All the talk at the North American car show, says Andrew Hamilton, is of hybrids and fuel economy
Contrary to popular perception George Bush's America seems intent on getting cleaner and greener and more fuel efficient. This is the strong impression that its car manufacturers are giving at the 2005 North American international motor show which opened this week in snowy Detroit.
Much of the show talk was of hybrid petrol-electric vehicles, clean diesel and hydrogen fuel cells. It wasn't all pie-in-the-sky futuristic talk either.
"The cars at the show and on sale are ultra-clean, 99 per cent cleaner than they were 30 years ago," trumpeted Fred Webber, president of the carmakers' Alliance of America group. Greenest and cleanest in the giltzy 2005 line-up are hybrids, using usually a combination of petrol and electric motors.
Hybrid sales in the US are going to be over 200,000 this year, up from 47,000 last year. Industry analyst JD Power estimates sales of well over 500,000 by 2010 - nearly 3 per cent of the total market. Ford, for instance, is promising a five-model hybrid range by 2008.
"Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are the ultimate answer, but we have many environmentally sound solutions like hybrid before they are ready," remarked Rick Wagoner, General Motors chairman. At the show GM launched the Siena, a machine it claims is the world's first hybrid pick-up. Among concept launches was an Opel Astra with a previosuly unseen electric/diesel arrangement.
American motorists don't like diesels - they account for only a tiny percentage of the car population. But now they are being invited to have a change of heart. At the Mercedes-Benz, Jeep and Chrysler stands, there were a string of banners proclaiming messages like "it's (Eco) logical, drive diesel", "20 per cent less greenhouse gas", "drive diesel, get the torque" and "it's efficient, drive diesel, 780 miles per fill up".
Last year, North America car journalists recognised the environmental credentials of the hybrid Toyota Prius electing it their Car of the Year. This year at the show they elected the Ford Escape hybrid as Truck of the Year - Escape is in fact an SUV (still "truck" in US parlance).
GM rolled out its Sequel fuel cell vehicle with good and bad news. It can be built only in small volumes, the cost being prohibitive for mass production. GM officials explained that they had broken through the industry standard cost of $500 per kilowatt generated by a fuel cell power module, but they are still a long way from the $50 goal.
According to Wagoner, "if it's $500 or $300, the mathematics don't work. We have got to get below these figures." For him, the good news was that "it's not $5,000 anymore".
The Sequel incorporates many of GM's technologies - as well as fuel cells, advanced aids include drive-by-wire and wheel hub motors. GM has doubled the range of the Sequel to 300 miles while also halving its 0-60 mph time to less than 10 seconds. Power has also been increased by 25 per cent.
GM still expects to market a fuel cell vehicle by 2010. "It may seem frustratingly slow, but in the context of 100-plus years of car manufacturing, mostly of the internal combustion engine, it's moving at a smart pace," commented Wagoner.
It's widely expected that by 2010 Toyota, not GM, might be the world's biggest car manufacturer. But Wagoner insists that the number one position will not be forfeited without a fight: "We've been ahead for 73 years in a row and I think the betting odds are that we'll be around for the next 73 years."
Toyota is running neck and neck with Ford for the number two position and is ramping up production to meet its goal of capturing 15 per cent of the global market by early next decade. GM's global market share dropped to 14.5 per cent in 2004.
Detroit's Big Three - GM, Ford and Chrysler - ominously saw their US collective market share fall to 58.1 per cent last year, the lowest ever, while at the same time facing severe profit pressures.
Both Wagoner and Ford chairman Bill Ford predicted that market share would rebound with new product lines coming this year and in 2006. Ford's share of the US market fell to 19.6 per cent last year, down from 20.8 per cent in 2003 - it had the longest decline of any Detroit-based car maker. The good news is that Ford expects to record $3 billion profits for 2004, later this month.
The stars of the show undoubtedly are the cars and, with over 60 production and concept launches, there was no shortage of extravagent stunts aimed at exciting the 6,000-strong media circus. Chrysler, for instance, masked their new Charger in the skin of a NASCAR car body.
There's no shortage of exotica either, such as the Corvette Z06, which brings the legendary GM sports car into completely new territory in terms of performance and handling. The 7-litre car offers 500 bhp with a 0-60 mph time of just over three seconds. Going on sale at the end of this year, it will be "significantly more expensive" than the standard $52,000 Corvette.
Ford's 2006 Fusion is a five-seater saloon that bears no relationship to its boxy European namesake. Ford has revived the Fairlane name for a stylish MPV concept - Henry Ford called the original Fairlane after Fair Lane in Cork City. Revived, too, is the Zephyr name, sold in Ireland in the 1950s. It's now a new mid-size saloon in Ford's luxury division.
Lexus is going into a rarified atmosphere challenging Ferrari and Porsche with its LF-A concept. If produced, the car will take Lexus prices in the US past $100,000 for the first time. Lexus engineers at the show said the engine would either be a V8 or a V10, depending on the direction of Toyota's Formula One Racing Team.
Adjudged by many the best-looking car and one that by Irish and European standards seems very affordable is the Saturn Sky Roadster with rear-wheel drive and a 2.4-litre 170 bhp four cylinder engine. Going on US sale in eary 2006, it's expected to retail for under $25,000. With that sort of pricing in Ireland, the Sky would definitely have no limit.