When you’re looking at the prices of different vehicles, hybrid cars often will tend to be slightly pricier. Because of advanced technology which is within hybrids, they may cost an extra dozen or $2000 or more over the conventional gasoline powered equivalent. The main reason for the difference in price besides the advanced technology is the cost of the batteries. This is a great deal of money but you also have to factor in the type of fuel savings you’ll be receiving. This article will first look at an actual Civic hybrid and the difference in price along with some of the benefits you may receive when buying a hybrid.
A good example can be found when looking at Honda’s website. A Civic sedan starts at $15,010. A Civic hybrid starts at $22,600. At first blush this may seem like too much money just to help the environment. There are other factors which must be looked into. When looking at the conventional Civic sedan, it is estimated that you will receive gas mileage of 25 miles to the gallon in the city and 36 miles to the gallon when traveling via Highway. A Civic hybrid is estimated to receive 45 miles a gallon. If you drive within the city most of the time, you will be having a fuel savings up to 20 miles per gallon. This has effectively allowed you to cut the amount of gas you purchase almost in half every year. You would need to calculate how much you drive to see whether or not the fuel savings would be greater than the difference in price. One other financial factor which should come into play is a tax rebate. The federal government in 2005 allowed a tax rebate on certain vehicles between $400 and $3400 in deductions. You would also want to check with your particular state because there may be a rebate available from that form of government as well.
A hybrid is more expensive but if you look into the fuel savings and the rebates, you may come up financially ahead buying a hybrid. It does take some research but you must take solace in the fact that you can save yourself money while also helping the environment. You are helping create less greenhouse gases. You are minimizing impact that your driving has upon your particular locale. Buying a hybrid car makes a statement as far as you’re concerned for the environment and hopefully will lead others whom you know to have a similar decision making process.
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The Reasons For The Higher Price Of Hybrid Cars And How They Are Justified
Vauxhall, Opel And Holden, Are They All Really The Same?
Vauxhall throughout its history has attempted place cars on the forecourts of dealers that are attractive to buyers and above all affordable. They have had serious competition in this role however, particularly from American company Ford, although British Leyland provided serious competition for many years. The first Vauxhall factory was opened by Alex Wilson, cars however were not the first items to roll off the productions line; originally it was pumps and engines that were the mainstay of Vauxhall’s trade. It was not until 1903 that the first cars rolled out onto the forecourts of dealers.
While the company started out as a British owned and run operation this soon changed as in the twenties Vauxhall was bought out by American car manufacturing giant General Motors. The decision to sell affected the design and sale of the cars for generations to come, whilst also tying Vauxhall to its new European counterpart Opel. The price of the buyout was only two and a half million pounds, for this sum GM received the company lock, stock and barrel; the factories, dealers and all the assets. Unfortunately the parent company was less inclined to inspire forward thinking design and the cars were somewhat dull and boring, resembling their American and European counterparts.
While GM purchased Vauxhall in 1925 taking over production and the running of the company, it was not until four years later that this American giant decided to buy out the German company Opel. Since this time the two companies, their dealers and workers were intertwined, producing cars that were practically identical in terms of design and build. Opel cars are common all across Europe and are regarded to be GM’s strongest European brand. However, the Vauxhall Company have always rejected a name change for the sake of homogenisation, fiercely clinging to their own identity as a British manufacturer. That said nearly all models produced by both companies have been almost the same, just with different names and slightly different styling. One example being the Opel Kadett, which in Britain was labelled the Astra. The latter name was seemingly more popular as the both companies have now adopted it for the most modern variant.
That said within Britain there were Opel dealers in operation, selling practically identical models to those of Vauxhall. This however changed in the late seventies and early eighties when GM made the decision to faze out the Opel dealers within the UK, the last Opel sale in the UK being in 1988. Opel cars do however continue to be sold in Ireland, as the reverse of the closure process happened in this country. Vauxhall dealers were shut or simply taken over by Opel during the eighties. The reason behind such a move was duplication and GM simply making competition for themselves. Today both companies market cars with the same names and design although the prefix naturally differs.
Another sister of both Vauxhall and Opel is Holden, predominantly operating in Australia. Once again this was once an independent company but was bought by GM in 1931. This company has a number of models designed by their European counterparts although has retained some of their independence by marketing high powered models for the racing sphere. The most recent being the Commodore, the first vehicle to be completely designed and built by the company for over thirty years. Clearly it is Holden that has managed to retain the largest amount of independence within the GM dominion.
Vauxhall has had trouble continuing its independent nature as one of the subsidiaries of GM. But being owned by such a powerful parent company has ensured their survival in a UK car industry that has experienced decline since the mid twentieth century. Today the cars on forecourts of dealers owe as much to GM as they do to the work of Alex Wilson over one hundred years ago.
