coming out shrugging their shoulders and thinking about how they just saved themselves from the higher MSRP these hybrids carry, because they weren't sold enough on why to buy the hybrid.

May I daresay, bait and switch? lol

 

[ZicZachZo]

The truth of the matter is that most of these SUVs are hardly used for their specialized uses, i.e. towing/family hauling/trips to Lowes etc. etc. Those customers that 'need' such vehicles will continue to buy such vehicles just as they do around the world, albeit in much less volume. I guarantee you that more than half of the SUV buyers out there don't really need such a big thirsty car, but different factors lure them in. Status, Ride Height, Implied security/Safety, etc. All of those factors just fly out the window when gas is 4.50 a gallon!!!!

It's kind of sad really that the American auto-makers can't seem to ever get it right...

BTW, a Chevy Tahoe with stickers on the side that say HYBRID is about the most ridiculous marketing since Lexus decided to market their hybrids as sports sedans...

 

[modena_360stradale]

The truth of the matter is that most of these SUVs are hardly used for their specialized uses, i.e. towing/family hauling/trips to Lowes etc. etc. Those customers that 'need' such vehicles will continue to buy such vehicles just as they do around the world, albeit in much less volume. I guarantee you that more than half of the SUV buyers out there don't really need such a big thirsty car, but different factors lure them in. Status, Ride Height, Implied security/Safety, etc. All of those factors just fly out the window when gas is 4.50 a gallon!!!!

It's kind of sad really that the American auto-makers can't seem to ever get it right...

BTW, a Chevy Tahoe with stickers on the side that say HYBRID is about the most ridiculous marketing since Lexus decided to market their hybrids as sports sedans...

And the fact of the matter is still that the Hybrid Tahoe uses 50 percent less gas. Any way you want to cut it, it's using half as much fuel a year. Half of any figure is an incredible amount and an incredible improvement, especially in miles per gallon.

 

[ateekt]

One of my friend got the new Tahoe-hybrid couple of months ago. He is not satisfied at all with performance & the mpg figures. Electric motor is an issue ...!

Even on the open road runs & highways, he is hardly getting around 20mpg ...!

On the other hand, his brother drives a 2001 Corvette & he get around 27mpg on highway, what this mystery can be ...?

 

[coolraoul]

And the fact of the matter is still that the Hybrid Tahoe uses 50 percent less gas. Any way you want to cut it, it's using half as much fuel a year. Half of any figure is an incredible amount and an incredible improvement, especially in miles per gallon.

50%, R U sure 'bout that? Seems a lot to me. Hybrids usually claim to cut 20%, not more.

And if it is really 50%, it's only in the commercials...not IRL...

 

[Centurion]

50%, R U sure 'bout that? Seems a lot to me. Hybrids usually claim to cut 20%, not more.

Exactly. More so that only applies to inner city driving. If you commute a lot spending much of your journey on the highway driving fast then you'll benefit very little from hybrid.

 

[modena_360stradale]

50%, R U sure 'bout that? Seems a lot to me. Hybrids usually claim to cut 20%, not more.

And if it is really 50%, it's only in the commercials...not IRL...

According to in-house performance figures, it'll 'achieve up to 50 percent greater fuel economy.'

Not due entirely to the hybrid engine, either, but lower stance, body work, aerodynamics, etc.

Not to mention, it's harder to cut fuel use in half from 30 miles per gallon, much easier to do it from 10 miles per gallon

Exactly. More so that only applies to inner city driving. If you commute a lot spending much of your journey on the highway driving fast then you'll benefit very little from hybrid.

Driving fast hurts fuel economy everywhere. From 2 Liter four-pots to 6 Liter Lambos.

The worst driving conditions (the most fuel wasting times) are in city. And that's exactly where the hybrid engine is intended to work and work best.

However, hybrids will help very little if you don't change your driving habits (flooring it off the line, unsteady throttle, etc.) -- Remember the Prius driver who sued Toyota (?) because his car was getting half the gas mileage they claimed it would?

 

[modena_360stradale]

50%, R U sure 'bout that? Seems a lot to me. Hybrids usually claim to cut 20%, not more.

And if it is really 50%, it's only in the commercials...not IRL...

Not to keep harping on this issue, but..

20% of 25 to 30 miles per gallon is 5 to 6 mpg. 50% of 10 miles per gallon is 5 mpg.



It's like Jay Leno's tank car: converting it to fuel injection, etc. double his gas mileage -- from 3 mpg to 6.

 

[ZicZachZo]

Well it's more bad news for large SUVs and GM in general...

As per the NYTimes:

"Responding to a consumer shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles, General Motors said Tuesday that it would stop making pickup trucks and big S.U.V.s at four North American assembly plants and would consider selling its Hummer brand.

The moves, announced Tuesday by the company chairman, Rick Wagoner, will slash 500,000 units from the automaker’s overall production, and pave the way for increased investment in smaller cars and passenger vehicles. Within three years, he said, trucks will account for less than 40 percent of the vehicles that G.M. produces in North America, down from about half today.

Mr. Wagoner said that rising gasoline prices had forced a “structural shift” by American consumers away from truck-based vehicles built by G.M.

“These prices are changing consumer behavior and changing it rapidly,” Mr. Wagoner said in announcing the cuts before G.M.’s centennial shareholders meeting in Wilmington, Del. “We don’t believe it’s a spike or a temporary shift. We believe it is, by and large, permanent.”

In what he called “difficult” decisions, Mr. Wagoner said that G.M. would close plants in Janesville, Wisc.; Moraine, Ohio; Oshawa, Ontario; and Toluca, Mexico by or before 2010."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/business/04motors.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1212537627-ZJXsKQ+Ey3rCEn4TJ9s0/A

They are also considering giving Hummer the ax. I say it's about time.