More Toyota woes...

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The hits just keep on coming.

bob

Reply to
bob urz
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hmm, let's see...

  1. do any of the domestics have a competitor? no.

  1. is the prius wildly popular? yes.

  2. do oilco's like where public demand for this eco-car is headed? no.

  1. did toyota mistakenly think that having paid squeeze all over the hill to get out of the last shakedown, that it was a one-time thing? apparently!

bottom line, until they figure this out, shakedowns are going to be a recurrent problem for toyota. they should learn from honda - make bigger and thirstier gas guzzlers with not a single one capable of a real world 30mpg, /keep/ paying squeeze to the racketeers in washington [for that's what we're witnessing here], and give their technology to g.m. for free. [so g.m. can give it to the chinese!] then they'll never hear another squeak.

or better yet, just stop selling the prius altogether. while all four points are relevant, #3 has to be the biggest threat to toyota's future because this is not going to go away while the hybrid trend continues to threaten the revenues of some mighty mighty connected people.

Reply to
jim beam

lol.

The idea of a conspiracy theory to consume more gasoline is downright funny. Big oil back in the 1990s bought up and shutdown most of the independent refiners. Whatever the gasoline demand is they simply adjust their output. Nobody else can get in the refining game. They can just tweak the price anyway they see fit (within bounds*) regardless of what people are driving. The best thing for them is higher profit margin on less gasoline being sold.

*there are enough different big oil companies left to keep things within reason, but a few more mergers could easily end that.
Reply to
Brent

Brent wrote in news:kgk3c8$cq5$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Some 80-85% of the world's oil is produced by various governments; the private players are small-fry in the oil game. It will be a cold day in heck before there's any meaningful consolidation in the oil industry.

Our next car is likely to be a Toyota RAV-4; the current hysteria ought to be good for prices.

Reply to
Tegger

sooo, we'll see the brief comeback of nonelectric steering then. that would be most welcome in my book though electric power steering provides an easy option for power steering delete for folks so inclined.

What's the worst that could happen if electric power steering dies beyond parking lot speeds? grandma unable to pull to the curb will block traffic for a few blocks in manhattan during rush hour. big freaking deals. most grandmas have $$$$$ around there to ride in a cab

higher profit margin on less gasoline being sold over a longer period of time

Reply to
AD

World oil markets are something different than US gasoline refining and sale. My point was on gasoline production.

Reply to
Brent

Piffle. That's not even a story worth reading much less worrying about.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

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