What would you say about a car that gets 84 miles per gallon, costs only $6,800, and can actually be "free" with some unique financing? There has to be a catch, right?
Well, sort of. But only sort of.
The car is the three-wheeled Elio, from startup Elio Motors. It only seats two, and then only with the passenger directly behind the driver. Also, founder Paul Elio is still lining up funding, and should everything fall into place, the first car would be delivered in late 2016.
When Elio talks about the various segments of the car-buying market, it's easy to see why he's excited. Consider these four segments:
New-car market, with sales of about 17 million expected next year.
Used-car market, which is three times larger than the new-car market.
"Third-vehicle" market. Most middle- and upper-income households have at least one single-occupant vehicle, also known as an "and" vehicle.
"Clunker" market, with 234 million older cars on the road -- and 95 million of them 11 years old or older.
Elio says he won't make much of a dent in the new-car market, but the other three segments can be lucrative. For used cars, the decision may be between a 120,000-mile Civic or a new Elio under warranty for less than $7,000. The third-vehicle market is self-explanatory -- why spend extra on a lot of car when you don't need a lot of car?
And exactly how is that supposed to pass safety crash tests? Unless they call it a "motorcycle" of some type.
ReplyDeleteMake that Baby with diesel power and they will fly off the lot, awesome as it is though!
ReplyDeleteDeathtrap!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to test drive one.
ReplyDelete