Fuel efficiency's nice if you can get it
...and if you get it, won't you tell me how? 'cause despite recent green insurance plans, in the US, anyhow, sales of fuel efficient vehicles are - despite US prices of petrol being more insane than ever and approaching 70's energy crisis levels - fuel efficient vehicle purchases are in decline. Why? "Most people who wanted (a hybrid) already have one," said Jesse Toprak, an analyst for Edmunds.com.
"They bought one not to save money necessarily, but to make a statement. But that market is not unlimited. Consumers in the next market, the mass market, make decisions not so much on fashion but on bottom-line savings." And the bottom line is not as good as it needs to be. Consumers are paying around $3k USD more but only saving around $100 a year.
Prius sales plummeted more than 24 percent in April, to 8,234 units, compared to the same month last year, though Toyota blamed limited manufacturing capacity for the drop-off, not easing consumer demand.
In the UK, the situation is even worse, because although there are significant VED - road tax - savings on fuel efficient vehicles, Friends of Earth notes that they don't actually exist with powerful enough technology to take advantage of the tax breaks. You can't buy what isn't on the market, sadly. [GT]
