June 11, 2007
IKEA Goes to Hybrid Passenger Car Fleet in U.K.
IKEA has announced it is switching over its entire 70-vehicle passenger car fleet in the U.K. to Honda Civic hybrids. The company has not announced any plans for its delivery vehicles as yet, but is reported by The Financial Times to be considering testing electronic vehicles from its store in Coventry.
The switch to the hybrids is part of IKEA’s plan to reduce company-wide emissions by nine percent by 2010.
IKEA will also achieve financial benefits aside from reduced gas bills. The company’s hybrids will have a much lower road tax imposed and will be exempt from paying fees to enter central London’s congestion zone.
Charlie Browne, Ikea’s UK environmental manager, told The Financial Times, “The economics of the change have come out quite well.”
IKEA will take delivery on 50 hybrids this year and another 20 in 2008. With the move, IKEA will become the first large private-sector business to move its passenger car fleet to a greener mode of transportation.
The Swedish furniture retailer doesn’t plan on being reserved when it comes to its environmental fleet. Each car in the fleet will have a message that reads: “This is a Hybrid company car from IKEA. IKEA’s business will have an overall positive impact on the environment.”
Discussion Questions: What is your reaction to IKEA going to an all hybrid passenger car fleet in the U.K.? How quickly do you see companies here in the U.S. going to “greener” transportation for their passenger as well as commercial delivery fleets? What form are “greener” fleets likely to take here?
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It seems like this is an idea whose time has come. In addition to the savings in fuel costs and taxes, the public relations may be the biggest deal of all. A move like this would be more expected in some companies based on the way that they are presently operated but might be a bigger deal in companies where it would be a surprise move. Examples of a surprise move would be oil companies but might expected of companies like Ben & Jerry’s or Starbucks.
We just purchased a hybrid car for the fuel savings but also enjoy the thought of helping save the planet. Based on how popular the hybrids were at the car dealers, it looks like we aren’t alone in that regard. The fact that the Chicago area has the highest gas prices in the country undoubtedly influenced that thinking.
Poseurs (posers). At least that’s the extrapolated opinion of Holman W. Jenkins as expressed in a recent Wall Street Journal column. “To put it baldly, Toyota got lucky. Any motorist truly intent on burning less gasoline and saving the planet could have found a vehicle that produces mileage as good or better than the Prius’s without paying Toyota a premium for its busy ‘hybrid’ technology. We offer these thoughts as corrective to the tendency to slobber over Toyota” [for trying to position itself as the most caring of the automotive companies].
An interesting example of this misplaced “slobbering” is the Dust To Dust (DTD) Energy Report conducted by CNW Marketing Research. With its proprietary algorithm and a heck of a lot of hard work, the DTD measures the cost per mile of vehicles when all their costs are included–from the energy to power the CAD/CAM computers to the final junkyard value. And here’s the shocker: The DTD calculates the lifetime cost per mile of a Prius at $3.25 while that for the Chevy Tahoe SUV is only $2.94.
Companies and celebrities who throw their “hybrid-ness” in our faces are simply posing, drawing attention to how much more they care for the environment than do we members of the great unwashed. Hybrid cars are simply fashion accessories.
I think that good corporate PR can be a very powerful weapon for building positive feelings towards the corporate brand. Wal-Mart for a number of years had been the counter-example that proves the rule. Also, the corporate endorsement of hybrid vehicles could help get them past “the tipping point”…what’s not to like?!
I like IKEA, but this is a feel-good publicity campaign, (that WILL work, by the way).
If IKEA really wanted to BE greener vs. green appearances, they’d go with burning bio-diesel in a VW Jetta equipped with the TDI diesel engine which gets 45-55 MPG with lower carbon emissions and a useful life of 300K miles.
The true carbon footprint of the Honda and Toyota Hybrids is actually NOT green when you figure in the fact the the cars run on gas just like any other car on the road after 28 MPH and the reality of their less-than-100K battery life and the environmental impact of producing the big nickel-cad batteries.
IKEA recently began charging at checkout for their clear plastic shopping bags with a sign that reads, YES,..REALLY. (17 cents for the small bag and 59 cents each for the medium sized bags I think it was)
Most customers couldn’t believe it and I observed most electing to place their purchases loosely in these crazy 4-turning-wheel shopping carts vs. pay extra for the convenience of a bag.
I’m not sure about this one. I hope it doesn’t catch on to other retailers since BYOB might be greener, but it’s not customer friendly.
As I write in the current issue of Integrated Retailing, “Green” consumers are not a fringe group — they are mainstream, many in number, and cross many demographic and psychographic segments. Retailers have to go green — it’s becoming expected, and will soon become required. Retailers big and small must lead, follow or get legislated, regulated and litigated onto the green road. There are many examples of green initiatives to cut energy use, curb carbon emissions and slash waste, including Home Depot, Starbucks, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart.
In fact Wal-Mart is rating its 60,000 suppliers on how well they conserve natural resources, and has an entire “eco-options” program. It’s trying to be a leader in going green.
All this is just the tip of the iceberg. This could be the start of a seismic shift in both how companies operate and how consumers buy. It’s not just a PR thing; it’s also a profitability thing. And of course it’s a marketing thing (and the consumers who are most responsive to these kinds of initiatives tend to be more educated and affluent, the most desirable and profitable consumers).
Interesting that Tesco has decided to trumpet its plans for electric vehicles in the US while doing nothing comparable in the UK. Interpret that as you will.
Those other proposed technologies are a joke made up mostly for PR. Personal experience with hybrids tell me they’re here now. They cut fuel consumption at least in half and they work with no sacrifice in comfort, performance or convenience. IKEA will save the money. Green sticker stuff is just for the employees, lest the feel somehow they’re getting stuck with smaller vehicles. At least they’re being patriotic, saving the environment. Efficient Hybrids like the Civic (not those fat American style hybrid SUV’s) can save a lot of companies a lot of money.
I think this is a great publicity stunt. Most corporations could care less what kinds of emissions they put in the air. They want free advertising and lower overall costs. When going green means more profit, we will see more US corporations following suit.
A very tangible and strategic move for any company (or other entity for that matter) looking to make a statement on sustainability. As a municipality that thrives on tourism, my hometown of Asheville, NC knows a thing or two about promoting a clean, green image. They converted the city maintenance fleet to biodiesel-capable vehicles several years ago. Watch for a welcome side benefit from this as more companies jump on board–better hybrids. Executives and employees forced to drive them won’t be shy with their critiques. Automakers who want to keep their fleet deals will have to step up fast.
In 2004 FedEx announced a hybrid pilot program in Sacramento for their delivery trucks. At the time, FedEx said they had 30,000 medium-duty trucks that potentially could go hybrid. In the 1950s a company called NCB made electric battery delivery trucks for dairies and other local deliveries. I saw battery-run electric dairy trucks routinely in the UK in late 1970s. The Transport Museum Wythall has several electric delivery trucks in their collection, used by bakeries and dairies through 1982. See http://www.bammot.org.uk/elec.asp
This is a double barrel program for IKEA: GREEN – protecting the environment … and PROMOTIONAL – a first time, “good guys” coup. One wonders how a former Swedish auto supplier such Volvo or Saab missed a bet and let Japan’s Honda get this promotional prize with the high-profile Swedish retailer.
If General Motors can get back up on its toes in the USA, they will team up with a large retailer such Wal-Mart, Kroger or Safeway and supply a new line of environmentally-friendly hybrid autos, which could help begin re-establishing GM’s reputation as the commercial and environmental “leader” in the auto industry.
Just an FYI, “Eco-Options” is a Home Depot program, not Wal-Mart as previously stated. The Home Depot has been extremely supportive of my company, its products, and our eco-capitalist mission. http://www.terracycle.net
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It seems like this is an idea whose time has come. In addition to the savings in fuel costs and taxes, the public relations may be the biggest deal of all. A move like this would be more expected in some companies based on the way that they are presently operated but might be a bigger deal in companies where it would be a surprise move. Examples of a surprise move would be oil companies but might expected of companies like Ben & Jerry’s or Starbucks.
We just purchased a hybrid car for the fuel savings but also enjoy the thought of helping save the planet. Based on how popular the hybrids were at the car dealers, it looks like we aren’t alone in that regard. The fact that the Chicago area has the highest gas prices in the country undoubtedly influenced that thinking.
Poseurs (posers). At least that’s the extrapolated opinion of Holman W. Jenkins as expressed in a recent Wall Street Journal column. “To put it baldly, Toyota got lucky. Any motorist truly intent on burning less gasoline and saving the planet could have found a vehicle that produces mileage as good or better than the Prius’s without paying Toyota a premium for its busy ‘hybrid’ technology. We offer these thoughts as corrective to the tendency to slobber over Toyota” [for trying to position itself as the most caring of the automotive companies].
An interesting example of this misplaced “slobbering” is the Dust To Dust (DTD) Energy Report conducted by CNW Marketing Research. With its proprietary algorithm and a heck of a lot of hard work, the DTD measures the cost per mile of vehicles when all their costs are included–from the energy to power the CAD/CAM computers to the final junkyard value. And here’s the shocker: The DTD calculates the lifetime cost per mile of a Prius at $3.25 while that for the Chevy Tahoe SUV is only $2.94.
Companies and celebrities who throw their “hybrid-ness” in our faces are simply posing, drawing attention to how much more they care for the environment than do we members of the great unwashed. Hybrid cars are simply fashion accessories.
I think that good corporate PR can be a very powerful weapon for building positive feelings towards the corporate brand. Wal-Mart for a number of years had been the counter-example that proves the rule. Also, the corporate endorsement of hybrid vehicles could help get them past “the tipping point”…what’s not to like?!
I like IKEA, but this is a feel-good publicity campaign, (that WILL work, by the way).
If IKEA really wanted to BE greener vs. green appearances, they’d go with burning bio-diesel in a VW Jetta equipped with the TDI diesel engine which gets 45-55 MPG with lower carbon emissions and a useful life of 300K miles.
The true carbon footprint of the Honda and Toyota Hybrids is actually NOT green when you figure in the fact the the cars run on gas just like any other car on the road after 28 MPH and the reality of their less-than-100K battery life and the environmental impact of producing the big nickel-cad batteries.
IKEA recently began charging at checkout for their clear plastic shopping bags with a sign that reads, YES,..REALLY. (17 cents for the small bag and 59 cents each for the medium sized bags I think it was)
Most customers couldn’t believe it and I observed most electing to place their purchases loosely in these crazy 4-turning-wheel shopping carts vs. pay extra for the convenience of a bag.
I’m not sure about this one. I hope it doesn’t catch on to other retailers since BYOB might be greener, but it’s not customer friendly.
As I write in the current issue of Integrated Retailing, “Green” consumers are not a fringe group — they are mainstream, many in number, and cross many demographic and psychographic segments. Retailers have to go green — it’s becoming expected, and will soon become required. Retailers big and small must lead, follow or get legislated, regulated and litigated onto the green road. There are many examples of green initiatives to cut energy use, curb carbon emissions and slash waste, including Home Depot, Starbucks, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart.
In fact Wal-Mart is rating its 60,000 suppliers on how well they conserve natural resources, and has an entire “eco-options” program. It’s trying to be a leader in going green.
All this is just the tip of the iceberg. This could be the start of a seismic shift in both how companies operate and how consumers buy. It’s not just a PR thing; it’s also a profitability thing. And of course it’s a marketing thing (and the consumers who are most responsive to these kinds of initiatives tend to be more educated and affluent, the most desirable and profitable consumers).
Interesting that Tesco has decided to trumpet its plans for electric vehicles in the US while doing nothing comparable in the UK. Interpret that as you will.
Those other proposed technologies are a joke made up mostly for PR. Personal experience with hybrids tell me they’re here now. They cut fuel consumption at least in half and they work with no sacrifice in comfort, performance or convenience. IKEA will save the money. Green sticker stuff is just for the employees, lest the feel somehow they’re getting stuck with smaller vehicles. At least they’re being patriotic, saving the environment. Efficient Hybrids like the Civic (not those fat American style hybrid SUV’s) can save a lot of companies a lot of money.
I think this is a great publicity stunt. Most corporations could care less what kinds of emissions they put in the air. They want free advertising and lower overall costs. When going green means more profit, we will see more US corporations following suit.
A very tangible and strategic move for any company (or other entity for that matter) looking to make a statement on sustainability. As a municipality that thrives on tourism, my hometown of Asheville, NC knows a thing or two about promoting a clean, green image. They converted the city maintenance fleet to biodiesel-capable vehicles several years ago. Watch for a welcome side benefit from this as more companies jump on board–better hybrids. Executives and employees forced to drive them won’t be shy with their critiques. Automakers who want to keep their fleet deals will have to step up fast.
In 2004 FedEx announced a hybrid pilot program in Sacramento for their delivery trucks. At the time, FedEx said they had 30,000 medium-duty trucks that potentially could go hybrid. In the 1950s a company called NCB made electric battery delivery trucks for dairies and other local deliveries. I saw battery-run electric dairy trucks routinely in the UK in late 1970s. The Transport Museum Wythall has several electric delivery trucks in their collection, used by bakeries and dairies through 1982. See http://www.bammot.org.uk/elec.asp
This is a double barrel program for IKEA: GREEN – protecting the environment … and PROMOTIONAL – a first time, “good guys” coup. One wonders how a former Swedish auto supplier such Volvo or Saab missed a bet and let Japan’s Honda get this promotional prize with the high-profile Swedish retailer.
If General Motors can get back up on its toes in the USA, they will team up with a large retailer such Wal-Mart, Kroger or Safeway and supply a new line of environmentally-friendly hybrid autos, which could help begin re-establishing GM’s reputation as the commercial and environmental “leader” in the auto industry.
Just an FYI, “Eco-Options” is a Home Depot program, not Wal-Mart as previously stated. The Home Depot has been extremely supportive of my company, its products, and our eco-capitalist mission. http://www.terracycle.net