Corvette Coupe tops at 186 mph
Z06 198 mpg
ZR1 over 200 mph

The ZR1 is the fastest production vehicle GM has ever built.

...this show, like others, places a big premium on fuel efficiency and environmental responsibility.

Thing is, auto companies, like everybody else, have to make products that people want to buy — vehicles that meet people's needs. In Washington, members of Congress and their staffs can eschew that responsibility, even though they are through their policymaking effectively designing cars. So their dictates lead to vehicles no one wants.

Would be a good thing for some Inside the Beltway folks to meet a Challenger buyer. Or, heck, drive one themselves.

1. On the difficulty of meeting Congressional mandates and consumer demands...

   [Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America] says that when it comes to cars, the American people vote with their dollars. He says that GM (and all other automakers) must make cars that people want to buy — not the ones that they'd like to sell. The automakers can't just mass produce the most fuel-efficient car in the market and force them on consumers (which seems to be what many in Washington would like). Rather, they need to respond to challenges like energy security and global warming while giving drivers what they want.
   
   Clarke relates the tale of a focus group in Los Angeles in which the participants expressed a strong desire for a 'green vehicle.' When the facilitators teased out what they wanted more precisely, the general consensus was for a Chevy Tahoe that gets 45 miles to the gallon.

   Heh.



2. On the cruelty of CAFE standards...

   Come 2020, new fuel economy standards will require automakers to sell a fleet that meets a sales-weighted standard of 35 miles per gallon. So for every one car sold that gets 22 MPG, they better sell multiple cars that get 37 or 38. Ultimately, the best way for the manufacturers to do that is to raise the price of that 22 mpg car to make sure only a few can afford it. Maybe the profits from that Dodge Challenger will subsidize the sale of the latest hybrid. Or maybe Detroit will just bank the higher profit.




3. On the "beauties" of the car show...well, he has a photo. You can also see a Toyota Prius in the picture.