Electric vehicles and hybrids have often been touted as a logical solution to effectively reduce CO2 emissions and dependence on fossil fuels – at least until fuel cells become commercially viable.
Yet a recent survey conducted by U.S. financial consulting firm KPMG among 200 automotive executives found out that two-thirds of them do not believe that hybrid and all-electric vehicles will make much of an impact on the market. The auto execs estimate that their combined sales in the U.S. and Western Europe won’t exceed 6 percent in 2025.
Does this mean that carmakers will stop investing in the development of said technologies? Surprisingly enough, the answer is “definitely not”.
In fact, 81 percent of them expect even larger investments in battery cell technology, while 85 percent believe that automakers will devote more funds in electric motor production, and 76 percent anticipate that carmakers will increase spending in the development of electric vehicles.
This is quite a paradox, isn’t it? Why continue investing large sums of money in something you don’t believe in?
“They are hedging their bets”, explains Gary Silberg, national auto industry leader for KPMG. “They are saying that we don’t know yet what the winning vehicle technology will be for the future, so they are going to invest in all of it and let the market decide. The dilemma for the industry is, how do you predict the future when there is a high probability you will be wrong? It is a gamble.”
Perhaps the answer would be “that’s why they are paid handsomely”. Alas, as we’ve seen many times in the past, this does not guarantee that they will make the right choices…
Story References: Automotive News
