Great discussion. I just want to interject some things. I do not own a car and have not for years. Do not miss it at all, driving on the N-East Coast BLOWS. These gas prices do not affect me and when people ask me why do I pay the Manhattan rent, well I do not throw away thousands of dollars on a car and I do not waste hours of my life in traffic. After all, time is money. But how many other places in the big ole USA are there where you can live without a car? Maybe 4 or 5 more, NYC, Boston, San Francisco and a few college towns. This whole country's infrastructure is built upon highways & personal automobiles. I do not want to get into a huge novel but it all ties down to US being entrenched in its cycle of consumerism & perpetual growth. New & fancy cars, gasoline, strip malls, auto parts, auto accessories, mechanics, etc. These are all byproducts of an infrastructure that fights public transportation and promotes one or more cards per household. It's a huge sector of the US economy, a very innefficient, wasteful & polluting one. There is little GM and F can do, their demand for decades has been fabricated by policy and now they still can't compete. GM will probably be broken apart since its secondary units are in good shape. I know sh*t about Ford. Gasoline is still the primary fuel for cards so that aint going nowhere. Hybrids are feasible but they suck at the moment. Diesel fuel is pretty good. I'm actually trying to find more info on biodiesel and before someone starts bashing it, you may want to take a look at a fat molecule vs kerosene vs gasoline. It's all hydrocarbons. If anyone knows some companies involved in commercial development of biodiesel technology, I'm listening. Fuel cells, from what I can gather, are still in it their infancy. But they go well with solar & wind home systems, I think that will be their initial heavy use.
...GM and technology(developments&research)...hahaha they showed some prototypes,thats true,but that doesnt mean jack,BMW has shown a hydro car thats doing around 200m/h..so what ? its just demo stuff. what really matters is that the models GM is selling right now and the 2006 line are 10 years behind euro/japanese cars. btw,from this autumn VW&AUDI are going to offer models in Europe with a 1.4l gasoline motor with output of 170ps,yea,thats right,1.4l--->>170ps. i dont even want to think about the upper class cars,the luxus limos...what does US carmakers have to offer ...a so-so Cadillac and a half dead Lincoln,europe is unbeatable in this segment. in my opinion the only US made car that can compete with its euro/japanese peers is the Corvette.
Sarcasm, funny. Ok you guys asked for the proof. Check out this BMW 740iL message board. Very active and full of complainers of their plastic radiator that has catastrophic failures like mine did, engine is all aluminum and costs $12,000 to fix after the radiator goes so quietly and suddenly. Oil pumps lose bolts and spit plastic pieces into the oil sump causing low oil pressure ending up in a fatal engine knock. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I didn't create this site and the posts about the radiators are still on top and active. In fact you can go back a year and actually find my posts when I was there bitching about all my problems. Same username. http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e38/
Who in there right mind buys a Hyundai for 23k? I donât get it. My car cost a little more when I bought it but I think you can buy a nice Camry or Altima still for near 23k right. I would buy a used car even before a Hyundai. How many Hyundaiâs last 10 years? I think the Japanese build the best cars for the money.
Yes, call me not a patriot, I buy Jap cars only. GM and FORD spent all their money in healthcare and pensions and union benefits, no R&D for years. Now with all the cut-throat incentives, their long-term profitability is a serious problem. Forget about R&D.
Someone should send this thread to Kirk Kerkorian! Evidently he is missing what you guys are seeing! What's he nut's? He's ADDING again to his long position. OldTrader
Is that why they are the only manufacturer with enough expertise to do most of all their research on fuel cell vehicles in house? I bet GM is the first company to sell 1,000,000 fuel cell vehicles, which is their goal. I recently saw a 2000 Cadillac Deville for sale at Autotrader with 370,000 miles, they got to be pretty good to go this far and still ready for more. Those initial 6 month reports all you bubble heads are following are useless. Show me a 500,000 mile long term torture test covering 1000's of vehicles seeing who is left standing, that will get my attention.
I own a transportation company 2 GM vans "Express" and 7 Fords E250 for last 4 years. GM is much more comfortable for Driver and Customers. But every 40 thousand miles I have to replace fuel pump (about every 6 months). Never had any problems with a Ford. Will never buy GM for my business.
The poorest countries of the world...that have no oil and gas resources...are already living the near term future of the US... Diesels and motorcycles Biodiesel is the best solution.... What would save GM and Ford is to perfect the diesel...which will be burning biodiesel mixtures.... Even the poorest of countries will pay a little more for a Toyota versus buying GM or Ford... GM and Ford have been living protected lives...as have people types like trust acct boy Bush...and Halliburton Cheney.... As long as the US has this type of leadership...the future the US has is much like what is going on in New Orleans today...Wow.. Bush had to shorten his month long vacation by two days...and still has not gotten to NO.... Oh...I understand....AFTER IT HAPPENS.... This is not the way to run a country.....Its the way to RUIN a country.... Trust acct cheerleader boys profiting on the war and oil is not what the US needs for its leadership....or it will end up like New Orleans before the hurricane....Basically a broken down city held down by local cronyism...NO was a disaster before the disaster...because of backwards thinking..clubby type good ole boys living off their grandfather´s reputations........