THE DOGS AREN’T EATING THE DOG FOOD

Hybrid Vehicle Sales are plummeting and only 30-35% of HEV owners purchase another according to the May 5, 2015 edition of WardsAuto, using a “Mad Men”-era phrase to describe the situation and to capture the arrogance of those in charge as well. (See Note below)

“The dogs aren’t eating the dog food.”

To figure out who is “in charge,” here we go with the acronyms: CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) is under the DOT, delegated to NHTSA with the involvement of the EPA, EPCA and EISA. The sum of it is that the US Government has established a fuel economy goal of 54.5 mpg by 2025.

It seems that US consumers are responding to low gas prices by buying vehicles with less fuel economy and the “corporate” part of CAFE kicks in because the goal is based on the company’s total package of offerings and sales. Plus, technologies that benefit real-world driving conditions, such as air-conditioning improvements, active aerodynamics and adaptive cruise control are largely ignored in the government testing.

According to Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) director, Chris Cowland, HEV’s are selling poorly despite big incentives, but FCA is completely sold out of gas-guzzling 707-hp Hellcat Challenger and Charger models with zero spiffs.

Don’t you just hate it when people don’t do what they are supposed to do?

Note: This post is heavily borrowed (well, ok, plagiarized) from the WardsAuto article by Drew Winter, May 5, 2015 on-line edition