[Zardoz]

It's going to get worse for Ford:

Ford's New-Car Pipeline Is Lagging, Analysts Say

Apparently they thought the full-size SUV craze would go on for a bit longer than it did, and now they're really in a hole.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')nstead of pushing cars, Ford rode high on a brilliant gamble that the way to win customers' hearts in the 1990s would be with large pickup trucks and SUVs.

The Explorer, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs made bucketfuls of money for Ford; analysts say a full-size pickup or large SUV can easily bring the manufacturer $5,000 to $9,000 more profit than a passenger car.

Pipas said Ford had sensed a shift in the market and had passenger cars such as the Fusion sedan on the drawing boards in 2002, "long before gas prices became an issue."

But he agrees with critics that Ford misjudged how quickly rising fuel prices would cut into truck sales.

[Yoskie]

Even their smaller cars (Ford Focus & Chevy Aveo) get lousy gas mileage compared to other cars their size. My 10 year old Toyota Tercel 4-speed gets consistantly over 40mpg, a friend who has an Aveo/Manual gets 30-35. That's 10 years later and they still haven't caught up to technology Honda and Toyota had back then.
Then they act surpised that their crappy vehicles are piling up at the dealerships. Their days are numbered, no more Hummers and Escalades.

[KevO]

Jobless rise as US economy slows


US unemployment rose last month for the first time this year, providing further evidence that the economy is slowing.

The US economy added 113,000 new jobs last month, fewer than expected, and this pushed the jobless rate up to 4.8% from the 4.6% reported in June.

Experts believe the economy has shifted down a gear after a strong first quarter, with house sales cooling.

Full Story here

[DrChaos]

The Aveo is Korean (I think Daewoo's former plants/designs).

Also, the way of measuring economy has changed over a few years---I think the EPA realized (or had it beaten into them) that the test techniques were very unrealistic and people usually got worse efficiency than the numbers.

Their response was to artificially reduce city mileage by 10% and highway by 20%, so some of the comparison may not be completely fair between now and then if you go by EPA. Also, gasoline now has less energy than pure 100% petroleum we used to get because of the oxygenated additives like MTBE and boondogle ethanol.

But if you go by actual measured efficiency on the road today---side by side---that's different.

It is true that Toyota and Honda are better than GM & Ford---but they are better than their Japanese and European rivals as well in MPG. Mitsubishi and Suzuki and Nissan and Subaru don't make as efficient cars as T&H.

Europeans are good at Diesels, and we need to get cleaner Diesel fuel ASAP.

[AnniCat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KevO', '
')...The US economy added 113,000 new jobs last month, fewer than expected, and this pushed the jobless rate up to 4.8% from the 4.6% reported in June.

[Cabrone]

Feel sorry for the people who are going to lose their jobs but no sympathy whatsoever for a pair of corporate bloaters who were too damn lazy to wake up and smell the coffee.

If they go under then they only have themselves to blame. The car industry needs a few seismic shocks to shake it out of it's arrogant complacency.

[veliger]

My God! Does anyone in the Peak Oil Cult know anything about automobiles or the industry? Apparently the answer is NO!!

There have been plenty of small, inexpensive, good mileage vehicles available for years, yet very few Americans have bought them. So the solution most people on this board propose is to raise MPG requirements and force consumers to buy vehicles they would not freely choose on their own. Central planning like that worked so well in the Soviet Union. The new subcompacts (Fit, Yaris, Aveo, and Versa) are selling well, but are still a sliver of the overall market. It seems that even at $3-$4 a gallon, most Americans aren’t ready to fold themselves into a subcompact.

Toyota is building a 200k capacity plant in TX as we speak that will be rolling out the biggest, baddest, crappiest MPG truck they have ever made. Does that sound like a brilliant move from the enviro-wackos favorite car company (Ignore those endangered whales their executives are dining on)?

If GM or Ford burn enough cash to enter Chapter 11 in the next 12-18 months, the US and world will probably be in a depression. Then oil will drop to $10 or $20/barrel due to extreme demand destruction.

I've been buying GM and Ford exchange traded debt over the past several years. If you go by the yields, the markets think GM is going to make it, while they are still concerned about Ford.

Personally, I think Nissan is in for some long term problems. Their egomaniacal leader has just competed a disastrous NA HQ move from SoCal to Nashville, their sales are tanking (and they don't have the big threes employee pricing in 2005 comparison excuse), and their quality sucks (the Nissan plant in MS is one of the worst on the planet.)

By the way, there are no more waiting lists for ANY hybrids, even the Prius. In fact, Toyota has quietly started to offer incentives on the Prius. I guess all the environmental Nazis who wanted to show the world how green they are have bought one already.

At WSJ.com (subscription site)

Article quote:

"In recent months, some dealers have also started offering discounts on hybrid models, in part because sales of some hybrids have slowed.

The discounts often come as higher trade-in values offered to people buying hybrids. Honda dealers averaged Accord-hybrid deals of $1,400 in June, according to CNW Marketing Research. Among other hybrids being discounted by dealers are Mercury Mariners, with deals averaging $1,900; and Toyota Prius models, with nearly $1,100 off.

Last year at this time, dealer discounts on hybrids were virtually unheard of."

[AnniCat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('veliger', '8')O

My God! Does anyone in the Peak Oil Cult know anything about automobiles or the industry? Apparently the answer is NO!!

[Dreamtwister]

I KNOW HOW TO SAVE GM!

All that's required is a simple shift in marketing strategy.

Instead of marketing those unsold SUV's as the gas-guzzling dinosaurs they really are, they should be marketing them as low-income housing for all of the employees they are laying off.

See? Problem solved.

[buffy]

Ok, I just gave away my Ford Explorer to a relative and got an old Honda civic(1990, hey, it was really cheap!) My husband needs to downsize now. He has to have a truck for work reasons but we want a small truck, less than 5 years old (preferably less than 3). What do y'all think would be the best investment as far as gas mileage, quality, ect.?

[dukey]

buy a car

[TommyJefferson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('buffy', 'H')e has to have a truck for work reasons but we want a small truck, less than 5 years old (preferably less than 3). What do y'all think would be the best investment as far as gas mileage, quality, ect.?

[emersonbiggins]

Wow, I'm speechless. To be fair, it's not a completely apples-to-apples comparison, but if you're trudging around on that vintage Vespa, chances are YOU should be getting the finger from the driver in the H2 next to you.

[web]http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3240/7867[/web]

[rwwff]

This is a perfect example of why reporters with liberal arts degrees should never be allowed to touch anything with numbers in it. In fact, if I were dictator, I would have to decree that all reporters' keyboards have the number keys permanently removed from them.

To compare pollution between such distinctly different types of vehicles; you MUST compare grams of a pollutant per passenger-mile travelled.

Someone with a math and science background could probably work back from the actual report the emissions test equipment spits out; but such an excercise vastly exceeds the competence of your typical reporter.

[Grimnir]

The amount of pollution put out by an old two-stroke engine is indeed enormous (same goes for your lawmower, by the way). The four-stroke ones are fine, though; even if they produce more pollution per gallon, you burn far, far fewer gallons than you would in an SUV (as the poster above pointed out).

Check out the table at the bottom of this page:
http://www.columbiascooters.com/scooters.htm

[Doly]

Never, ever, compare percentages directly unless you are comparing percentages taken from the same whole.

What you want to compare in this case is the absolute numbers on emissions. It doesn't matter which engine is relatively cleaner, it matters how much pollution they generate on absolute terms.

[emersonbiggins]

Yeah, I guess this article is pointless. Utilizing percentages versus absolute numbers will always result in unfair conclusions in these types of situations. It grabs headlines and attention for the writer, though, and in that sense probably accomplished that writer's goal.

[Falconoffury]

I'm reminded of those questions on percentages compared to differing whole numbers in IQ tests. From what I have learned, most people think that percentages can be added or multiplied the same way as whole numbers.

[evilmonkeyspanker]

Stop posting using iframes. Provide a damn link. The site you referenced caused two pop up windows to pull up on my computer annoying the hell out of me

[Etalon]

Wow, thats some good reporting there. Is science really that complicated that this guy simply cant get it right?