PSA Peugeot Citroen will unveil the world’s first diesel-electric car this week to take on Renault SA’s all-electric strategy as both French carmakers play catch- up to Toyota Motor Corp.
Peugeot, Europe’s second-largest automaker, will use the Paris Motor Show to push a hybrid version of its 3008 crossover hatchback, while Renault sets out its strategy for making battery-powered cars a mass-market success.
Peugeot Chief Executive Officer Philippe Varin and Renault Nissan alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn’s face-off exemplifies industry divisions over the kinds of green technology consumers might embrace. Carmakers are chasing market leader Toyota, whose 1997 gasoline-electric Prius was the world’s first hybrid.
“Renault-Nissan has missed the boat on hybrid technology,” said Naimish Shah, who helps manage $100 billion for New Jersey-based Lord Abbett and sold most of his Renault stock in the first half of the year. “Electric cars are a risky bet as hybrids improve and prices come down.”
Renault and Japanese affiliate Nissan Motor Co. are wagering $4 billion that their battery vehicles will find a mass market amounting to 10 percent of global sales by 2020. Peugeot, which sees half that demand for electric cars, is counting on increasing oil prices and environmental regulations to make the case for diesel hybrids, which are more costly and potentially more efficient than their gas-electric equivalents.
Chevy Volt
They join an increasingly crowded field of carmakers offering technology with lower emissions. Toyota and Honda Motor Co. are extending their gasoline-electric transmissions from the original mid-sized sedans to smaller models, unlocking bigger markets and economies of scale for their components. Honda will unveil the Jazz subcompact hybrid, to be introduced early in 2011, in Paris.
On the all-electric car front, General Motors Co.’s $41,000 Chevrolet Volt comes to market next month. The Volt will be sold as the Opel Ampera in Europe starting next year. Nissan’s Leaf electric car goes on sale in December.
