Audi Boss Disses Chevy Volt

Leading up to the Frankfurt Auto Show, a German car-a-palooza, you’d think the heads of German carmakers would be focusing on their own products. Not so Johan de Nysschen, Audi’s U.S. president, who yesterday reportedly said that the forthcoming Chevy Volt extended-range electric car is “for idiots.” He was promptly roasted on the Web, and then issued a spin-adelic Facebook clarification. Which arguably has made things worse and painted de Nysschen as a pompous egomaniac who’s not above calling on Mother Nature and the State of California to cover for saying something fairly stupid:

I do not specifically recall using the term ‘car for idiots’ during my informal conversation with the writer. It was certainly not my intention to leave the impression that I’m opposed to electrical vehicles, and if I was unclear on either of those points then I need to eat crow.“What I do recall is the essence of my contention, namely that the feasibility of the Chevrolet Volt as a concept is questionable. And that policy decisions—and the industry’s reactions to those decisions—are leading us toward a technology that may sound tempting on the surface, but, as of now, also contains many deep and unsolved economic and technological compromises.

‘Mass electrification’ of the vehicles on American roads could lead to problems like a strained electric grid. Large-scale utilization of electric vehicles will require massive investment in new power stations that are much cleaner than the ones in use in the U.S. today. Otherwise, it could merely shift greenhouse gas emissions from the tailpipes of cars to the smokestacks of coal-burning utilities. That’s not just my opinion. The California Air Resource Board this past April concluded that electric vehicles presently are second only to hydrogen cars in greenhouse gas impact when measured on a well-to-wheel basis.

What de Nysschen seems to be missing here is that the Volt isn’t necessarily meant to save the planet but rather to save General Motors (MTLQQ) which desperately needs a home-run vehicle along the lines of the Toyota Prius, but with a more forward-looking technological twist.

Although, given that many Audi buyers may, in a few years, suddenly become Volt buyers—because the very “intellectual elites” that he ridiculed in his original “idiots” comment are kind of a sweet spot for U.S. sales—maybe de Nysschen isn’t missing anything at all. In any case, a bit of a Facebook war is now breaking out between GM and Audi.