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Malcolm Bricklin is already a legend in the auto industry for introducing both the Subaru and the Yugo to U.S. buyers. Now the 68-year-old entrepreneur dreams of capping off his career by going down in history as the man that finally parked an ultra-fuel efficient car in the driveway. Bricklin, according to Autoblog, has set his sights on his Visionary Vehicles Inc. capturing the Automotive X Prize, a seven-figure award for the company that can bring a new standard of fuel efficiency to the masses. By 2010 he hopes to offer a luxury sedan capable of getting 100 miles per gallon for a modest $35,000 sticker price. Bricklin is no stranger to manufacturing, having tried 30 years ago to build and market his Bricklin SV-1 sports car. In a BusinessWeek profile last spring he boasted that his second effort puts him above Preston Tucker and John DeLorean, two automotive visionaries, no doubt, but also a comparison that could send potential investors in Visionary Vehicles running for the hills.
To win the X Prize, which is modeled on a similar program that awarded $10 million to a Burt Rutan-backed project that achieved suborbital space flight, competitors not only have to produce a working car that fits the criteria, but also demonstrate a business plan for mass producing the vehicle at a cost that “the market is likely to bear.” That second criteria, according to industry experts, will be the hard part. While General Motors Corp. and other automakers have spent billions on refining electric drive trains and other technologies that can dramatically improve fuel efficiency, the high costs of those technologies are keeping them from the market. Bricklin is looking to China to solve that problem, hopeful of taking advantage of lower costs there to import a Chinese-built lithium ion battery at prices cheaper than what automakers are currently putting into their hybrids. He has worked with the Chinese before, attempting last year to work out a deal to bring cars made by China’s Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. to the U.S. But the challenge facing Visionary is immense. When Bricklin’s plan was mentioned to an automotive source on Friday, the source responded that “if the price points he is talking about were really possible, Toyota would be marketing [a similar vehicle] already.” Bricklin, who has never backed down from a fight, admits to BusinessWeek that the challenges are vast. “Where would you like to start?” he asked, then rattled off a number of potential setbacks: “That we do the engineering right. That we test it sufficiently. That the battery factory capacity doesn't produce flaws. That we find ways to check all the components of the electric system to make damn sure everything goes in perfectly. That the Chinese pay attention and give us the kind of quality we demand. That I don't die too soon. That the ships with the cars don't sink in the sea.” At least he knows what he is up against. —Lou Whiteman See Autoblog post on Bricklin’s plans Tags: automobiles CategoriesComments Deal Video
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I think Time was right, "Malcolm Bricklin won't be satisfied until every American car owner walks to work. Yet another fleece and release scam. Too bad it didn't work out. He could have sold all his shares just before it folded..... Yet again!