New Fiesta Gets 73 MPG, But Ford Says It’s Not For The U.S.
Back in July, Ford released the details of a new Fiesta it plans to begin selling this November. The new car is based on Ford’s ECOnetic platform and can get 63 mpg in the city and 73 mpg on the highway. So why is it only available in Europe? It’s a diesel, and Ford doesn’t think Americans will ever adopt diesel cars.
According to Businessweek, Ford lists a littany of excuses why they could never market this car in the US. Chief among these excuses is that they don’t think they could ever sell enough of them to make a profit. Ford says that in order to produce them for the US market they’d have to build a new plant and then make at least 350,000 of them a year.
If there’s no way to make a profit on these cars and Americans won’t buy them, why are so many European and Asian car makers bringing these new “clean diesels” to the U.S. starting next year? When I see news that Mercedes, Nissan, Volkswagen and even Honda are all building clean diesel cars with excellent fuel economy for the US market, Ford’s excuses start to seem pretty hollow.
- » See also: Teenage-Built Diesel Hybrid Does 0-60 in 4 Seconds, Soon to Break 100 MPG
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Why is it that in the face of going bankrupt, U.S. car makers are so willing to maintain the status quo and slowly die a painful and agonizing death? Look, I understand some basic economics and that a company that is doing its shareholders right won’t take unnecessary risks, but the time for trepidation has past. Get on board or risk losing everything.
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Meanwhile, all I can do is hang my head and shake it. I want to be able to buy American cars again. In fact, every time one of the top U.S. car makers has some crazy desperation sale, I go online and take a look at the line-up… but I can never find a car I’d actually buy.
It’s not that the cars are ugly, or that I don’t trust their reliability — it’s that what I’m looking for is a fuel efficient vehicle that won’t break the bank and looks nice. And when I say “fuel efficient,” I don’t mean 30 mpg. I don’t even mean 40 mpg (my puny Yaris can already pull that one off). I want something with a drastic fuel economy improvement.
I want a car that in some way shows I care about the planet and understand that our future and our childrens’ future depends on drastically changing our habits now. But I also want a car that shows I support buying locally (in this case domestically) and that supports the economy of my own country.
And I know there are millions of other people like me. That’s why I want US car makers to wake up and start selling the cars people want.
You see, in my world I have a fantasy in which I purchase a nice little chunk of farmable land — say 10 acres — grow my own oilseed (like Camelina), crush it and make all of the biodiesel I would ever need (plus some to give my friends). In my fantasy, my operation would be powered completely off of wind, solar and geothermal and I could continue to make my own fuel even if the rest of the world went to hell in a handbasket.
So please Ford (or GM or Chrysler), make my dream a possibility. Take some chances. Stop applying band-aids in a last ditch defense of crusty old shareholders and go on the offensive. That’s how you built the company in the first place, and that’s how you can save it.
Posts Related to the Re-tooling of the US Auto Industry and Clean Diesels:
- “Producible” Chrysler Plug-In Hybrid: 0-60 in 4 Seconds
- VW Clean Diesels Get $1,300 Federal Tax Credit
- Clean Diesel Cars Coming to US This Fall: 2008-2010 Timeline
- Like GM, Ford Decides They’d Better Start Producing Smaller, More Fuel-Efficient Cars
- How to Build an Electric Car Charging Infrastructure: Smart Grids, Fast Charging and Universal Access
- Prototype Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid: 88 MPG on 85% Ethanol
- Camelina - The Next Generation Biofuel?
- Japan Finally Gets a Clean Diesel Car
Image Credit: Ford
Source: Businessweek
Hey folks, Instead of whining about it, why not do something about it. CONTACT FORD AND TELL THEM YOU WANT IT!
Here’s the link: https://secure.ford.com/footer/contact-ford/contact-us-email?contactMainTopic=VehicleServiceIssues
Prakash - your math seems wrong.
For Indian car 22km/liter is 13.75m/liter
1gal=3.78liters
so 13.75m/liter =~ 52mpg.
Still good, but nowhere near 84mpg.
Plus most cars in India are stinking pollutants and not maintained well, so end up giving something like 25-30mpg.
I was recently in Hyderabad and its the worst city in India - pollution is like a bad overhanging fog all over the city. How can Indians put up with this is beyond me. There’s no concern/regard for the environment at all.
I always figured profit was good, and right now America needs 73 mpg…
You have seen the “Crazy desperation sales” but want a car that gets better mileage. What’s your standard? Use total cost of ownership. I purchased a 2008 Chevrolet Aveo for under $9,000 after interest. It makes 28 miles per gallon. Let’s compare this with a $13,000 car that makes 40 miles per gallon. $4,000 price difference is 1000 gallons of gas. So, my Aveo has traveled 28,000 miles already. Then, for every 1,000 miles, you spend $100 and I spend $143. We break even after 93,000 miles (total). At $8 a gallon, it’s still 46 thousand miles.
So, glad you’re spending so much on your car to appear to care. Building a car takes energy just like driving it does, and I’ve saved more energy than you.
Americans will never embrace diesel. Volkswagen has been selling diesel cars here for a long time and they have an incredibly low percentage of their sales. With diesel you are just trading pollution anyway. An alarming number of diesel mechanics and bus drivers have emphyzema from the particulate matter in diesel exhaust.
I agree with your “fantasy” 100%. I have been wondering for a long time why some of the European vehicles our domestic companies produce are not marketed here. I could care less what specific fuel goes into my vehicle, but it should be efficient, look nice, and have enough space for the family. I don’t think it should be this hard either!
Its not the govt that is restricting these cars, its the big oil. big oil has had their hands dipping into the automobile companies pockets for a long time. every time a major turn for the better seems to come its either caboshed or estimated 10 years away. they are waiting for themselves to get their rights on the next big fuel and then let us adopt soemthing new.
fuel and utilities should be run non profit by the government. i work for a water company in my state and that is how we are run, power and gas should be the same, instead of corps giving CEO’s multi million salaries and bonuses, that they have already openly said they would not give up. fuck this country, capitalism is great when selling shoes not life essentials.
The issue is also that states such as California are against diesels, unless they meet some ridiculously high anti-pollution standard.
Way to go California!
I don’t think US auto companies are witholding fuel-efficient cars out of stupidity, or government blockage, or because they’re out of touch with reality…..although the government losing lots of tax money from less gas purchased sounds like it could be a factor.
I believe the real underlying reason is that if they produced a 6 passenger vehicle that got 70-80pg, people would buy it, then never buy another vehicle.
Also, it seems logical that the CEOs and board members of automakers probably hold a good deal of shares in OIL companies, and making fuel efficient cars would shrink their profits from oil, as well….not to mention pissing off their Saudi masters.
they make more money off of us if they only give us crap cars, because we have to keep buying them when they die in 5 years, as they’re engineered to do (I’m referring to the concept of “planned obsolescence” )
“Ford’s excuses start to seem pretty hollow.” Yeah, they are just lazy… Their excusess seem valid. That sounds like a lot of overhead to bring this car to America. If you don’t like it, tough beans Gas2.