U S A! U S A!

In Japan there are a lot of farmers who drive smaller pickups, I don’t know why 50% of america would need a whole F350 just because they live in a rural area.

I also have to haul several adults, the kid and ton of gear pretty often and the focus can’t cut it at lot of the time.

European diesels are clean, quiet enough that you hardly notice and the turbo models are even what could be called sporty (Audi has dominated at LeMans with a diesel, albeit not one you can buy for the street). You can get more gallons from a barrel of crude and more miles per gallon. But, changing the refineries and the laws are going to take time. Diesel’s also a lot safer in the event of accidents (I’ve seen two cars blow up and burn in my day, not a pretty sight). Towing capacity, the reason for a big V8 (besides status) is much better with a diesel.

It’s interesting that Chevy and Buick are popular in China. I guess it’s like Levis. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a Chinese auto maker come in and buy the remnants of GM after the government runs it into the ground.

My friends 09 Ford Focus coupe has all that fancy safety stuff, 2 million electronic gadgets, and an inline 4 engine. It has 140 horsepower and weighs in at 2500lbs. BUT it still gets average of 32mpg (according to the computer).

-Both cars get 32mpg average.
-Volvo weighs 900lbs more
-Volvo has 21 less hp
-Volvo is just as safe as the Focus even w/o all those things
-Volvo is larger and can haul more crap
-The Volvo also has added the benefit of having boxy, Swedish sex appeal. You just don’t get that same boxyness from a Focus
-I can personally fix most problems with the Volvo

Seems like Americans [maybe everyone in general?] is a bit behind when a 1988 car can provide more benefits than a 2009 car. Electric vehicles, anyone?

Diesels haven’t been popular in the US because our gas has been so cheap that the higher initial cost of the engine, the rougher idle, and the stinky particulate matter emanating have kept people away. I know the newer models aren’t as stinky or noisy, but until fuel costs go up a lot and our refineries produce more diesel it will still be niche market here.

I know there are people who use trucks for work, but a lot of trucks are (were?) sold in the US for image and as daily drivers. If you’ve ever traveled in other parts of the world you don’t see trucks like the Tundra or F-150. In Japan, for example, people actually buy trucks for work. They are these spartan, little trucks, always white, with the most basic interiors and features. Few people really need a 381 horsepower V8 in their Tundra. It doesn’t haul any more than other trucks.

I think GM is keeping Buick because the brand has a good image in China, which is actually a bigger market for Buick than the US now.

Ford has done will with the Focus. But again. Almost all the euro powertrains are diesel. Chrysler even sells a diesel 300 over in europe.

GM has brought the Opels to the US under the Saturn brand. It seemed to be doing well but I guess the dealer network is costly and if they cut loose from Opel then I’m not sure what they’d have left as far as an investment in Saturn.

One thing that differentiates the US from the rest of the world is our refusal to embrace diesel which gets better milage, produces less CO2 and with the right emissions standards can deliver without the NOx and particulates which has given it a bad rap. It will take years to change over our refinery system.

I wouldn’t call the Tundra ginormous. Compared to say an F350 SuperDuty it’s barely a real truck. It may be hard to imagine in Seattle but there really are people in America that buy work trucks for work. A Hummer on the other hand has virtually NO civilian use.

I also find it interesting that GM is trying to unload Opal and is shutting down Saturn which is all Opal based. They want to eliminate brand overlap but they’re keeping Buick (they’re most profitable brand) which is nothing but a Chevy-wana-be-Cadillac.

It’s actually kind of ironic. Toyota, the maker of the Prius, was probably caught the most unaware by the shift in the US market to smaller cars. It just built a new plant in Texas for its ginormous Tundra trucks that are less fuel efficient than Ford and Chevy competitors, and has the biggest number of models of SUVs of any brand in the US.

I doubt there is going to be much if any benefit to the domestic auto industry. For one thing there is a huge excess of new, used and lease vehicles already flooding the market. The new technology is going to come at a price; I heard ~$1,600 per vehicle. All of this is going to prop up the value of used cars for some time. Especially if the economy remains soft and fuel prices low. Second, the foreign manufacturers, already selling into a high cost of fuel market will beat the US makers to the showroom floor and since they have a larger market and far less retooling and development they will be lower priced. Look for Fiat to make a killing. The news had a piece on a plug-in electric by BYD (Chinese) that’s ready to roll, gets well over 200 miles per charge and will sell for ~20k.