Toyota announced it will be premiering the 2008 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid at the Chicago Auto Show on February 7.
The Toyota Highlander Hybrid was the second hottest hybrid sold in 2006. But future sales have several hardships to overcome. First, there will be more competition for hybrid car (or SUV) buyers in the coming year. Second, Toyota is slowly losing the federal tax credit on all of its hybrids. And third, the EPA is changing the way it calculates mpg for vehicles in 2008. All vehicles with a 2008 sticker will have these revamped numbers, which will be lower than they were in the past as the EPA has corrected for 'real world' driving conditions.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Toyota presents the 2008 Highlander Hybrid at the 2007 Chicago Auto Show
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3 comments:
Regarding the EPA mpg calculation change, I don't think there'll be problems with the new testing method, as all cars should get worse and the ROI for hybrid cars may improve. The downer is that hybrids were rumored to take a bigger mpg hit than non-hybrids.
That bein said, I'll continue to trust Green Hybrid's mpg database over the EPA.
Mike
I agree with trusting the mpg database, but marketing-wise, that 25% vs 15% drop is hard to ignore. Hybrids that get 50, 60 mpg look really good to the average person looking to buy their next car. If that drops to the 30's or 40's...
We all know that these figures that they give us have been done on a test track on not an ordinary road, where we are stuck in traffic jams and al that stopping and starting, and also all different kinds of weather plays a major factor as well
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