I feel bad for you car guys. Now you know how horse guys felt about saying goodbye to the corvette of the day, an Arabian stallion, a 100 years ago.
Forget about the end of the sports car. This is the end of American auto industry. It will cost billions to retool. The american automakers are already on life support living on a thread with tax dollars. He has sent every American carmaker out of business and flushed our tax dollars out the door with them.
Does anyone else see the folly of this while the American car companies are struggling? The only really nice cars that GM makes are trucks, entry-level luxury cars, and muscle cars. All of which get less than 25 mpg. (Impala isn't bad, but it still won't meet new CAFE standards.) So GM will be forced to sell 2 Aveos or 3 Cobalts (or equivalent), with even more neutered engines, for every Silverado, Tahoe, Corvette, or STS. I would think that they'd have to really sell those at a substantial loss just to keep up. Well, this should stimulate the economy short-term. I'd expect a lot of soon to be illegal cars to sell in the next few years.
I know you are getting at the lack of fuel efficient/hybrid cars while focusing on big SUVs, but that isn't their only problem. Weslinder is right that it could hurt the few succesful vehicles the American auto industry does produce. Did the law say that they would have to sale/produce an average of 35.5mpg or their vehicles offered had to average that? Wasn't part of the deal with GM, was that they would start producing more fuel-efficient vehicles?
by the time these fuel standards kick in, the price of gas will probably be back up to level that would make marketing gas guzzlers a losing proposition. I agree that the american companies have their advantages in trucks, large suvs and muscle cars, but i don't think its enough of a market to save them.
I think you assume to much about oil prices increasing. >$100 oil prices are the historical anomaly. The price of gas was only up for 2 years or so. If the truck and large car market was so terrible and small why would Nissan and Toyota be pushing so hard to enter it? They have large cars and full size trucks now. The real future is cars from Korea and China will do to Japan what Japan did to the US auto makers in the 1980s and Japan is trying to save itself by moving higher up the price bracket.
I'll be the first person to argue that the price of oil was very inflated over the last two years. However, I don't see anything bucking that trend, we are in the middle of a recession and oil closed above $60 today. and those large cars were left sitting on their lots last year. just because the japanese car companies did it doesn't make it good strategy.
Which is less than half of where it was earlier. People will gladly pay 2.50 for gas. Not sure what you are basing this on because Toyota overtook Dodge as the third best seller of trucks. I think it is the best strategy because competing with China for the cheaper car market will be much harder and less profitable.
gas is going to be 2.50 in a few weeks if things continue, and we're still in recession. GM started closing truck plants last year. they aren't putting them on hold. they fully expect gas prices to rebound. this bill isn't forcing them to do anything. they have already begun their reaction. Dodge being overtaken by Toyota, and the overall truck/large suv market are two different subjects. but, let me ask you this, why do you think Toyota's trucks are selling more in a high priced gasoline environment?
GM closing plants has nothing to do with them expecting gas to go up. Toyota is outselling the Dodge because they are offering a luxury truck that is more expensive, and the new era truck buyers want that. The comforts and price of a truck has increased over the past 20 years bigtime. Much more than inflation.
look, either you can say that they are betting on the price going up, or you can say that they agree that the large truck/suv market isn't viable long term. either way they closed those plants on their own last year so they are ahead of the curb on the this legislation. okay that's fine, that doesn't prove that there is a growing market for large trucks/suvs overall.
No they closed the plants because they were burning through money like crazy. It doesn't matter what the market does if GMAC is in the tank for billions. Ford is also large in the truck market, they are increasing production. Market share, not overall market. The key is this market is available to be taken more easily and the rewards of winning are higher. I am not sure where I said the market is growing.
ford also closed plants last year. I see recently they retooled a plant to make more fuel efficient trucks but I don't know about increasing productin no you didn't say the market is growing, but you arguing about niche market, luxury pickups
No I am talking about market share battle and the changing market or the big car and trucks. Specifically how american car companies will be changed. You are extremely effective at making me explain my position again and again. I guess it is a strategery(sic), it works well.
Largest reason, by far: Much higher legacy costs than their competition. Secondary reasons: Reduced demand overall, reduced demand for gas-guzzlers that US car makers make well, pricing structure where customers expect heavily-reduced cars, less desirable economy cars than Japanese makers. http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/06/04/088884.html Even during the worst year in 30 or so for gas-guzzlers, the number 1 and number 3 overall selling selling cars were American-made pickups. 70,000 more Ford F-150's were sold than Honda Civics (the best-selling economy car).
