[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '2') out of every 3 people on GM's payroll don't even work. That's a glimpse of what the baby boomer's retiring will do to this country. Where do you get all the money you promised them? Print it.

[WisJim]

let's see....Ford wants to sell more vehicles, people are interested in smaller more fuel efficient vehicles (but I'm not sure they are actually buying), so Ford advertises the full size F150F250 line of trucks, ignores the smaller Ranger pickup trucks, and will discontinue making the smaller Ranger (which has been getting bigger over the years.) So, if people, like myself and my friends, want to buy a smaller pickup truck, we will no longer have a Ford option, unless they sell an even larger Ranger-model truck which may be made in Indonesia or some other place outside of the USA or Canada.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WisJim', 'l')et's see....Ford wants to sell more vehicles, people are interested in smaller more fuel efficient vehicles (but I'm not sure they are actually buying), so Ford advertises the full size F150F250 line of trucks, ignores the smaller Ranger pickup trucks, and will discontinue making the smaller Ranger (which has been getting bigger over the years.) So, if people, like myself and my friends, want to buy a smaller pickup truck, we will no longer have a Ford option, unless they sell an even larger Ranger-model truck which may be made in Indonesia or some other place outside of the USA or Canada.

[frankthetank]

I owned a '85 Ranger 4x4 with the 2.3lt 4cyl EFI, lockout hubs, 5speed, and NO power steering. Talk about a simple truck to work on! You always see these ads @ places that sell auto parts advertising a price..say a starter...starting @ $90-$200...my Ranger was always the $90 (the parts were dirt cheap!). Fun truck to own and it ALWAYS got 25mpg, except when i used the 4 wheel drive.

Swap out the gas for a diesel, update the suspension and the looks and you've got a buyer! Not everyone needs a F150 with a 5.4liter V8....

[vision-master]

25mpg is crap! There's no reason why a small truck can't get 35-40mpg.

[WisJim]

It is interesting that none of the current "small" pickup trucks are considered to be "small" by the EPA or whoever it is that puts vehicles in classes according to size. They are all at least mid-sized or bigger. I would like to see a smaller truck, something that 2 people can ride in, in reasonable comfort, and carry a stack of 2x4s or sheets of plywood when necessary, with a bed big enough to sleep in if you put a topper on it, and that gets 35 to 40mpg. I know of a number of 2 wheel drive 4 cylinder 5 speed Ford Rangers or Toyota T100s (or whatever their smallest truck is), models in the early to late 1990s, that get 30mpg when driven reasonably. So why not better mileage in a small truck?

[mekrob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')o why not better mileage in a small truck?

[strider3700]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WisJim', 'I')t is interesting that none of the current "small" pickup trucks are considered to be "small" by the EPA or whoever it is that puts vehicles in classes according to size. They are all at least mid-sized or bigger. I would like to see a smaller truck, something that 2 people can ride in, in reasonable comfort, and carry a stack of 2x4s or sheets of plywood when necessary, with a bed big enough to sleep in if you put a topper on it, and that gets 35 to 40mpg. I know of a number of 2 wheel drive 4 cylinder 5 speed Ford Rangers or Toyota T100s (or whatever their smallest truck is), models in the early to late 1990s, that get 30mpg when driven reasonably. So why not better mileage in a small truck?

[abelardlindsay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Euric', 'A')merica's big three is the suffering the effects of having to support the tens of thousands of former workers via pensions and benefits some 25 or more years after they have retired. This is taking a big bite out of the operating capital.

[Euric]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mekrob', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')o why not better mileage in a small truck?

[mekrob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'v')ersteh?

[Euric]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mekrob', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'v')ersteh?

[clueless]

Ya Think ???

Link Here

I used to think our CEO's had a clue, but I stand corrected.

These guys need to be fired and forced to work on the assembly line (in China)...

[Pablo2079]

I'm sure they're just using it as a scapegoat.... Fields hasn't been in his position too long, so he's just looking for ways to cut and blame it on something else.

[Eli]

Well that is better than what Richard Wagoner is saying over at GM.

I just read an article in USA Today that quotes him as saying he is not worried about 4 dollar gas. He sites some stupid study that says people plan on keeping their current life style even if there is an economic downturn. He also says how they have been surprised at well their truck sales have been over the past year,but says nothing about their large SUVs.

Things must be so bad over at GM that they are in mass denial.

[kuatolives]

and in other news, Toyota breaks all sales records?

Will be fun to watch GM and Ford ask the US public for a government bailout.

"Well how come Toyota is making money?"
"ummm....."

[Pablo2079]

Toyota doesn't have to deal with the UAW like Ford and GM.

Ford is supposedly planning to have 5 hybrid models available next year, so that should be interesting.

[WisJim]

It's all our fault, we're not buying the increasingly larger and less fuel efficient trucks and SUVs, even when they discontinue the economical vehicles. We aren't paying attention to the advertising, too many of us must be thinking. Ought to be unAmerican if it is hurting Ford or GM.

Stupid bozo executives.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '.')..people plan on keeping their current life style even if there is an economic downturn.

[Torion]

People I know in daily life, who I 've never talked to about peak oil concepts, know that the price of gas and generally everything is going to go up more. Many of them know that there is more to the gas/oil/energy problem than *big oil profitting*. They just haven't absolutely had to change anything yet but they know it's coming. They're disposible cash is shrinking and they sound like they expect it to shrink more.

as for the car company execs, they can never say everything they really know. They know damn well about the energy problems we face!