The HAFC system is no longer being marketed in the United States, and I can't see that there are any successful installation examples available to act as proof of it's effectiveness and authenticity as a real mileage improvement technology. The manufacturer has relocated operations to Europe, as I understand. The dealers that invested significant resources and cash into the technology are no longer selling it. I'm sure they're suffering, since for some the monetary commitment was very significant.
From my perspective, the now defunct Dutchman, Inc., the organization responsible for the manufacturing and marketing, failed it's constituents miserably. As far as I can tell, the reasons for the failure include the following:
Business practices utilized were tragically flawed.
The actual effectiveness of the HAFC system was over-stated.
The HAFC was aggressively marketed when it wasn't a perfected product. (That's simply a crime!)
Dutchman failed to submit their product to scientific testing on a Dyno. Had they done that early on, there would have been real data to point to proving the system had an affect on mileage and performance, and would have provided a base of data upon which improvements could have been made. This is a ridiculous omission on their part. It should have been integral to the development of the product. But perhaps they new that such a test would prove it didn't work and would have killed the whole campaign.
I think there was a lot of lying on the part of Dutchman. They were very good at the sales pitch and even bought advertising in legitimate publications such as Popular Science. This was all done even though it was known installation results of the system were clearly showing inconsistent statistics across various vehicles. Thousands of kits were sold, and thousands never worked, even when installed and tuned by the supposed top mechanics trained by Dutchman.
The bottom line is either Dutchman pulled a fast one on its own dealers and customers, or they simply failed horribly in every aspect of product development, support, and managing their business. Either way, they've left a lot of upset and disappointed in their path. The interesting thing is they're extremely talented at deflecting responsibility. It's always the car manufacturers' faults or the government that is frustrating efforts to overcome the inefficiencies of the combustion engine. Or, it's the skeptics taking them to court to shut them down.
The one area in which they demonstrate unequaled talent is in generating excitement and belief. Even I have left an open door to the possibility that at some point a new development will bring the HAFC into operation. Will I leave it in my vehicle? No. I'm going to remove it. Maybe I'll connect it to a car battery and use it to inflate balloons for entertainment. They float!
This will be my last entry, but for now I'll leave this blog up so that others can follow the progression and history of the product through my experience with it. I leave this documentary angry and disappointed.
Monday, December 7, 2009
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