Greener Carmakers Gain Speed

While General Motors and Chrysler struggle through bankruptcy, promising consumers that the lesson is learned — with commercials on GM’s part offering a "reinvention" and with hopes on Chrysler’s part that Fiat will help it create smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles — it appears it might just be too little, too late. Car makers who already made fuel-efficiency and eco-friendliness a priority are gaining speed at a time when American brands are stalled.

A New York Times story yesterday reported on small, foreign automakers like Hyundai and Kia who, combined, have seen their share of the U.S. car market grow from 5 percent last year to 7.3 percent this year. What’s more: Though they are hurting like everyone in the car industry and have seen corresponding dips in profit, Hyundai, Honda and other small automakers are still in the black at a time when GM and Chrysler are just grateful that bankruptcy plans weren't derailed.

Even electric carmaker Tesla says it is inching towards profitability. According to a Reuters story, the purveyor of the coveted electric Roadster sports car, says it will be able to bring down the costs of its flagship vehicle by 43 percent to about $80,000. In a blog post, the company’s CEO Elon Musk said Monday that “Combined with a steady production volume of 20 to 30 per week in the third quarter this year and a good take up rate of the higher priced Roadster Sport, we expect to cross over into profitability next month.”For the auto industry, it really does pay to go green.