Car makers try to copy green halo of Prius -
Too late.
- if they could only figure out how that
halo works.
When Tom Weatherbee swapped his minivan for a Toyota Prius hybrid
two years ago, he was mostly hoping to save money at the gas
pump.
But he was pleasantly surprised by both the requests from friends for a test drive and the grins its aerodynamic profile drew at the grocery store, and he basked in the attention.
“Even the people who own more expensive cars acknowledge the Prius as being pretty cool,” said Weatherbee, 51, an electrical engineer who lives outside Traverse City, Michigan…
Toyota’s Prius, with a list price of $21,100 and fuel consumption of 45 miles per gallon, commanded 51 percent of the U.S. hybrid market in 2007. Now the No. 1 Japanese automaker is considering extending the Prius line-up — effectively making it a brand on its own.
GM, meanwhile, is focusing on its (plug-in hybrid) Chevrolet Volt in a bid to create its own “halo” car. Although GM will not sell the Volt until at least 2010, it has already started featuring it in TV ads.
GM’s Volt rests on a premise that has convinced Honda to follow their lead. And maybe Toyota. That is, double the electric range of plug-in hybrids and you may remove an additional disproportionate amount of fossil fuel consumption.
Of course, Toyota and Honda target a base price of $21K and up. Over the course of development, GM keeps adding foofaraw to the Volt and it looks like the critter will be $35-40K by the time it hits the street.
But he was pleasantly surprised by both the requests from friends for a test drive and the grins its aerodynamic profile drew at the grocery store, and he basked in the attention.
“Even the people who own more expensive cars acknowledge the Prius as being pretty cool,” said Weatherbee, 51, an electrical engineer who lives outside Traverse City, Michigan…
Toyota’s Prius, with a list price of $21,100 and fuel consumption of 45 miles per gallon, commanded 51 percent of the U.S. hybrid market in 2007. Now the No. 1 Japanese automaker is considering extending the Prius line-up — effectively making it a brand on its own.
GM, meanwhile, is focusing on its (plug-in hybrid) Chevrolet Volt in a bid to create its own “halo” car. Although GM will not sell the Volt until at least 2010, it has already started featuring it in TV ads.
GM’s Volt rests on a premise that has convinced Honda to follow their lead. And maybe Toyota. That is, double the electric range of plug-in hybrids and you may remove an additional disproportionate amount of fossil fuel consumption.
Of course, Toyota and Honda target a base price of $21K and up. Over the course of development, GM keeps adding foofaraw to the Volt and it looks like the critter will be $35-40K by the time it hits the street.
Posted: Tue - April 8, 2008 at 05:04 PM