

Ford Makes 65 mpg Car, but can't Sell it in the United States - DanielBMarkham
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_37/b4099060491065.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

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patrickg-zill
Just a note - the reason that small diesels are not popular here is because of
the California Air Resources Board's idiotic measurement methods.

They count total emissions not per-mile, but per-gallon, completely ignoring
that the diesel-powered vehicle will go farther on the same amount of fuel.

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boredguy8
I can't find a source saying how they measure in either direction. Link?
Thanks!

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jcromartie
They can't sell it in the US because it would destroy the carefully-
perpetuated myth that expensive hybrid cars are the only way for fuel
efficiency.

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hugh
Ford doesn't have any interest in maintaining that myth -- they only have one
hybrid model. Toyota is the only company currently getting rich off that
particular myth.

They couldn't sell it in the US because by US standards it's tiny,
underpowered and expensive.

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jmtulloss
The Honda Fit is tiny, underpowered and sells just fine. I think the article
is correct on why it won't sell; size and power don't mean as much as they
used to.

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vaksel
the problem with Ford is that they just stopped trying. Sure they can't import
the diesel version...but the Fiesta is a very light car, throw a tiny engine
in there, and you'll get a 45-50mpg 100hp commuter. Sure it won't have as much
torque, but at this point people are willing to sacrifice power for mpg.

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hugh
There was a spike in fuel-obsessiveness about six weeks ago, but now prices
have flattened off people care much less. People only care about saving fuel
when fuel prices rise suddenly, not when they're flat-but-high.

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iigs
Do you have a link for your six weeks ago asasertion? I don't doubt what
you're saying, but that kind of data really interests me.

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hugh
No, six weeks ago was just a guesstimate. You could probably try plotting the
frequency of the words "gas prices" and similar phrases showing up in news
stories over time to gauge interest (speaking of which, trend picking via
time-dependent news analysis is a pretty good startup idea...)

In my opinion, gas prices are one of those things which people are maximally
irrational about. Since they vary from day to day people are far more aware of
how much they're spending, while other larger expenses are more easily
ignored. For a couple of months people were selling their SUVs for cheap and
buying new small cars for more than RRP -- I was almost tempted to pick up a
cheap used Lincoln Navigator or similar just to take advantage of it.

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jcl
Google Trends says approximately six weeks ago is a good guess; looks like
news references to gas prices peaked in mid-July, while web searches peaked a
couple months earlier:

[http://www.google.com/trends?q=gas+prices&ctab=0&geo...](http://www.google.com/trends?q=gas+prices&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0)

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stcredzero
I know a lot of people who would love to have a Diesel Cooper Mini, but like
the Fiesta, it will never be sold in the US. I'd love to have one and run it
on biodiesel. (This month, I am using Waste Vegetable Oil derived fuel.) My
dad would love to have one, and he's almost 80!

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comatose_kid
I recently met an engineer who drove from Portland to Sunnyvale on a single
tank in his converted Jetta.

