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Ford's 65MPG Due In November, But Not In the US
computermesh writes "Ford has a vehicle that gets 65MPG and will not be released in the US. Why? Because they can not afford to! 'Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.'"
Also I forgot to mention the incredible butt load of cash you'll have to lay out to repair even minor problems with your VW.
Everyone I have talked to regarding the German vehicles has said that the repair and maintenance costs more than offset the longer lifespan of the vehicle.
If you want the best bang for the buck these days look to a Honda or a Hyundai. High quality, long life vehicles that get good gas mileage and hold their values. They are no more expensive to repair than their American counterparts using commodity parts.
The American counterparts are subpar in many respects and used to come with a smaller price tag. Now days they actually come with a higher price tag than the higher quality Japanese vehicles.
Gas powered engines can also be engineered to have flat torque bands and max power at lower rpms. My Mazda cranks out 280 ft./lb at 5000 or so RPM. The line you recite is a common rationalization for diesel engines, when high torque and narrow powerbands aren't the sole territory of diesels. The thing about the Le Mans Audis is how awesome those cars are IN SPITE of the fact they run on diesel. It's another aspect of the marketing required to convince people diesels are a good thing (not saying they aren't, it's just a concerted effort on the diesel industry's part to portray their self-interests in positive lights).
I discovered during the gulf war that in my car, a 76 corolla, if I bought Texaco premium I would get 40mpg vs 30mpg on regular.
Do you know why?
Because the regular explanation of the difference between regular and premium - higher octane - does not explain how you could get 33% better mileage on a car so old (and cheap) that it doesn't have fuel injection, never mind a computer managing the mix.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Engine braking is illegal in many counties near me (north texas/dallas area). It annoys the crap out of me.
Add in the the high cost of diesel and the fact that the car wouldn't get 65mpg in the US! What people don't get is when they see MPG ratings for European cars they are using imperial gallons not US gallons.
That is also why US cars look like they get such bad mileage when you compare them. So this car would only get 52 MPG in the US. It only gets 52MPG in the UK as well if you us US gallons.
Some people from the UK wanted to know why US cars got such "bad" mileage. They didn't realize that a gallon wasn't a gallon.
Still a nice car. If they could make it here and sell it for $18-20 k it would sell.
Too bad they can not make the engines in the US and export them to the UK. With the low dollar they would make more money in European market and we could have the engines here.
My guess is that there are some tariff, union, or tax reason for not doing it.
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