Wealthy buyers opt for more power in the face of fuel efficiency
Luxury car owners want more and what
they want is horsepower. 500 ponies is quickly (literally) becoming commonplace; 600 is the number that automakers are
striving for.Infiniti is developing the production version of the Skyline GT-R (prototype is pictured) and its 500-hp engine. At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this year, Porshe showed off the Cayenne Turbo S with 520 ponies. And the new Mercedes S65 AMG? 612 horsepower.
And there’s both money and numbers to support such luxury vehicles. BMW, for example, sold over 1,700 vehicles last year costing $81,200 each. And depending on their reputation (e.g., Ferrari), automakers can sell 1,000 units a year at $100,000 each.
Though many of these vehicles have gas mileage in the teens, the only limits automakers truly have to deal with are performance, handling and safety to name a few of the major ones.
[Wall Street Journal via Naple News]
- Cadillac tries to woo the wealthy in wine country Sales of GM's large SUVs are falling and Cadillac knows that it can't float on the success of the Escalade and its brethren much longer, so it took a weekend trip with some 100 vehicles and a bunch of ...
- Hybrid fuel efficiency for one-fifth the cost, and no batteries? MIT-based startup Ethanol Boosting Systems has another use for fuel that goes way beyond E85 fuel in terms of reduced emissions and increased fuel efficiency. Best of all, the added cost of the EBS so ...
- Tahoe ads will brag about fuel economy, power GM has gotten a lot of grief over its 2007 GMT900 platform, from the extent to which the company is relying on sales of the vehicles to its "bug-eyed" design. Reading about it, however, it does have s ...
- BMW takes stab at increasing fuel efficiency One of the few times we see BMW in critics' crosshairs is when EPA numbers come out for new model year vehicles. While certainly not Hummer-thirsty, BMWs aren't exactly known for their fuel efficiency ...
- Wheels for the wealthy wheelchair-bound When we think of transportation designed for the physically challenged, a picture of a Dodge Caravan converted to be wheelchair accessible pops in our heads. But your average Mr. Money Bags doesn't fi ...
0 Responses to » Wealthy buyers opt for more power in the face of fuel efficiency
Leave your response!