Porsche Cayenne Hybrid and Honda Makes it Fit

Not wanting to be left out of the hybrid hysteria, Porsche recently announced an upcoming hybrid version of their biggest carbon emitter, the Cayenne. While details are still pretty sketchy, we are expecting to see the hybrid Cayenne hit the market in late 2009. Porsche has already been touting the fuel efficiency of this hybrid claiming that it will cut fuel consumption by approx. 33%.

When the federal government released new tax penalties and credits under the ecoAuto/Green Levy program, Honda's Fit model looked like it was going to narrowly miss qualification for a $1000 consumer rebate under the new fuel-efficiency incentives. However, after a few minor updates to the guts of the vehicle Honda is now expected to have the manual-transmission Fit qualify for the rebate, while the automatic-transmission version is still a work in progress.

Perhaps a more germane question is whether these green rebates are effective. Some people point out that car consumers ultimately buy the car that fits (no pun intended :-) their needs no matter the incentive. A family of four is going to look for a larger vehicle than a 20-year old single. The green initiatives imposed by the federal government place tax penalties on larger (less fuel efficient) vehicles, and in many cases Canadian families are still choosing the larger vehicle because of lifestyle, utility needs. In addition, the automakers despise being penalized on larger vehicles because that's where their profit margins are highest. So do these federal initiatives simply place a tax burden on Canadian families while giving rebates to a younger demographic? If you ask the auto industry, they'll say 'yes'. To some degree, I can see their point.

( Add your comments )

Recent Entries:
· Honda Announces Mileage Marathon Winner
· Cadillac Converj is GM's next electric car
· Could DeLorean save the Pontiac Solstice?

[ READER COMMENTS ]

Porsche Cayenne Hybrid and Honda Makes it Fit

Add your comments...

We kindly ask that you keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Abusive or inappropriate comments or comments that are specifically promotional in nature may be removed.