tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11693538.post113989113717446541..comments2024-02-19T05:14:41.739-05:00Comments on The Auto Prophet: VW R&D Chief on Hybrids, "Stupid" RegulationsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12108992620883563299noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11693538.post-1140135517379040082006-02-16T19:18:00.000-05:002006-02-16T19:18:00.000-05:00Toyota sold 107,897 Priuses in the US last year (p...Toyota sold 107,897 Priuses in the US last year (plus 20,674 Lexus RX 400hs and 17,989 Highlander Hybrids (which were both only available during part of the year)).<BR/><BR/>If you don't think Toyota is making money off of those numbers, you are crazy. Unless Toyota really is selling them at less than cost (Toyota is nowhere near that stupid), they certainly have paid for all development costs and is now making a tidy profit off those.<BR/><BR/>Everybody else (except Honda) is just having sour grapes for not thinking of it first. Oh, and you can make a PZEV car which is not a hybrid-pretty much every manufacturer has one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11693538.post-1140055695360537142006-02-15T21:08:00.000-05:002006-02-15T21:08:00.000-05:00It's all about marketing. You have the self-righte...It's all about marketing. You have the self-righteous hybrid crowd on one end, and then you have the "It's got a Hemi" idiots at the opposite spectrum.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11693538.post-1140021682864573232006-02-15T11:41:00.000-05:002006-02-15T11:41:00.000-05:00I think that GM and Ford (and others) are merely s...I think that GM and Ford (and others) are merely sipping the Kool-Aid, and only because they are dumbfounded that consumers think that it tastes good. That is probably why they were late to the hybrid party, because it is relatively weak fuel-efficiency technology, and it didn't make a whole lot of sense to dump a ton of money into what can only be considered a temporary psuedo-solution. What they didn't consider is the huge mainstream fad that hybrids would become, and they probably underestimated the power of Toyota and Honda's PR and marketing departments. Imagine if Toyota came out with the EV-1 (GM's electric car from 10 years ago) right now. It would probably be the "it" car of the year, based upon nothing but Toyota's reputation and marketing genius.<BR/><BR/>DonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com