QOTD: Is Sustainable Manufacturing Possible?

by Tim Healey

Published: December 16th, 2025

qotd is sustainable manufacturing possible

Can automakers build cars with environmental sustainability?

Mercedes-Benz is working on it. I've heard about it during every plant tour I've done in 15 years in this business.

Is it possible?

Sure, at some level, it seems like OEMs can recycle materials and dispose of waste safely, without wrecking the environment near their plants. But it still has seemingly been a bit of a struggle.

I want to hear from you -- especially if you work in the industry. You know what to do -- sound off below.

[Image: DC Studio/Shutterstock.com]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 4 comments

ScarecrowRepair 3 hours ago

"Sustainable" is one of those six-bit words which means anything its speaker or listener wants, and thus means nothing because they are seldom in sync.

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Zerofoo 2 hours ago

So long as automakers design in planned obsolescence, the answer is a resounding NO.

Disposable garbage is always worse for the environment than quality products with a long service life.

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Recent Comments

Lichtronamo Wouldn’t even look at a car w/out car play anymore.
FreedMike Ah yes, my old car.(Sigh.)Not much I could add that Tim hasn't already, but I can wholeheartedly recommend it - it's a hoot to drive, and very easy to live with. I'll also be a contrarian and rep for the DSG. It's quicker than the manual, and far easier to work with in traffic. Tim doesn't mention this in the writeup, but DSG works better when you're shifting it manually, using the shifter paddles - you'll get probably 80-90% of the driver involvement you'd expect with a manual; in fact, I rarely let my old car shift for itself. I never regretted passing on a manual with this model. The only real sour notes I can mention here are a) you're restricted to the more expensive Autobahn package, which has a bunch of nice-to-have stuff, but hardly necessary (my car was the base S model, and it was comprehensively equipped), and b) it looks like VW is still fitting this car with the POS Hankooks my old car came with. The Hankooks were a model of consistency: consistently bad in the dry, bad in the rain, bad in the snow, and wore like crap (mine were done for at maybe 20,000 miles). If you want this car, spend the extra dough and get a set of Goodyear Eagle Sports (standard equipment on the GTI, by the way) - they are a major upgrade, and not unreasonably priced. Who knows? If VW is still making this when my lease is up in 2027, I wouldn't be opposed to taking another one of these home.
ToolGuy™ New, no. Used, maybe? (Target $24K for a 2024MY)
Zerofoo Less software, simpler designs, more robust materials = longer service life.The car with the smallest environmental footprint is the one that is never built.
Zerofoo So long as automakers design in planned obsolescence, the answer is a resounding NO.Disposable garbage is always worse for the environment than quality products with a long service life.