Companies Leading the Way
Today, companies realize that making efficiency real NOW will help us in the future. Car companies around the world are taking action. From Detroit to Japan to Germany there is the notion that change must come. Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, and Toyota are just some of the companies taking action. Efficiency is going mainstream in the car market because it's the right thing to do. By reducing the fuel economy of cars, the buyers will be less burdened by the cost of gas and there will be less of a carbon footprint in the end.
A noticible effort is being taken by import manufacturers. Among the most commendable are Toyota and Honda. They are not only recognized for high build quality but now recognized for having fairly efficient vehicles whther or not the vehicles are hybrid or conventional. Honda and Toyota both have hybrid models (Toyota with the majority) and both have mainstream family vehicles (Toyota Camry and Honda Accord) that have impressive fuel economy and low emission ratings but have respectable power outputs.
Detriot based GM and Ford; both domestic car companies; are not watching on the sidelines as the market shifts. Both automakers have their eyes set on the furture and on new technologies. Some of this technology has already arrived however. Ford brought america the first SUV full hybrid which was the Escape Hybrid and is hoping to keep bringing innovations to the market. GM is regularly adding hybrid models to its lineup. The Saturn lineup has new hybrid GREEN LINE models for the Aura and Vue, the Chevrolet lineup is getting the Tahoe hybrid, Cadillac and GMC are getting hybrid variations of the Escalade, Yukon and Sierra, and there is being a large shift towards efficiency everywhere else.
Throughout the automobile market, technologies such as cylinder deactivation are being applied to models at Honda, Chrysler, GM, and others while efficient 6+ speed transmissions are being are growing widespread, particularly in luxury models.
Change is not limited to pioneers of efficiency. These pioneers can include the Toyota Prius, upcoming Chevrolet Volt, and the Tesla roadster (a production sports car powered soley with thousands of lithium-ion battery cells). These pioneers start the trends but they also influence the rest of the market to follow them. Take a look around, cars are not what they were before. That is the magic of change.
The lexus GS450h combines Lexus luxury with an efficient full hybrid system
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