Why do you think the big car companies are falling behind?

Question

I mean, Daimler-Benz and BMW are nowhere to be found in the emission safety war and they are leaving it all up to Honda, Ford and Toyota. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Answer 1

Benz and BMW make higher end cars than the average joe cars made by Honda, Ford, Toyota, etc.  Second off, those companies don't sell their more fuel efficient cars in America because Americans don't like small cars that they have in EU.

Third, BMW has been developing a hydrogen powered car for years, and I'm sure Benz works on this type of engineering too as they make very efficient diesels.

Answer 2

The "BIG CAR COMPANIES" or the big 'car companies'?  The domestics suck because the build giant 8 cylinder trucks that burn too much gas.  Ford was making a chunk of its profits from selling gas guzzling trucks.  Now that some people have become more responsible and sold them/stopped buying them they're on a decline.  If you have to pay $4.00 for every 10-12 miles you drive you'd sell the pig and get a gas sippin 4 cylinder sports car too if you're not rich that is.  BMW and Mercedes cars are so high end that they meet emissions standards in normal driving conditions.  Who cares about emissions when that gas pedal hits the floor and the tach hits redline?

Answer 3

because they are too expensive for the ordinary person to afford.

Answer 4

Mercedes and BMW are in their own class. They have no emission war, and safety - well they are both pretty safe cars for the most part, with some of the most sophisticated safety technologies available included in many models. The reason they don't do anything like Honda, Ford and Toyota is because they don't have to. Rich people continue buying Mercedes & BMW's, Honda/Ford/Toyota cater more towards the middle class, and the people who actually care about high gas prices and stuff like that. That's not to say that Benz and BMW don't care about emissions though, BMW has a hydrogen powered 7 series concept they have created.