Don't get all warm 'n' fuzzy
Remember, carmakers make greener, more advanced cars because people will buy them
Jil McIntosh
That was driven home for me at a recent Toyota event, where company reps spent the lunch break bashing diesels. Toyota doesn't sell diesels in Canada or the U.S., and for some reason its Canadian branch is on a diesel tirade: almost every event now includes a presentation explaining that "clean diesel" is an oxymoron, and that diesels are inefficient compared with hybrids.
That was fine, until the company drew parallels between a high percentage of diesel vehicles in London, Eng., and a high number of premature deaths, presumably because of the resulting air pollution.
Unwilling to let death-by-diesel go unchallenged, I asked why, if these chilling London statistics mean so much, Toyota continues to sell diesel-powered vehicles by the boatload in Europe. The long, carefully worded answer boiled down to this: European customers buy far more diesels than gasoline-powered cars.
Toyota certainly isn't alone in providing the market with what it wants. Every auto company, no matter how warm 'n' fuzzy its advertising looks, would gladly sell you a car that runs on endangered whale oil or crushed kittens if it knew it could move a million of them out the door.
Automakers put out the product, but it's "we the people" who decide what sinks or swims. Buyers told Ford it was possible to make an SUV too big and so the Excursion flopped. Likewise, GM discovered its mild-hybrid mid-size sedans carried too high a price premium and they're gone. Four-wheel steering, automatic seatbelts, talking door-ajar warnings and a $100,000 Volkswagen – all were sent out with the best of intentions and were quietly discontinued when the public said otherwise.
The only decision that's really out of our hands is infrastructure, and even then it's early adopters in serviced areas who lead us toward our automotive future, whether it's pumping ethanol, plugging in electric cars or fuelling with hydrogen.
Honda has a hand in just about every type of propulsion. Why such diversification?
According to Honda Canada, it's because no one's sure which way the market will go, and when sales and infrastructure move in a particular direction, the company is ready.
We also have to remember that environmental decisions go beyond the showroom, and how we use the vehicles can be just as important as what we buy. My brother's Ferrari, for example, does less environmental damage than my friend's Civic: the Honda's daily commute racks up more kilometres in a week than the Ferrari covers in a year. We could collectively put a massive dent in fuel consumption just by checking tire pressure and adopting a few more fuel-efficient driving techniques, even before we exchange a single V8 for a hybrid.
The bottom line is that auto corporations aren't benevolent. They recycle at their factories because it saves them money; they add safety features because of government regulations and the competitive sales edge; and they offer small cars, big SUVs, hybrids, diesels, and new technologies in the markets most likely to buy them.
If there's going to be change, it will ultimately come from us.