<VV> GM Car of the Future (No Corvair)

[Bill Elliott]

 The majority of folks currently driving hybrids WANT the attention and 
are drawn to the "different" look of the cars.

I recently test drove a Honda Civic Hybrid.. it actually drove very 
well... and except for the little gauge on the cluster there was no 
obvious hint that it was hybrid (in appearance or in driving). 
Consequently (per the Honda sales rep) it's not selling well at all... 
the earlier (and highly impractical Insight) selling much better... as 
is the Prius (which looks nothing like its conventional stablemate.... 
and the Prius is still selling like hotcakes.)

Maybe those oil companies are being environmentally sensitive... because 
if you consider the entire lifecycle of the vehicle, many small 
conventional SUV's would be an ecologically more responsible purchase 
than most of today's hybrids...  even Consumer Reports (not quite a 
capitalist-friendly organization) recommends against purchasing hybrids 
(not because of the negative environment aspects, but because the don't 
make sense economically.)

The young lady that I was helping shop for a car ended up with a 
conventional Civic... at a considerable savings over the Hybrid...  a 
savings that will only grow over the lifetime of the car.

Bill

Frank DuVal wrote:

> I think "most" is overstating the case now. The Honda Civic just has a 
> slight wing on the trunk lip. The Toyota, Ford, etc SUV hybrids look 
> the same as their gasoline counterparts. The Chevy Silverado looks the 
> same.
>
> However the Aztec is not available in hybrid form.
>
> Frank DuVal
>
> Cash Case wrote:
>
>> My only complaint about the EV1 was that it was DOG UGLY! I noticed  
>> that most of the hybrid cars out  now are also hideous. I guess it  
>> must be a requirement. Probably backed by the oil companies to  
>> protect their market. They must think that if it's ugly enough it  
>> won't sell that well. I guess it's working.   ;op
>> -Cash
>
>


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