The ‘Hottest’ Car Company This Fall? Experts Say Don’t Bet Against Honda
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
This fall’s new car models may be the last not to extensively feature hybrid and plug-in hybrid capability. “No carmaker is yet in a position to really capitalize on people’s increasing awareness about the cost, energy security and carbon footprint of today’s inadequate cars,” says Felix Kramer, one of the leaders of the drive to develop cars that can run on electricity supplied through an ordinary electrical outlet.
Consequently, both Kramer and Phil Reed, consumer automotive expert at the authoritative web site Edmunds.com, anticipate that Honda, whose current line-up of vehicles gets the best fuel efficiency, will likely rank at the top of consumers’ list of “hottest” car companies.
To be sure, Honda won’t be immune from consumers’ recessionary spending habits. But according to Reed, “Honda is extremely well-positioned and getting even better.” Reed noted that both the Honda Civic and Fit are consumer favorites, and that this fall Honda is planning a hybrid Fit and a “unique” hybrid that will be the cheapest on the market.
About Toyota, commonly viewed as the gold standard in “green” transportation, Reed said that while Toyota does have the Prius, it also has the Tundra, “which they can’t give away right now.” As for U.S. automakers, Reed said, “They’re all in bad shape.”
Kramer, on the other hand, put Toyota in the same general category as Honda in terms of its strength for the 2009 model year. “It looks like smaller cars and, of course, hybrids from Toyota and Honda, will be increasing their market share,” he said, though adding such models will remain “only a small percentage of cars actually sold.”
Kramer also indicated that investors shouldn’t look for any big changes in the automaker hierarchy for at least another two to three years, by which point he expects plug-in vehicles to hit the market, potentially rearranging the global auto industry.
