It was almost six decades since the last serious effort, a big new car engine to create City-based company, and almost three quarter of a century since the last manufacturers in Detroit in the logo use the lights switched off. This may explain why skeptics, the first press conference of the resurrected Detroit electric surfaced this week.
They found that the manufacturer that is still uncertain US battery car market targeted - and with the aim of to start, although they still do not have a factory production by late summer.
CEO Albert Lam arranged to admit that his new start-up still does not prove that it is more than a dream is a strategy, which create not only a new line of high-performance and long-range electric vehicles could very model of automobile production to define but also that.
"The difference between sanity and madness," which declared Hong Kong US American entrepreneur, "is the realization of a dream."
Even a few months before the introduction of the Detroit electric could come iffy considering the lacklustre performance of US-battery-car market in 2012. Entries, such as the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan leaf, lagged well behind sales expectations. Start-up Tesla Motors ran 10 percent deeper in the red for the year than projected, Fisker Automotive has been running fast-based rivals while California cash and no resumption of the production of the first model, the karma, let alone a firm date for the introduction of the second row.
Fisker is a still financial basket case, furloughing to save money, its US staff for a week last month, but in recent days, there were positive signs for "electrified" vehicles. Tesla to beat its first quarter sales by almost 10 percent and report expected its first-ever profit in the January-March quarter.
Among the established brands, Nissan has apparently scored a solid hit with a new, cheaper version of its leaf. 2,236 Cars sold in March exceeded the forecast by Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn last week New York Auto show, where he estimated that supplies 1,900 close by would.
If there was disappointment on the emerging battery car market it at Chevrolet Volt to more than a third on 1478 was sales of plug ins, compared with the previous year dropped. For the first quarter, Volt 8.4 percent is 4.244, however. In other words, it remains on the Nissan leaf, a three-month counter for 3.539 and 2.353 sales for Toyota Prius Plug-in - generated if voltage is now second in the run-up to the market of the Tesla model S.
Ford, Toyota and Honda also a traction for their various hybrids, plug-in the and battery electric vehicles, or BEVs, last month, and analysts expect still more dynamic range than other brands give battery segment. Subaru unveiled just his first conventional hybrid at the NY auto show, where Audi announced, to make his first plug-in model in the States in 2014. And Porsche have two plug-in the the end of the year, including the relatively mainstream Panamera S E-hybrid and ultra exotic 918 supercar.
Like Tesla, the reborn Detroit electric focused battery electric power specially on starting with a low-volume, high-performance sports car. Called the SP: 01, it is based on a Lotus design and lightweight carbon fiber and aluminum bonded. His distinctive lithium-polymer batteries is 180 miles range Lam promised with a capacity of 0 to 60 by just 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph.
The SP: 01 is not exactly cheap at $135,000, but there is a Halo product, to put Detroit electric, Tesla developed some years earlier with its own Lotus Roadster on the map. The three are what is really important, Detroit electric models promised to soon follow, including mainstream sedan and hatchback offered targeted for end of 2014 - and bearing prices from around $32,000-$35,000.
As American Motors Corporation, which last serious attempt to create one based on the Detroit maker Lam and his team modest sales efforts - as well as a radically different business model have. In contrast to a conventional automobile manufacturers or even start-ups like Tesla and Fisker, Detroit electric plans to make minimum investments. It is a small factory in Detroit for the SP: 01 set up, but the future models will be largely on suppliers who already lot of overcapacity is swapped out.
""We would have to borrow $800 million probably"set up a conventional manufacturing process" proposed US Chief Don Graunstadt, adding, that "not enough sales exist (at least in the beginning), to support this kind of investment."
Executive/partners expect everything in all and a few "strategic investors" kick in to bring perhaps $50 million to $100 million, the realization of her dream.
"There is a little risk there, given the complexity of today's cars and comply with all rules, you have" Joe Phillippi, AutoTrends consulting shown a yellow card. "But the cost of your capital is minimal. It is now carefully take program management."
Lam, who once worked as a senior manager of Apple, was by the outsourcing approach, which significantly affected the consumer electronics giant. But it remains to be seen whether the strategy with a vehicle will work consisting of 15,000 or more parts.
Then again, if it's true, Detroit electric not only at a nascent market for battery power could connect but set a model that the rest of the industry cannot be ignored.
Copyright © 2009-2013, the Detroit Bureau
0 коммент.:
Post a Comment