Posts Tagged ‘saturn hybrid car’
The Short Life of the Honda Accord Hybrid
Before you get your heart set on purchasing a Honda Accord hybrid, it is important to realize there are only used version of this vehicle available.Although the Honda Accord is one of the top selling cars in North America, the success of the conventional version of the Accord did not carry over to the hybrid version of the Accord.The Honda Accord hybrid was only manufactured for a short period of time and production of this vehicle ceased in the middle of 2007.In this article we will take a look at the evolution of this hybrid model and discuss why it was not successful.
Production of the Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda had already tested the waters of the hybrid market before the Honda Accord hybrid began rolling off the assembly line.By this time Honda was already manufacturing the hybrid version of the Civic as well as the Insight.The success of these two hybrid cars make it obvious that Honda is capable of producing successful hybrids.However, they took some production risks with the hybrid version of the Accord and these risks did not pay off.In particular, they marketed this car as a luxury vehicle.By including costly options and trims, Honda had hoped drivers interested in these features, and willing to pay more for them, would be tempted by this model.Although the hybrid vehicle produced for model years 2005-2007 was certainly an attractive one, it failed in terms of fuel efficiency.After the vehicle was released the estimated MPG was lowered to 25 after originally being estimated at 29 MPG.Many critics blamed this dismal fuel economy on the fact that Honda had chosen to use a more powerful engine in the vehicle.As a result, drivers in search of a hybrid car overlooked the Honda Accord hybrid because the fuel efficiency was poor.
The Reasons Why the Honda Accord Hybrid Did Not Sell Well
There were critics of the Honda Accord hybrid from the day this vehicle was debuted.In particular, critics were unimpressed with the way in which Honda used hybrid technology without gaining fuel economy, which is the intended purpose of this technology.Rather than designing a hybrid version of the four cylinder Accord, Honda designed a hybrid version of the V-6 version of the Accord.Although Honda enjoyed moderate success in 2005 with over 16,000 hybrids sold, these sales plummeted to just over 5,500 in 2006.The failure of this vehicle was a direct result of an unfortunate design and the existence of other models on the market that were not only offered at a lower price but featured a better estimated MPG.Quickly realizing this vehicle was not destined for success, Honda stopped producing the model in mid 2007.
E.E. Jarquio is an experienced Webmaster and is the founder of the website Green-Hybrid-Cars.com. He writes lots of web pages about the topic of environmentally-friendly vehicles, such as Toyota hybrid and Saturn hybrid that you can learn from without leaving home.
Saturn Hybrid Car Options
One of the newest manufacturers to start producing hybrids is Saturn.Currently, they are offering the Vue hybrid as well as the Aura hybrid.Furthermore, the debut of the 2-mode hybrid is on the horizon.However, these current year models will soon not be the only Saturn hybrid options available.Those interested in a Saturn hybrid, may wish to hold off on making a purchase.The Saturn hybrids available for model year 2009 as well as some of the hybrids in the works for Saturn will be discussed in this article.
Currently Available Saturn Hybrid Options
The best place to find useful information on the Saturn hybrid vehicles available is the Saturn website.From here you can navigate to the subpage for the hybrid vehicles and see the models available.Here you will see that the hybrid vehicles currently available from Saturn include the Aura hybrid and the Vue hybrid.Although there are other car manufacturers producing hybrids with more advanced technology, there is still room in the market for the Saturn hybrids.However, they offer a good starting point for anyone interested in testing the hybrid waters.The relatively low price tag on these two cars makes them pretty attractive.This is because these vehicles are faltering in the important aspects of MPG and emissions ratings.According to these critics, the Saturn hybrids do not provide a great deal of fuel efficiency and the emissions scores for these vehicles are high for hybrids.On this hybrid subpage of the Saturn website, you will also see the Vue 2-mode hybrid listed as being scheduled for release soon.Saturn may really become a contender in the hybrid vehicle industry after they introduce this hybrid in the spring of 2009.However, they are not aiming high and will only be producing a small number of these vehicles.However, it should quite Saturn hybrid dissenters with greater fuel efficiency.
Saturn Hybrid Options on the Horizon
The 2-mode Vue hybrid is not the only development Saturn expects to unveil in the near future.They are also known to be working on a plug-in hybrid design.In fact they are in a race with a number of other manufacturers to bring this option to the United States first.Although it is not definite yet, there are some who are predicting Saturn will be the first to market with their plug-in version of the Vue.There are even some who are predicting the plug-in hybrid will be ready by 2009 while others do not believe this is possible.It is possible though that the plug-in version of the Vue hybrid will be available by 2010.
E.E. Jarquio is an experienced Webmaster and is the owner of the website Green-Hybrid-Cars.com. He writes well-researched reports related to the subject of hybrid cars, such as Honda Civic hybrid and Toyota Camry hybrid that you can browse on his website even while you are relaxing in your living room.