Low-profit hybrids don't make Nissan green with envy

how cute.... "no chance the hybrid market is taking off anytime soon".... wanna bet they are feverishly working on their own system behind the scene? playing catch-up is never pretty.

 

that's also known as the loser's limp. pulling up lame in a race and blaming it on a leg injury, cause if you can't win, you might as well make an excuse instead of even trying.

 

Hi All,

Somebody might call this the economy of the 30 % scale. They have purposly crippled their capability to make full profit on this car by only selling it to 1/3 of the marke. The 1/3 that has the highest waranty requirements, also.

And this comment:


"He called the Altima launch part of a "test phase" for Nissan. Diesel, ethanol or improved gas engines could beat out hybrids as a better way to save fuel and reduce emissions, he said ..."

makes my cynical antenna go up. A better way for who? And that "could" verb is just killing me. If they ARE, then show us the MPG's. Any improved gas engine would just yield further improved fuel economy in a Hybrid, due to the part-throttle problem in city driving, where half the customers are.

And here is another weird comment:

"We still believe working on the gasoline combustion engine in the near-term is where we need to spend a lot of our effort," he said. "It's going to be out there for awhile."

What, and the new Altima Hybrid does not have a gasoline engine? Of course it does. This comment is just plain disjointed.

What this is, is a bunch of Luddites who cannot accept that electric drive motors are here to stay in cars. Get used to it. Its no longer even a question anymore. Go back to school and this time pass your electro-magnetics classes. This from somebody who was dumped out of canoe for setting the Physics 107 curve by a disgruntled M.E. student. Even train engines have not been mechanically driven for nearly a half a century!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HBO6 @ Mar 14 2007, 12:05 PM) [snapback]405436[/snapback]</div>

If Nissan believes they can only produce enough hybrids to satisfy the "California states" market I can understand. I think it's wrong to alienate customers in other states. After all, they are transporting "regular" cars to the other states so why not put a hybrid on the truck or train when someone orders one? The clincher for me is the attitude of the company spokesman. If the manufacturer isn't committed to supporting the product why should I? Sounds like I could have an orphan on my hands at any time.

 

Carlos Ghosn is all about profit. He's stated many times in the past that he hates selling cars at a loss.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&cli...amp;btnG=Search (wish I could find some official articles on this now)

If you're curious, he seems like an incredible businessman who turned around Nissan from near death to it making record profits. See http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../A01-101491.htm and http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/search/searc...10&offset=0.

However, they've started hitting some stumbles recently.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Mar 14 2007, 09:16 PM) [snapback]405848[/snapback]</div>

I suspect they could be supply side limited for many of the HSD components along w/some logistical issues. I'm sure you all recall that the the Prius was in very short supply and there were wait lists until recently.

In order to do the latter, you could spread yourself too thin (useless hybrid sitting around at a dealer where nobody wants it vs. having one available where someone does want it). The other things to keep in mind are dealer sales training, more importantly dealer tech training and logistics of parts unique to the hybrid model. In this case, they only need to do training in the 8 states where hybrids are more likely to be bought anyway and only regularly carry parts there.

 

Good list, but you left out the Altima coupe, 350Z, 350Z Roadster, Titan, Versa and possibly a few others. I believe the G35 sedan came first and the coupe came a little later. I'm not sure if you were trying to list all the redesigns at the end because there were a few others that underwent that (the M was the most dramatic).

The Quest got a redesign of the dash because nobody like the funky gauges in the middle.

Yep, the Quest, Titan and Armada/QX56 have gotten horrible reliability records.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Mar 15 2007, 01:18 AM) [snapback]405916[/snapback]</div>

I don't know what the Parts Dept. is full of but it hasn't been full of parts I needed. In my experiences over the last 7 years it's been: Day 1--disassemble the car and order the part. Day 2 (maybe) or more likely Day 3--part arrives from warehouse. Day 3(maybe) or Day 4 reassemble car.

Cherry Hill Toyota didn't have a trunk mat for my car on delivery and didn't have brake parts in inventory when my ABS failed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Mar 15 2007, 09:58 PM) [snapback]406593[/snapback]</div>

I'd imagine that most car makers have warehouses/distribution points for parts that dealers and auto shops draw from. So, imagine stocking such parts to cover depots that cover 50 states (to allow for the one offs you're proposing that vs. a handful) or the extra shipping costs.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ Mar 14 2007, 10:45 AM) [snapback]405476[/snapback]</div>

There have been various reports in the press long ago that they already are working on their own. For example, see: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/09/report_nissan_t.html
http://www.autoindustry.co.uk/news/05-04-06_13
http://www.toyota.com/about/environment/pa...ips/nissan.html

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Mar 16 2007, 12:19 AM) [snapback]406603[/snapback]</div>

I wish their hybrid well. It is sad that it takes government intervention to force companies to innovate.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HBO6 @ Mar 14 2007, 01:05 PM) [snapback]405436[/snapback]</div>

Sounds like a marriage where the ring bearer is struggling to carry the huge pre-nup instead of a ring... They must be awfully proud of their new product because I've heard nothing about it's fuel efficiency other than it's a hybrid.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jgills240 @ Mar 14 2007, 03:19 PM) [snapback]405608[/snapback]</div>

Or maybe it's because they saw this article:

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/e....asp?NewsID=188

Or possibly these pictures of Sudbury, Ontario where the batteries are made for your environmentally friendly cars:







If I were a Toyota Hybrid owner, right about now I'd be calling Toyota and asking them if they had any plans to do something about this, or if they planned on continuing the hypocracy of their "earth saving hybrids". BTW...ever ask yourself what happens to the batteries in your cars when the cars die around 100k miles? Obviously saving the earth is important, but you can't just save gas to help with environmental issues. It takes a lot more, and the pictures show that at least one car company isn't doing all the steps. I wonder what the other battery plants are like for other hybrid manufacturers. That clean up is going to cost a pretty penny. Maybe Nissan was taking that into account as well? Anyway, I'm not a tree hugging hippy by any means. I drive a modified supercharged V6 daily, so I'm far from being an environmentalist, but those pictures, quite frankly, made me stop and go "Wth!" I'd like to know what you guys think of all that, honestly (and hopefully repsectfully and without flamage/childish replies). Thanks!

 

oh #$(*&^ #($*(& #*&^%

onyx, if you had done more than blindly accepted that article you'd be calling the dude who wrote it and asking him for the time back that you just spent reading it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Mar 18 2007, 12:50 AM) [snapback]407742[/snapback]</div>

Really? Why is that? Also, opinion on the pictures?

 

sorry. knee-jerk wanna-puke-if-i-see-this-#$(*-again reaction. you know, something you've seen just twelve too many times. the article you link amounts to a condensed, repackaged version of some other stories put out there regarding the same subject.

re: the pics, check out scott's post here

pick your link. this is one really #$%king dead horse.
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=26788
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=28834
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=28560
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=30623