Buyers Want Big, Car Makers Want Big, Government Wants Small - So The Disconnect Grows

SEE ALSO: SUV's and Big Cars with Choice of Fuel, Not Small Cars Without Choice, Is What's Good for America (Originally Published 2009)
SEE ALSO: Americans Want Big Cars and Pickups...Detroit Wants to Build Big...So Let's Have Big...BUT!(Originally Published 2009)
SEE ALSO: Electric Vehicles - Solution or Diversion?

Washington DC January 7, 2016; The AIADA newsletter reported on the disconnect on electric vehicles.

From the battery-powered Chevrolet Bolt crossover to the hydrogen fuel cell-powered Honda Clarity to a hybrid Chrysler minivan, automakers are expected to show a parade of electric vehicles at the 2016 Detroit auto show.

According to The Detroit News, a rare sight a decade ago, they will join dozens of battery-powered entries in dealer showrooms as automakers try to dazzle consumers and meet government gas efficiency mandates. But with national gas prices hovering at $2 a gallon and SUV sales booming, battery-powered vehicles' share of the market last year dropped to just 2.4 percent, a 20 percent decline from 2014.

The trend has sent ripples of concern through an industry that must meet escalating emissions goals to combat global warming by 2020 — that is, within the current product cycle. By 2020, California, the country's largest auto market, will require roughly 10 percent of sales be zero-emission vehicles (either EVs or fuel cells). Experts say the result is a two-tier market.

To satisfy consumer hunger for SUVs, automakers are churning out crossovers and trucks at a record pace. Trucks and SUVs account for 55.7 percent of market share — an 11 percent increase in the last five years. For more on the Detroit News take on the growing disconnect over electric cars, click here.