Been thinking about this some more and another reason they don't stack up too well in Europe (vs alternatives, some diesel and some not) is not just cost, its also marketing. You have to remember we haven't had a slew of 'highbrid' versions of other cars - Ford and GM don't make any, PSA maybe will, Renault no, VW no and so on. Toyota and Honda are the only makers who sell them - Prius 3 and Insight 2.
The problem for these makers is that they are marketing against themselves. In the 1990s onwards both makers struggled to sell lots of hatchbacks compared to European makers because they all had Turbo Diesels. Peugeot ones were reckoned to be the best so suddenly Peugeot goes from being out of the top 10 cars sold to have 2 or 3 in there consistently. Toyota, Honda and Nissan didn't have any to sell and suffered.
So they go away and invest - Honda comes up with a CR Diesel and sells it in the Civic and Accord, before getting into others. Toyota released a Diesel Avensis early but it wasn't very good, so they went away and designed a new set of 1.4 - 2.0 Diesels. Both of these are selling well, loads of Honda Civic CTDi's around for example, fewer of the smaller Toyotas (tend to sell to private owners) vs the Avensis (which is mainly a company car).
And now they are having to sell the Hybrids. And to sell the Hybrids Honda (for example) is going on about the expensive and unreliable bits of a Diesel - even though they sell them. Toyota is happily selling the Prius as a lifestyle vehicle and charging a premium, alongside the Diesel Auris (same size, and with a 1.4 Diesel compared to the 1.8 in the new Prius) and Diesel Yaris.
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Originally Posted by bwilson4web
I know but I've yet to find an European version of our EPA mileage page.
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There is an EEC standard, there is a site for looking them up here
Car MPG - What is a Cars Fuel Efficiency
It is similar but not identical to the EPA one - same intention and thoroughness (from being in a lab point of view) and just an unrelated to reality as the EPA numbers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwilson4web
ps. Thread title "grenade pin pulled" suggests a desire for a reality 'clue by four.'
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