The Carrot Project

Auto makers probably want people to buy more cars than anything else, right? To them, a consumer who buys one car every five years is twice a nice as a consumer who buys one every ten.

Really efficient driving to me would include things like not driving in the first place, carpooling when you had to drive, and driving super high gas mileage vehicles when possible. Of those three, the only one that seems even remotely appealing to car companies would be the third, where they have a chance at least to charge a premium over cost because of the gas savings the consumer can accrue over time.

So I guess my answer to your question is, in my opinion, to ask them to do a great job marketing hot new high efficiency cars.

Why then do you think Ford is offering the efficiency school? A token gesture? Looking for recognition? Figuring it’s time to explore a move into the driver education market?

Like Wiley, I kind of question their motives, but I don’t know that carpooling would really bother Ford. Most participants in a carpool still have a car after all, it will just last a few years longer.

I’d expect them to be more concerned about ‘car-sharing’ organizations (like Philly Car Share) than about people carpooling (after all, to carpool you still need a car). As much as I’d like to see them come out and say that the best form of Eco-Driving is no driving at all (and by extension, that the most Eco-Friendly car is no car at all), I don’t think its’ fair to expect a company to so blatantly go against their own interests.

As to your question, I do think they deserve some props for doing this. This may be (and probably is) driven by marketing more than any deep-rooted desire within the organization to reduce people’s fuel consumption. Hell, it could be that they want the oil that’s left to last longer so that they don’t have to rush into the electric car game. As much as we’d like to see more than this, and faster, the reality of the situation is that for the foreseeable future our roads are going to be filled with gasoline-burning vehicles. And if Ford’s trying to show interested drivers how to make those vehicles burn less gas, that is a very good thing.

If Ford really cared they would have built in instant mileage feedback computers and offered gas saving mods(like aftermarket companies do), rather than dvd players and chrome accents.

They could have just made all their cars better to save gas, I think they want to appear as if they care about people (saving money)… and the environment maybe too. Keep trying.

Are other car manufacturers adding gas saving computers though? I’m way behind the curve at this point, and I hope not to look for a new car anytime soon, but if other companies are taking that measure then I suppose Ford would come up a bit short. I’ve only ever seen that kind of feature in higher-end cars though.

As far as the dvd players and chrome accents, I agree wholeheartedly. But they can only respond to what their market research indicates that people want, so that is more of a condemnation of society as a whole than anything else.

so that is more of a condemnation of society as a whole than anything else.

Or, very bad market research would not be surprising either :D

I don’t know of any really great eco driving options from any companies. I’m just saying that posting eco-driving tips is about the best thing Ford has done for efficiency, and that’s sad. I think it’s more their fault than consumers. Our car companies should have seen all of this coming, what a mess.

Ford only makes 3 car models that get over 30 mpg highway, and one of them is a hybrid see here

They are planning an all electric vehicle for 2011, all of a sudden.

It is sad, but I still don’t think we can count on car companies looking out for us. Shareholder value trumps everything, including long-term shareholder value and needs that customers don’t know they have. Its’ not right, but its’ the harsh reality that every publicly traded company has to accept.

If consumers as a whole were better informed, they would have recognized this need a long time ago. It should be noted that Ford’s offerings on other continents are much more eco-friendly than they are here in the states example example2, precisely because gas prices have been higher there and this IS what consumers want (I wonder if US “Safety” regulations might have a hand in these cars staying off of US roads as well).

Better informed customers will hopefully change the way Ford does business in the states, and taking steps to make them better informed is a good start.

It would be nice if mopeds were a bigger part of our transportation culture. But it would be awfully cold on a moped in the Chicago winter. The government needs to make it significantly more attractive as far as tax breaks for people who want to make the switch to a more fuel efficient car. Why should someone who drives a car that they owe no money on have to incur a huge loan to buy a hybrid? We need more incentives that would make it possible for the average American to make the transition without incurring a huge amount of debt. The government and the car manufacturers need to get on the same page. Its nice to get some driving tips but even better to make eco-friendly cars affordable to everyone not just Leonardo Dicaprio.

I don’t know that questionable motives are an issue on this site, are they? Most if not all of these companies are doing what they do with profit in mind - we’re just suggesting the consumer has some weight in that equation and it’s time we start pushing it around. To me the question isn’t “is this a ploy” but “does it actually do some good”? My gut sense is some, maybe, but not much. They deserve props on a blog, but maybe not in a scoring system.

@Bluedrake - I’m riding a Chicago brand scooter (Genuine Buddy) and loving it. Denver has great weather for it most of the year. Maybe we should add scooters as a category.

@Eric The big question is definitely: “Does this actually do some good?” “Is this a ploy?” is a question worth asking, but, in my opinion, a ploy is only a problem if there’s no substance behind it.

If Company A wants people to think of them as super crunchy, and they start doing impressive, forward-looking things because they think doing those things will improve their image, I think that’s great. I mean it’d be amazing if every crunchy action was driven by heart and soul passion for a better world, but I think we should encourage anything helpful, regardless of motive.

So, yeah, substantive ploys are our friends.

And, as you say, Ford’s ploy seems to me to be only minorly substantive. If some expert tells us it’s a big deal, however, I’ll definitely listen.