Does Anyone REALLY Want A "Luxury Hybrid?"

Yes...

Does anyone really want a luxury diesel?

yes..

I think it's a matter of time. More and more of these things will show up on the road as more companies will produce them (to help them meet higher fuel economy and pollution standards) as well as more buyers being aware of alternative fuel models.

Public persona..."Yes I'm rich but I'm also envionmentally responsible."

When was the last time you were near a diesel?

Obviously, he hasn't been anywhere near a modern diesel. They are not smelly, noisy or slow.

BMW 335d. 0-60 in 5 seconds and fuel economy that is better than a honda civic. About 36 mpg on the highway, and trust me you can't hear or smell anything. talk about having your cake and eating it. Smoking alot of sports cars yet still passing the gas station as gas powered economy cars are fueling up. not hard to figure that one out. Not to mention a diesel last way longer than a gasoline engine.

It isn't that someone is worried about the cost at the pump, maybe they don't like fueling up as frequently so they buy one they don't have to fuel up as often.

Does anyone want a luxury car that doesn't guzzle but still goes fast...yes. Now the fact that there hasn't been one yet doesn't change the demand for it.

The main reason hybrids get slammed on this board is that the current ones don't take the hybrid design far enough. The tiny electric motors in the current ones are a joke. We'll see some crow-eating when the engineer's hybrid, the Porsche 918 comes out.

Audi offers a 4.2-liter diesel engine in their new A8. This diesel has only 24 less hp than the 4.2-liter gas engine, but a lot more torque. Thus the TDI version of the A8 accelerates faster to 60mph than its gasoline counterpart, and gets much better mileage.

Why Audi won't sell this engine in the States is beyond me. (Unless, of course, the engine won't meet U.S. particulate emission standards.)

not personally no

you don't see these cars in large numbers because they're expensive, and they don't build many. For more specific reasons:

You don't see the LS600h because it essentially gets the same mileage as the non-hybrid LS460, same performance as the non-hybrid, and loses half the trunk compared to the non-hybrid. You're basically paying $32k for all-wheel drive. The only reason to get it is so you can fel good about yourself "because it's a hybrid".

You don't see the S400h because it just came out. And it's slow compared to everything else in the segment, and despite the performance disadvantage it doesn't get great mileage to compensate. In fact it gets similar fuel economy to the (much better performing) non-hybrid 740 and A8. And it costs more than either of those. The only reason to get it is "because it's an S-class hybrid".

You don't see the 7-Series hybrid because it too just came out. It does, however, offer performance on par with the S63 AMG (aka better than any of the other hybrid or non-hybrid competitors), and gets within 1mpg of the S400h despite having double the power. Of the group, it's the only one that actually offers a significant boost in performance AND economy, and it's priced similarly to both of the others even though it trumps them both. So my guess is you'll start seeing more of these than you will the others, even though you won't see ANY of them in large numbers.

You're right about the BMW ActiveHybrid 750i/750Li, JRob. It's a great car. Unfortunately, it costs $20,000 more than the already-expensive gas-powered 7-series models. So if you want a luxurious, high-performance sport sedan and still want to do your part to save the planet, the BMW ActiveHybrid is the ride for you - provided you are filthy-rich! :-{

Hopefully BMW's ActiveHybrid technology will soon migrate to a more affordable ride. I for one would like to see an affordable ActiveHybrid 550i.

BMW should make a hybrid 7 series with the turbo charged 3.0 engine as its engine. It would still be fast and offer great fuel economy. Better yet, take the 3.0 turbo diesel and hybridize it in the new 7.

Personally I can see where a limousine service would want to invest in diesel S Class cars. The fuel savings goes right into the business. The hybrid would be marginally quieter (if running solely on electric drive) but I don't think the increased cost could be justified by interior noise levels, when the diesels may by quiet enough to not be intrusive.

If they had more power yes. Personally I would not buy a luxury car with no power that means many offerings with 4 cylinder engines are for the wanna-bees in my book.

The only one I want is the S-Class.