Where did We go Wrong?

Back in the day, Toyota and Ford were duking it out in the hybrid technology race. Ford abandoned the quest, because MARKET RESEARCHERS told them there was no interest in hybrid cars.

Even though the addition of bigger trucks and sport-utilities has brought its corporate average fuel economy down from 26 mpg in 1987 to 24 mpg today, according to EPA figures released this week, Toyota is the undisputed leader in hybrid technology. Press said Toyota has "sold more U.S. hybrids so far this
year than Cadillac, Buick or Mercedes-Benz has sold cars."

I guess the MARKET RESEARCHERS were wrong.

Toyota discovered the current hybrid engine and has all the patents. Hybrid car manufacturers now pay royalties to Toyota.

Ford, hoping to make up lost ground, has decided to retool the Ford Focus as a 70mpg hybrid. They will be doing this in the UK.

Meanwhile, Toyota is working on a 100mpg hybrid.

When did MARKET RESEARCHERS become such an important force? When was "vision" replaced by breaking people into economic-demographic groups.

The ultra-popular "Razr" phone offered by Motorola? Built by engineers without any input from MARKET RESEARCHERS.

Obviously, these examples have the advantage of hindsight. It is impossible to predict the future, and where things are going with 100% accuracy. For every success, there have been one-hundred failures. For example, Motorola was the leader in cellular phone technology but failed to realize that it could be marketed to the "average consumer" and Nokia and Ericsson developed phones for mass consumption.

It is pretty clear that gasoline-powered cars will eventually be replaced, even hybrid cars will be replaced by more energy-efficient electric cars.

Vision. Open your eyes. See the future.