Energy economy was thought to be a significant factor in their selection of a new car by a minimum of 1/3 of buyers in America. Because of the preoccupation today with air pollution, global warming and America’s dependence on overseas sources of oil, it’s actually shocking to learn that as long ago as 1992 a car that got 100 miles to the gallon was built by General Motors. There was also a car that looked a lot like the Geo Metro and weighed 1000 pounds, which boasted 75 miles per gallon gas mileage. Regrettably, to be able to meet American safety regulations, the 3-cylinder vehicle required reinforcement weighing 200 pounds, which resulted in further development being discarded.
It’s quite shocking that this was not the only GM prototype that was built, only to be thrown out later. A few of these were the 1982 GM Lean Machine which performed 80 miles per gallon, and the GM Ultralite which made 100 mpg. When Honda in 1992 reached 50 mpg with the Civic VX, GM was selling cars that got 20 mpg, while in the background they had vehicles capable of 100 mpg. Undoubtedly this begs the question as to the reasons these cars that are efficient at 100 mpg are not available to the public.
An additional perplexing thing is that a lot of companies, while selling fuel-eficient vehicles in foreign countries, are selling traditional gas guzzlers in the US. Automobiles that achieve more than 70 mpg have been purchased in Europe and Japan for several years. To illustrate, the Volswagen Lupo has never been distributed in north america – this is a car that gets 78 mpg. In 2007, Honda in america released the FIT, in other places known as the Jazz. Inside Japan the Jazz versions include one with a more compact engine, plus there are ways to improve fuel consumption, but with the Fit in the US not even the option of a smaller engine is offered.
Auto manufacturers in America tell their public that they make big autos because they, the public, love big autos. It’s obvious that manufacturers don’t make a lot of money selling a small 2-person commuter vehicle, but they certainly do selling big SUVs. American residents have been brainwashed with ads to believe that they simply must have the latest and largest bundu basher. It’s quite clear where the big companies’ interests lay when you consider that they have never offered options. GM could right now have been in the forefront with fuel-efficient vehicles, but they decided, rather, to champion SUVs. A number of other manufacturers also have developed fuel-efficient cars, but they’ve all ended up the same as GM by not offering them to Americans.
In spite of climatic change and the incredible pollution of the world environment, US car makers have yet to respond positively and at least give Americans the option of a fuel-efficient car. The question comes up: how many Americans could have appreciated the option of obtaining a car with good gas mileage but weren’t ever offered it? Possibly the moment has come to restore building those cars that were developed only to be abandoned all those years ago. Watch escalade wheels.