Re: 35mpg? No, Americans are too dumb.

Broderick Crawford wrote:
Eeyore wrote:
Broderick Crawford wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
Broderick Crawford wrote:

50+ mpg * $40.00 to fill 14 gallon tank * Costs $.05 a mile

Highest miles per gallon for a non-hybrid.* Top speed 140mph *5 speed

Goes 700 miles on a tank. Banned in 3 states.

Can you guess what it is? I have one.
VW diesel car ?
Yes, my Jetta and with the new low sulfur fuels it's clean too. I can't
believe the US car makers can't improve on it. They've lost their
technical ability. So much for American schools.
Sales of diesel cars in Europe account for nearly 50% in some countries. France
I believe has the highest percentage of new car sales.

Modern diesels are nothing like the ones that traditionally got a bad reputation
in the USA, and we've had 'clean diesel fuel' for quite some time here.

Graham

And not one single vehicle that can get 50mpg! The new 35mpg goal is a joke.

Last I checked, Europe's fleet average still fell short of 35 mpg (though only by a bit -- I think it's at 33-34 mpg). Europe's goals are expressed in terms of carbon emissions, rather than gas mileage, but their 120 g/km goal by 2010 corresponds to 47 mpg. Unfortunately, 75% of the major car companies that sell vehicles in Europe are on pace to miss it. You might also be interested to know that Ford's European fleet averaged 37.4 mpg in 2005 -- it even beat Volkswagen's 35.5 mpg European fleet average. Ford is also in the top five in auto sales in Europe (I remember being surprised by the number of Fords I saw there on my last few trips, particularly in Germany).

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/10/75_of_major_eur.html

So I see your point, but I don't think the issue is the automakers' collective ability to design a high-mileage car, it's more the collective unwillingness of Americans to buy one, at least as they have been offered in the past. Even European manufacturers Americanize their vehicles before introducing them here: The standard Jetta, which is vastly more popular than your diesel version in the US, gets only 22 mpg city and 30 mpg highway, about the same as Ford's Americanized version of the Mondeo (aka Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique) got before it was discontinued.
.

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