On Wed, 19 May 2004 07:25:10 GMT, Wheresthebabes? wrote something wonderfully witty:
The vehicles that Ford was/is building was based on supply & demand of the consumer. They don't have a gas price ouija board that they use in their marketing plans. While a lot of people suspected that gas prices would rise, no one knew it would be to the extent that they are no headed. According to a recent news story, folks are extremely interested in the forthcoming Hybrid Ford Escape and it's 35 mpg #'s. I have been told I am not allowed to use a broadsword to disprove ?The Pen is Mightier than the sword?.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about the relative ability of Ford, GM, and D-C on the one hand, and Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, to maintain profits in the face of $3, $4, and $5 per gallon gas prices. I think they are equally able to produce high mileage cars if that's what the market wants; you don't. And don't throw the hybrids at me. Toyota and Honda lose money on these cars. If hybrids were priced to turn a profit their efficiency gains would not make up for the increased price of entry, at least not at today's gas prices.
The point I was trying to make is that ALL the automakers are tuning for horsepower, not efficiency, and that this means that SUV's and pickups are only slightly less efficient than the majority of cars. I guess I was actually trying to poke a hole in the smugness of the non-SUV or pickup owners, that they are smarter and even morally superior to the SUV/truck driver.
Yes, there are the Kias and Echos, but these are hardly equivalent to SUV's and pickups, or even to Accords and Camrys. I know. I own an '01 Echo. These tiny stripper cars will never take a big market share.
Likewise as to any expensive European turbo diesels. I don't even know what makes and models you're talking about. But given that most gas engined European cars start at $30,000 and go up from there, even if a diesel would double the mileage of a gas-powered model with equal performance, it would take years to recoup the initial outlay at
15,000 miles per year using $2 or $3 per gallon fuel.
180 Out TS 28
Ford has products they sell in countries where gasoline is taxed to the $5 a gallon level right now. All they have to do is lobby congress to allow ECE compliant vehicles into the USA and bingo, they have tons of product to sell. They can make that happen in those conditions. If they don't, they can always federalize those models.
If a bike is on the road thats fine with me as long as they follow the rules for drivers. All the ones i've seen take the rules for vehicles when it suits them and then takes the rules of pedestrains when it suits them. You have to take your pick, if you are on the road you follow the rules of the road, if you are on the sidewalk you are a pedestrain.
Maybe there is a Scion newsgroup, or better yet one of those Honda Hybrid newsgroups. Considering gas was about a dollar a gallon when I started driving 20 some years ago, I don't find gas prices outrageous. Considering minimum wage was $3.45 an hour then, now what $6.00 or more? Everything gets more expensive, it's called inflation.
I have a new 2004 F-150 4x4 Lariat and would never want to trade it for an economy car just because gas prices have gone up. It gets about 14 mpg around town and I gladly pay twice as much to keep it supplied with gas compared to a small car.
On Thu, 20 May 2004 03:04:39 GMT, "Mark Jones" wrote something wonderfully witty:
As is your God given right. However, the right to bitch about gas prices is nullified by the decision to buy a gas hog. The knife simply can't cut both ways. I have been told I am not allowed to use a broadsword to disprove ?The Pen is Mightier than the sword?.
On Wed, 19 May 2004 19:51:03 GMT, wrote something wonderfully witty:
Even worse I remember me & my buddies going through pocket change on a Friday night to fill up the old GTO for the evenings cruise. Arrrrgh, time really does march on. I have been told I am not allowed to use a broadsword to disprove ?The Pen is Mightier than the sword?.
Exactly right. When I started driving in 1971, regular (leaded) gas was about 32 cents per gallon. And a new Ford Pinto could be bought for under $2,000! My dad had a 1970 Jeep Gladiator (full-size pickup) J-3000 with a 3,800-lb. load capacity. At that time, Jeep pickups were the most expensive you could buy. He paid $5,300 for it.
OK, I'd like to know who of youse guys have hit his 40th birthday or past so I know the Old School contingent here. Makes for reminiscing over Geritol on the rocks. For the record, I'll be 48 in a week from today.
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