Infiniti Hybrid Planned for 2010
Nissan wants to catch up to its rivals, Toyota and Honda, in the hybrid market and will introduce a luxury hybrid sometime next year, according to Japanese business daily Nikkei.
Though Nissan has used Toyota’s hybrid system in the past, on the Nissan Altima Hybrid, it plans to introduce its own hybrid drivetrain this time around, likely for the Infiniti M sedan.
It’s a somewhat questionable move considering the spotty sales record of luxury hybrids so far. Nissan need only look at the competition — Toyota, which has had a tough time selling luxury hybrids under the Lexus badge.
You have to wonder if promoting the Altima Hybrid nationally or building a model that could compete directly with the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight would be a better use of resources.
Report: Nissan Planning Luxury Hybrid in 2010 (BusinessWeek)
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Hmmm. I wonder why all of these auto makers are trying to jump on the hybrid bandwagon? Clean diesel vehicles are cleaner than gas and save more money for the consumer in the long run. Seems like this is being overlooked while the auto manufacturers are trying to say, "we're green" by going with what's popular.
Stop spreading the lie that Diesel is cleaner than gas. There's not a diesel engine on earth that can match the low emissions of a gasoline hybrid, and there never will be. Nobody wants a backward diesel car, and that's why Nissan, Honda, Acura, Subaru and GM have cancelled their previously announced diesels.
So, are they gonna be competing with the GS or LS?
The M class is considered a competitor to the Lexus LS, though the size puts it in between the GS and LS.
Net effects of diesel - cleaner than gas:
"Diesel, named after German engineer Rudolf Diesel, has traditionally been simpler to refine than gasoline, although making it also requires more crude oil per gallon. The end result is a fuel that boasts much greater energy density than gasoline, which explains why diesel cars get up to 40 percent more miles per gallon than their petrol counterparts. The higher energy density also means that burning a gallon of diesel emits more greenhouse gases than burning a gallon of gasoline—about 15 percent more, to be specific. But due to the appreciable fuel-economy savings, diesel cars usually emit less of these gases per mile driven."