No less than one third of new car customers in America thought of fuel economy an important factor.. Back in 1992 already General Motors built a vehicle that got 100 miles to the gallon – and all these years later one of people’s major concerns on top of global warming and pollution is dependence on foreign oil. Yet another car, the GM TPC, which looked a lot like the Geo Metro, weighed only 1000 pounds and would get 75 miles per gallon. However, as a way to meet American safety regulations, the 3-cylinder vehicle required reinforcement weighing 200 pounds, which ended in further development being discarded.
It really is rather shocking that this had not been the only GM prototype that was built, only to be thrown out later. A few of these were the 1982 GM Lean Machine which performed 80 miles per gallon, and the GM Ultralite which made 100 mpg. When Honda in 1992 reached 50 mpg with the Civic VX, GM was selling cars that got 20 mpg, while in the background they had vehicles capable of 100 mpg. Undoubtedly this begs the question as to the reasons these cars that are efficient at 100 mpg are not available to the public.
It’s really a peculiar phenomenon that some companies market traditional vehicles in the US, but sell different, more efficient cars in other countries. Customers in Japan and Europe have for several years now had the opportunity to get cars that do 70 miles per gallon and more. A case in point of a vehicle never offered within the US and capable of 78 mpg, is the Lupo by Volkswagen. An automobile referred to as Jazz elsewhere in the world was brought to the States in 2007 as the Fit. You will find economy-boosting selections with the Jazz in Japan, like a smaller engine and other ways to reduce consumption, but not so with the Fit in the US.
In North America the manufacturers claim they have to build big cars mainly because that is what the American public wants. Building a small commuter type vehicle doesn’t make the manfacturer big money, unlike with a large SUV. A Tank on Wheels will be the thing to own – that’s the sales message that the commercials beguile the American public with. Fuel-saving alternatives from the giant companies are uncommon, so it’s pretty easy to deduce where their preferences lay. Instead of being synonymous with SUVs, GM today could have been known as a leader in fuel-economic vehicles. Several other manufacturers in addition have developed fuel-efficient cars, but they’ve all practiced the same as GM by not offering them to Americans.
Despite global warming and the incredible pollution of the world environment, US car makers have yet to react positively and at least give Americans the option of a fuel-efficient car. The question comes up: how many Americans would have welcomed the option of getting a car with good gas mileage but weren’t ever offered it? Might it be time to recover those dumped designs and, again, start building those vehicles that were once built a long time ago?
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