Ford admits that its SUVs are gas guzzlers

Who makes you more ill, the customers or the industry that satisfies its customers?

 

That is the question. I have read stories that Ford/GM could also make their 8cyl SUV run off of 4cyl when the SUV gets up to cruising speed. The auto makers say that the customer does not want this sort of feature so they won't market it and the buyer says yeah they would by something like this if they put it on the market. So who do we blame? Gas will top $3.00 in the very near future. We all know there is some blood for oil occurring in the mid-east. We also know that our mpg of our cars is about the same as it was 1980. So who do we blame?

:cussing:

 

Why pick on Ford? All of the companies do it. I just read an article that had the stats of the first month of "employee cost" sales. GMC SUV up 150%, Trucks up 100% over all.
Cars didn't sell.
Who wants what? I'd prefer air bags were an option, but I'm stuck paying for them. You can't give everyone what they want.

 

Exactly, why Ford? They at least sell a Hybrid SUV which gets over 30mpg. Toyota can't manage that feat. And Toyota sells just as many huge gas guzzlers (Sequoia, 4Runner, etc.). When Ford hybridized one of their SUVs they focused on economy, Toyota focused on performance.

Like it or not, that's the truth.

 

Funny, my uncle's new TrailBlazer does exactly that: runs on alternating 4 cylinders of the 8 availble until the power is needed.

As to the blame, all of my 41 years of driving I have bought economical cars, so it must be that 'other guy'

 

Gee, I thought the Highlander Hybrid was 30 MPG? Albeit more expensive and with a V6...

And are people actually getting 30 MPG in the Escape Hybrid? Are people actually getting 30 MPG in the Highlander hybrid?

At least both above mentioned vehicles are AT-PZEV.

And they just might fit the bill for alot of people's needs, despite the apparent poor MPG.

 

At least Ford has the cajones to admit it, rather than sitting silently (GM) or pretending to be greener than they really are (Toyota). I think it's admirable that they can step up and say they're partially responsible, and I think it's deplorable that nobody else can do the same.

 

The combined milage for the Highlande is under 30 (31 on the highway). The combined milage for the Escape is over 30 (37 on the highway I think). Over on greenhybrid.com, the average milage for the Escape 2WD is 31, while the Highlander is 25. The Escape is AT-PZEV, the Highlander (sorry) is not.

 

So you want what, a unilateral discontinuance of production of all vehicles failing to meet a certain threshhold?

As long as 'Joe and Mary' want an SUV, motorhome, speedboat, pickup truck, someone will build it. I have to note that in Germany, where fuel is at $8/gallon (and has been near that for years), the majority of vehicles remain to be what Priusites deem 'guzzlers'.

What WOULD you have the corporations do, abandon a market and profit? As noted elsewhere, the profit gained off of SUVs has underwritten efforts such as hybrids, EV1, and hydrogen/fuel-cell research.

I for one, vote with my wallet. But I still blame the consumer for driving the market as we know it.

Would you be willing to pay $50,000 for Prius? $55.000 for an ethanol (from corn) fueled Prius that only got 35mpg on $5/gallon fuel? That price more properly reflects its true cost to manufacture. Ethanol, though clean, is only some 80% as efficient as gasoline, so there will be less power and less fuel mileage.

 

Companies supply what customers want, or they go out of business -- it is that simple. There is and will always be a market for large vehicles -- get over it!

We are in a period right now where evenone is very concerned with gas prices, that was not the case a couple of years ago, and probably will not be the case in a few years ahead - it goes in cycles.

As for pollution, some of the Ford SUVs are very low emision vehicles even thought they don't get the best gas mileage. On the other end of the spectrum are Huyndai's which get good mileage but are some of the worst polluting vehicles made. Take a look at their window stickers - the pollution level is almost off the chart on those economy cars.

 

Consumer demand takes place within the overall social, political, and economic context. If we as a society decided that our first priority was deal with peak oil and global warmng, then we would enact policies that influenced consumer demand. Combining $5 a gallon gas taxes with other gas guzzler related taxes and incentives would clearly change the demand for gas guzzlers.

As long as we have a policy of cheap gas and do things like give people tax breaks to buy vehicles like the Hummer, then what do we expect. Yes, it would be nice if the vast majority would be environmentally responsible without changing the economic rules of the game. But it ain't gonna happen. Autos like the Prius will continue to be a niche product until our leaders and the Americna public face facts. This country is way behind the curve in preparing what what will be an economic and environmental disaster. Germany, for example, has already reduced their greenhouse gases way below Kyoto guidelines and is way on its way to having an economy fueled by alternative energy resources. But if America doesn't wake up soon, the efforts of the Germans and other Europeans will be all for naught.

People rushed to buy even more trucks and SUVs when GM and Ford lowered prices to get rid of excess inventory. Consumers took the usual apprach that only looks at immediate gratification, the immediate good deal. And now they are paying the piper. And who are they going to blame for high gas prices. Not themselves, surely. I

 

tstreet wrote:

"..Germany, for example, has already reduced their greenhouse gases way below Kyoto guidelines and is way on its way to having an economy fueled by alternative energy resources. But if America doesn't wake up soon, the efforts of the Germans and other Europeans will be all for naught..."

Germany attained 'Kyoto-hood' by relying upon diesels, especially developing biomass, and mass transit. I suspect that much of this was on the backs of gasoline taxes...

As to tax breaks for Hummers, I don't know how that is accomplished, or even if that is true...

 

Diesel is dirty! Further the German economy is in the dumpers which is exactly what our government said would be the result of Kyoto. You cannot change infastructure over night, and the tax code should not be used to implement social policy. The better solution is to slowly start raising the CAFE mileage standards and slowly requiring cleaner burning engines -- don't mandate rapid change as that will cost jobs which will ultimately increase pollution as people cannot afford new cars and will hang onto gas hogs all the much longer.

 

Not sure if anyone is aware of this but this article is pretty old...May 12, 2000.
Question is now, knowing that these things were said over five years ago, does that make Ford look better or worse?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(slortz\";p=\"116858)</div>

Considering they now have a full hybrid SUV which is PZEV, and the new Explorer V6 (which is still a bit of a gas hog) is PZEV, I think they're moving towards better. I don't know of anyone else (outside BMW) who produces a PZEV V6.

 

Nothing talks like money....especially money going out of an SUV owner's pocket at the pump. Nothing else is going to break through the narcissistic consumerism. I wanna puke when I hear them complain about the high price of gas.

 

quote="slortz";p="116858"]..... and the new Explorer V6 (which is still a bit of a gas hog) is PZEV, I think they're moving towards better. I don't know of anyone else (outside BMW) who produces a PZEV V6.[/quote]

The V-6 is total crap and a waste of time. I had two Mercury Mountaineers with the V-8 and for the third one decided I wanted to try to be a little more fuel efficient so I got the V-6. The six did not get any better gas mileage and could not get out of its own way.