The Malipulater
I see old mr know nothing has struck again. Reading comprehension mrs mama. Re-read the list of top selling autos. 7 are high mileage CARS (7 out of 10 equals 70 percent). No, not all seven models are on the top 10 best mileage cars, but all are high mileage cars. Once again you can try and twist and manipulate words all you want but THE FACTS ARE 70 PERCENT OF THE TOP SELLING AUTOS ARE CARS WITH HIGH MILEAGE PEROID. Keep lying, and telling us how your opinion is the only thing that is correct, the facts just keep proving you wrong as always. Once again truck sales were 106,250. Total good gas mileage car sales 209,659. That is nearly a two to one sales margin. YOU keep whining about the Honda and Toyota, notice there are a couple other high mileage autos on that list as well. Before you put your foot in your mouth again, try removing your head from another part of your anatomy. Go back and retake your GED math and reading comprehension tests, maybe afterwards you might be able to actually grasp the figures being posted.
Oh, again with Toyota, hmmm. Read slowly, let the numbers sink in. Businesses are about the bottom line mrs mama, nothing else. Let's look at the bottom line mrs mama shall we:
Toyota reported a 28 percent drop in net profit to $3.05 billion for the first quarter -- the Japanese automaker's first quarterly decline in profit since 2005. (Wow, down 28 percent to a 3 BILLION DOLLAR PROFIT! Gee what bad business decisions they make).
Hmmm now let's compare them to:
GM lost $3.3 billion in the first quarter. Ford posted a surprise profit of $100 million for the same period but expects to lose money this year as the auto market deteriorates. (Yep, here is mrs mama business model for making money).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24539848/
Yep, you sure got that one right, looks like old GM is on the right track, well, only in mrs mama's know nothing world.
This One Is For Macaw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qtn128cAI8
Business or Unions?
By your comments it seems a difficult task for you to look at the big picture but if you step back and look at this situation it is not the Union that is driving business out- it is called dirt cheap labor, tax incentives to set up outside of the States and bottom line globalization- What people don't seem to understand is that the middle class is caught comically enough in the middle- These folks applied for a job, were offered a wage, accepted the wage, and adjusted their standard of living to meet the wage- Now they are being told their wage will be cut by 50% in some cases or the plant will close- How would you respond if your wage were to be cut in half- would that trouble you?? If you look historically, Unions were started for logical, real reasons-safe working conditions, annual increases to meet the cost of living, and managing the work load- I am certain that there is liability with wage inflation on the white and blue collar side- it is just more tolerated on the white collar side because they are perceived as more worthy--Now the Industrial Revolution is happening again except this time the worker being exploited is over the ocean and in governments where the restrictions and human rights activism is practically nill--- The problem is that America seems not to care about the workforce in the manufacturing community because they are perceived as uneducated and unworthy of the wage they receive- What everyone is not yet prepared for is the ripple effect with the adjustment of the shrinking middle class- foreclosure, fewer people adding income into the economy, increases in need for public assistance, inability to recieve medical care etc-
You are right it takes a business to invest- the business creates the opportunity yet it needs a workforce to commit to it and make it run- what you forgot is the reciprocity of productivity and profitability- I hope someday you can expand the unilateral nature of your view-
Here you go FHS, an american car with 48mpg
My wife and I are back in North America for 3 weeks seeing family in Ontario, Canada then to Detroit and finally to California. In California we will be in the LA area staying with family. We also have family in the East Bay area of Northern California.
Macaw, FHS posts are among the best I have read. He is the Mr. Spock of Autos Talk. Pure Logic. He doesn't get nasty or belligerent like some posters (hint)which I have recently have been reading. I have not been posting much because of my work schedule plus the time differential between UAE and the USA.
We have rented a Ford Taurus for our first leg of our trip. Marked improvement over the 500. The Fit and Finish is much better. We needed the trunk space so that is why we chose the Taurus. My first choice was to rent a GMC Acadia or Buick Enclave. Rental company I picked did not have any to rent.
I just have to remember not to accidently put diesel when I fill up.
Three Rivers Plant
I agree with Branchman.....We should all band together. Buy what we make. Sooner or later all good paying jobs will be gone and then what will we be able to buy. We have to make decent money in order to live here, we are not living in India! As for parts of US cars that are not made here now....it is not the auot workers fault or choice. He is a yet another card they have been dealt. Companies have become the greedy ones, wanting more and more profits, but in the end they are going to suffer because if we don't work we can not buy.
American Axle Strike
You would think the good workers for American Axle would cross the pickett line, and get their shop moving again. It's all about money right, and usually it's the UAW upper crust raking it in, not the workers. The owners of the company are just that, the owners. They are in it to make a buck, not candy coat work. I can't begrude them, at least they are not taking the plant to Mexico YET!!!!Take the cut, and go back to work.
Here you go FHS, an american car with 48mpg
You can buy this car right now, albeit used if you can find it, and quit with your wining about high mileage poop on wheels.
"But in 1979, during the oil-crisis, management saw a market opportunity for a fuel-efficient sporty commuter car and design work on the (?) commenced. To this end, it was fitted with a fuel efficient version of (?) 4-cylinder engine capable of 27 mpg (US) 32 mpg imp in the city and 40 mpg (US) 48 mpg on the highway with the (imp)economy-ratio transmission option. These figures are EPA test-circuit results, published by (?), and confirmed from multiple sources." [end quote]
What is the name of this car? who made it?, what was the engine?
I'll help is is 100% American.
You can probably find it for a good price right there in NC but it didn't catch on around here in Michigan much, in the Land of Giant SUV's this driver would be road kill if not burned like a BBQ rib. But hey he got 48mpg with the improved transmission option. So he could afford an expensive casket.
Three Rivers Plant
"And for those that dispute the fact that the UAW made unreasonable demands over the years and eventually "killed the golden goose", this article points out that the Three Rivers employees lost their gym membership benefit recently. Gym membership? For line workers? Give me a break."
First of all, you obviously have no clue regarding the physical effort that is necessary to work on an assembly line. If you're going to do physical manual labor, you need to maintain some level of fitness, a consideration that obviously escapes people like yourself who sit at a desk all day behind a mountain of donuts.
Secondly, many of these side benefits, like gym memberships, are becoming increasingly popular offerings in many companies, not just unionized shops. Employers are realizing the cost savings of having healthy employees available for work on a regular basis.
Lastly, benefits like gym memberships have become popular in lieu of the failure of real wages to keep up with the cost of living over the last 20 years.
American Axle Plant
I am a Canadian but am also a resident of North America and share in the sorrow of the people of Three Rivers.
It is about time the people of both our countries stood up together and told our respective governments that enough is enough.
All plants whether in Canada or the US are continually being shut down and moved to places like India and China where labour costs nothing or very little.
Perhaps we should tell all these companies that are moving to sell their good in these countries because we will only buy goods produced in the US or Canada.
We need to band together.
Try reading before you quote
"Yep, according to old mrs mama old Toyota is just a racking up those terrible business decisions, gee maybe they should take a page out of the Big 3 play book so they too could be losing money hand over foot as well."
Considering they just spent $1.3 billion just for an assembly plant when pickup truck sales are heading lower, I'd say Toyota is writing an all new play book.
american axle
When Obama visited the Sterling Heights plant, why not a trip to support the striking workers? Seems like the party that favors unions would support the American Axle strikers. Truth is that party could care less about the middle class of this country.The regulations and laws they enact are designed to strangle the old smokestack industries that are polluting the planet.Any thing that hurts GM is a good thing for the crazy envionmentalits that call the shots from California.Are these companies perfect? far from it. 8th level GM is loaded with deadbeats that get free cars gas & insurance, but how is putting them out of business like many dems want, help to attain any gains by the union? The UAW at the least should cut of the money they give that party and divert it into the strike fund to help the American Axle workers that need it more than a party that does nothing but lie to the people that they claim to support
PollyAnna Explains GM Plans
This quote from the article tells us all:
"If the economy worsens, GM may be forced to cut capital expenditures or sell off parts of the business that aren't core to building cars and trucks, said Chief Financial Officer Ray Young." So this means that if the economy improves GM can go right along keeping all the parts of its empire that are not core to building cars and trucks? I guess GM has not been losing market share for the last 20 plus years. And competition is not fierce. And GM is not organized in a confusing manner with its menagerie of duplicated models, & business units that have nothing to do with building those darned cars. So lets keep all those parts of GM that ARE NOT "CORE TO BUILDING CARS and TRUCKS," just a little bit longer & everything will work out. Signed, Pollyanna.
The Top Selling Car in America
The Top Selling Car in America The Toyota Camry. The Camry has been America's top-selling passenger vehicle for eight of the past nine years. The standard Camry's four-cylinder combined highway/city mpg rating of 25 mpg; the V6's mpg rating of 23;or the hybrid's 33 mpg. Toyota plans to sell 60,000 Camry Hybrids, or 15 percent of all Camry sales. ... Test Drive: Chevy Tahoe Hybrid Gets 24.8 MPG. The official EPA fuel economy ratings are 21 in the city and 22 on the highway. We had an opportunity to drive the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid over the last few days and conducted two separate real-world mileage loops to determine the fuel economy for the full-size SUV. The results were impressive. The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, powered by its 6-liter V-8 gas engine in conjunction with electric motors, surpassed expectations for efficiency. MILES PER GALLON: In a test of a Durango SUV with the 4.7L gasoline V-8, engineers measured a combined city/highway rating of 15.3 mpg. The DIESEL V-6 achieved 22.1 mpg in the same test, a 44 percent improvement. The DIESEL V-8 in the Ram 1500 did even better with a 49 percent improvement. It scored a combined city/highway rating of 21.7 mpg, compared to a Hemi that was rated at 14.6 mpg. In highway driving simulations, the DIESEL Durango made 25 mpg and the Ram 1/2-ton sipped just 24.6 mpg of DIESEL. ... My opinion on this is, With Hybirds comining to Chevrolet, GMC, DODGE and Toyota Trucks in the near future and DIESEL'S also in the very near for Ford, Chevrolet/GMC,Dodge,Nissian and maybe Toyota that will RIVAL THE MPG OF THE TOYOTA CAMRY. TRUCKS ARE FAR FROM DEAD!!! .... Sources: http://www.hybridcars.com/compacts-sedans/toyota-camry-hybrid-overview.html ... http://www.hybridcars.com/news/chevrolet-tahoe-hybrid-first-drive.html ... http://www.dieselbombers.com/future-diesels-automotives-whats-come/11841-dodge-1500-diesel-ram-diesel-durango-diesel-dakota.html
Try reading before you quote
Sorry Mike, I only see two vehicles from your list of high mileage imports on the Top 10 sales list for 2008. The same two vehicles that you previously pointed out, but have now somehow mysteriously increased to 70% (even though 50% of the cars on the Top 10 sales list are from American manufacturers!) In fact, the Civic and Corolla from your list of Top 10 gas mileage, have been outsold by domestic pickups by a ratio of MORE THAN 2:1. Back to math class Mike...you calculations (and ever changing stories and excuses) leave something to be desired.
Try reading before you quote
Tlemon, good finical planning 101, Diversify, do not put all your eggs in one basket, keep some equity in your investments. The Big 3 did just the opposite, they had no foresight, so they sunk everything they had into a short sighted, quick money making SUV/pick up market. The imports expanded out with a bigger model or two like the Tundra and Ridgeline, but they also kept their equity around as well in the smaller high mileage autos so when the sky fell they would not lose their shirt. Ford, GM, and Chrysler have all been struggling for the last few years, it will be two more years before they catch up to what Honda, Toyota, KIA, etc have out there now. Market share is disappearing at rapid fire rate for the Big 3 and now they are behind the power curve in high mileage autos, not good. I foresee a few more mergers/team-ups like Chrysler and Nissan. GM and Toyota have a couple of models, I see more. Ford and Honda will be a good pair, the F series will still be in demand for a work truck and the Honda high mileage cars should help keep Ford afloat. Of course these would make the lines between import and American made extremely blurry.
Once again old know it all shoves his foot in his mouth again. Wittle joey cries about Toyota putting a billion dollars into the Tundra plant. Tell those 3,000 employees that it was a waste of money. Since we are on the subject of business money, businesses are about the bottom line. Let's look at the actual bottom line shall we:
Toyota reported a 28 percent drop in net profit to $3.05 billion for the first quarter -- the Japanese automaker's first quarterly decline in profit since 2005. (Wow, down 28 percent to a 3 BILLION DOLLAR PROFIT! Gee what bad business decisions they make).
Hmmm now let's compare them to:
GM lost $3.3 billion in the first quarter. Ford posted a surprise profit of $100 million for the same period but expects to lose money this year as the auto market deteriorates. (Yep, here is mrs mama business model for making money).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24539848/
Yep, according to old mrs mama old Toyota is just a racking up those terrible business decisions, gee maybe they should take a page out of the Big 3 play book so they too could be losing money hand over foot as well.
Once again wittle joey shows us all just how foolish he is with his every post. Mrs know nothing claims Americans are not buying small cars:
Fri. 05/16/08 10:30 AM
"the American public STILL prefers full sized pickup trucks"
Hmmm, really. TRY ACTUALLY READING THE TOP 10 VESICLE SALES!! Out of the Top ten autos 2 Toyota high mileage cars, 2 high mileage Honda cars, 1 Chevy, 1 Ford, and 1 Nissan high mileage auto. Yep, there are those pesky things like FACTS getting in the way of wittle joey's opinion. 70 percent of the models sold are of the high mileage car type. Yep, good thing you bet the bank on those SUVs and pick ups. Of course wittle joey will tell us that 70 percent of the American consumers are wrong because his opinion is the only thing that is right. Let's see total truck sales are 106,250, not bad. Total good gas mileage car sales 209,659. Yep, nearly a two to one sales margin. Now in wittle joey's tiny mind those old pickups are just a kicking the high mileage autos butt in sales, too bad once again reality and facts come crashing down around him.
