Perhaps you have visited The Car Salon 2010 that took place a few weeks ago in Brussels? More than ever environment friendly cars were in the spotlights. But of course also exclusive high speed cars attracted the attention at this major event, among these fast and posh cars there’s Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Aston Martin.
These kind of cars are world famous and at the same time infamous for their barely credible performances, exclusivity and enormous fuel consumption. What a lot of people don’t know is that Porsche also pursues an environment friendly policy. Even more, in 1966 they were far ahead of their time when they had done the first officially admitted exhaust fumes test. According to the test results Porsche scored more than sufficiently with its Porsche 911. Even in 1987 they were already a step further at Porsche. From that year on they delivered 85% of all their new cars standard with a catalyst. This was very admirable at that time if you know that it took a few years before it was made obligatory by the European government.
The German sports car manufacturer, that sells this type of cars all over the world, has a lot of buyers that come from the United States too. The chances are that it will be a lot more expensive for these people to buy a Porsche. It could be so that legally bringing these cars in traffic will no longer be so effortless in the near future. Because of the environmental policy, the U.S. government most recently already worked out and approved several laws in reducing the pollution level and global warming. At the moment, there’s a law proposition that will have a huge impact on the so called fast cars. The following is mentioned in the content of the law proposition: “Starting from 2016 luxury cars can no longer have an average fuel usage of more than 5.7 litres per 100 kilometres.” When Porsche can’t live up to these high demands of the U.S. government, it will have to pay towering fines in the United States. According to Porsche this is an unfeasible task for the car make. Even with the introduction of some new hybrid car models it won’t be able to live up to the standard. At the moment Porsche is already paying fines because of the high fuel consumption of its cars. In this case, we are talking about a sum around one hundred dollars for every vehicle sold. The fine is automatically paid by the buyer when the car is bought. In case the law proposition would become a real law, Porsche would have to pay fines that go up to 37.500 dollar for every vehicle sold.
It’s already been proven that the stories about climate change and global warming aren’t just some fairy tale. Global warming IS damaging the world we live in today. Luckily world leaders are step by step realizing that the destiny of many people is mainly in their hands and that they must form the basis in solving this problem.
We also see that car manufacturers realize that they can have an important influence on the problem too. Governments as well as car manufacturers stimulate potential buyers to go for an environment friendly car. They try to do this by lowering prices or giving premiums to buyers. I am convinced of the fact that these two big parties can’t achieve much without the consumer participating in this key process. This is why the car buying population also needs to take it to the next step and exploit the situation in a way that stimulates the environment friendly policy.
When people want to choose for luxury and exclusivity instead of the wellbeing of this planet, I really think they should pay the costs of that decision. I would feel rather guilty if I would be buying a car like that. Not only because others are really making efforts to reduce global warming, also because I would see it as a very selfish gesture.
I must say I am convinced of the fact that the target group of Porsche won’t be very deterred by the elevated prices. In the long run I strongly believe that the U.S. Government will take measures that could cause an intolerable financial situation for Porsche if the company doesn’t undertake any important measures.
Sources: Porsche.com
In certain sense I agree with your opinion about this topic. I think you're making a mistake when you say that Porsche will have certain issues finding solutions for this problem. Although I realize the U.S. market is an important sales market for Porsche, I am convinced of the fact that they will cope with this structural problem. Porsche is one of the players in the sports car market that has already made the best adoptions to the changing market conditions. Porsche will probably equip their more simple models with light petrol engines. This will decline the fuel usage and therefore stimulate the overall sales. The real Porsche 'freaks' won't be so keen on such measure, but this group was also against the Porsche Cayenne, more specific the version with diesel engine. Today we see that this version was mainly responsible for the overall sales of Porsche.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThe funny thing about this news message is that it is The United States who is making these kind of law propositions. Everyone who thinks about the U.S. automatically thinks about gigantic pick-ups, Hummers, Corvettes, Viper, and so on. These are all examples of inefficient fuel usage. I think this is a very unprotectionistic measure, very unlike other measures we have seen through the years.
I completely agree with your opinion. I also think that people who can afford a car like this can pay the costs that go with it. But that's also why they should take other measures, because this will not work! The owners of Porsche cars will easily be able to pay the higher price, so I think they should come with another alternitive that WILL make a difference.
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