Saturday 20 November 2010

Electric vehicles seen as sliver of 2020 market

(Reuters) - Automakers around the world are pouring money into developing a slate of hybrid, plug-in and electric vehicles, but pure EVs are expected to make up just a sliver of the global auto market in a decade's time.
Pure electric vehicles-- which do not have an internal combustion engine and are plugged in to recharge-- will make up around 5 percent of the global auto market by 2020, some auto experts said.
Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn has a more bullish projection of 10 percent. Other industry insiders, like Ford Ford Motor's (F.N) Derrick Kuzak, say that percentage will be far smaller.
"The business model doesn't compute," BorgWarner Inc (BWA.N) CEO Timothy Manganello said at the Reuters Global Autos Summit. "The more these guys make electric vehicles, the more money they are going to lose."
Manganello projects pure electric vehicles will make up between 2 percent and 5 percent of the overall market by 2020, potentially including some range-extended vehicles.

No comments: