Range Rover, the company famous – and infamous – for making massive, luxurious gas guzzlers is bringing a hybrid to Frankfurt. That such a company is compelled to produce a more fuel efficient vehicle is a clear sign that the industry has radically changed. The other important aspect of Range Rover’s decision is that the vehicles themselves are incredibly expensive. This means that affluent people are becoming much more concerned about gas mileage, either because of social reasons or because of worries about future gas prices. In short, times have changed.
Hybrids Have Arrived
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As the result of increase in gas price, wealthy people began to consider gas mileage as one of the factors when they buy cars. This gives luxury car makers incentive to build more hybrids. Just like Land Rover, Infiniti recently announced that there will be hybrid powertrain options for almost every new model as they were announcing their new model, 2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid. More and more auto makers are now following this path. This leads to a more competitive market which will eventually benefit the customers.
A hybrid doesn’t have such a big (negative) impact for a luxury brand because in percentage terms it won’t change the price much.
Are they doing this though because their customers are pinching pennies at the pump? Or can they jump one or another regulatory hurdle by achieving a decent MPG rating?