H-what

[edsaylor]

Lew:
If a dealership wants to be a good profitable operation, it is essential that they sell trucks and SUV's. Chevy dealers always sell Chevy trucks. If they are going to have a second viable franchise group of dealers selling Buick, they MUST have GMC trucks for them!! Buick would not survive at all without GMC trucks to sell in most markets in the US. Why have Buick, you ask? Because BUICK is the nomber one seller in CHINA, a market aboutg the same size as the US market, and probably getting bigger over the next few years. If GM dropped Buick in the US, the Chinese would not want them. Buick-GMC dealers will be GM's second line of dealers along with Chevrolet-Cadillac. Buick would not last 30 days as a stand alone dealership in most markets.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Gary you have noted all of the imports and how well they do.

I am unaware of any import 1/2 ton p-u's getting 35 MPG. Currently what is the best mileage out there for one, 20mpg?

I do not see the current configuration of the p-u changing so if this is the case how are the manufacturers going to get their MPG average up to 35 mpg when half of the motoring public is in the p-u or SUV?

It is going to be very painful for one side or the other, time will tell.

I wouldn't buy a foreign car even back when they were a hands down better product, certainly not now when Detroit is currently producing the best product during my lifetime.

Now uncle Sam will screw it up, I knew it was too good to last.

On a side note I have never seen a jap car up on the block at Barret-Jackson accept the occasional novelty.

P-U's are a tool for business and commerce and if they would leave them out of the MPG requirement IMO that would be a good compromise.

They can produce as many or as few of the electric scooters they want if they continue the P-U in its current configuration.

[rickdesilva]

Joe
Its gotta killa that Fiat now owns a majority of Chrysler?

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Well, goomba, they will have to continue to produce a product the public is interested in.

I think many of the foreign cars are very well made and hence their numbers, I just don't need one.

Currently I really like what the big 3 are building. Lots of styles, lots of performance, you can reliably run one for better than a decade and very affordable.

Rick we are going to get to find out here too. Daimler had the reigns and nothing changed for the worse, some pretty nice stuff developed if you are a car enthusiast.

Next the government will impose household mileage standards that is how they will sell in the future and still allow the gas guzzlers

I think I should be credited for all the walking and bike riding I do and allowed to sell some carbon credits.

What the big 3 could do is start building motorcycles and add them to their line to meet the mpg averages of the future

[Jon Wehrenberg]

This is getting political because I am going to make some remarks not intended to be divisive, but to point out some facts.

It is easy to mandate 35 MPG, or any other value legislators choose. Implementing that standard will cripple this country. First, people today are buying what they want and can afford and what fits their needs. I have no clue what the average MPG is of the cars sold in the last year or even 6 months, but is not anywhere close to 35 MPG.

Soon the public will realize while fuel economy is a great thing, it is unrealistic to think a soccer mom van is going to deliver that performance without an engine the size of a Briggs and Stratton, or a serious weight reduction in the van. That will raise all kinds of hell. As vehicles shrink in size to meet the standard their mileage will not be 35, but more likely 40 or 45 to offset the vehicles that merely get 28 or 30 MPG. But right now people want larger cars for comfort and safety and their utility.

I want a pickup truck to pull a trailer with my backhoe or my Bobcat on it. It is not going to be able to do that and get 30 MPG, so someone somewhere will be driving a vehicle about the size of a Smart Car to offset my choice of vehicle. The law is dumb and unrealistic but it makes the tree huggers all warm and toasty, and it makes the politicians able to brag they are redu cing our dependence on foreign oil.

Build nuclear power plants for Pete's sake. Then we can use the coal to run our cars.

And FWIW those high MPG cars will not be built by GM or Ford or Chrysler. They may carry the nameplates, but look for them to be produced in Korea or some other offshore country.

[GDeen]

This is getting political because I am going to make some remarks not intended to be divisive, but to point out some facts.

It is easy to mandate 35 MPG, or any other value legislators choose. Implementing that standard will cripple this country. First, people today are buying what they want and can afford and what fits their needs. I have no clue what the average MPG is of the cars sold in the last year or even 6 months, but is not anywhere close to 35 MPG.

Soon the public will realize while fuel economy is a great thing, it is unrealistic to think a soccer mom van is going to deliver that performance without an engine the size of a Briggs and Stratton, or a serious weight reduction in the van. That will raise all kinds of hell. As vehicles shrink in size to meet the standard their mileage will not be 35, but more likely 40 or 45 to offset the vehicles that merely get 28 or 30 MPG. But right now people want larger cars for comfort and safety and their utility.

I want a pickup truck to pull a trailer with my backhoe or my Bobcat on it. It is not going to be able to do that and get 30 MPG, so someone somewhere will be driving a vehicle about the size of a Smart Car to offset my choice of vehicle. The law is dumb and unrealistic but it makes the tree huggers all warm and toasty, and it makes the politicians able to brag they are redu cing our dependence on foreign oil.

Build nuclear power plants for Pete's sake. Then we can use the coal to run our cars.

And FWIW those high MPG cars will not be built by GM or Ford or Chrysler. They may carry the nameplates, but look for them to be produced in Korea or some other offshore country.

Jon, don't forget about Natural Gas - we have had explosive growth in natural gas reserves over the past 5 years alone due to new technologies. Much cleaner burning than oil or coal, and we have found enough now under American soil to last over 100 years at current consumption.

I believe there is much more to come as horizontal drilling and fracturing techniques continue to evolve. The technology already exists to convert diesel power to natural gas, we just need to get the politicians to see the light. Problem is, they are too busy demonizing the oil and gas industry to pay attention and recognize this is an outstanding means of diminishing our dependence on foreign oil.

[phorner]

Probably the smart thing to do is to buy that Hemi Challenger R/T or that Hummer while I still can!

There's already the moaning and wringing of hands over the prospect of all the new econo-boxes being so small and light that they won't stand a chance of survival when in an accident with a full sized truck or SUV.

Now the call is to have these "large, fuel consuming gas guzzlers" off the highways sooner rather than later as a purported safety measure.

Nobody seemed to care about the laws of physics while I was riding my Harley!

Personally, I see only tough times ahead for anyone not on the fuel sipping, econo-box, band wagon. Our government appears poised to dictate the type, size and suitability of the vehicles we have available to us in the future.

I wouldn't be surprized at all to see legislation aimed at making it more difficult to keep our older, perhaps less fuel efficient vehicles maintained and permitted on public highways.

Yep, we're certainly seeing change......

[rfoster]

Change? Change for the worse. Here we are in the greatest nation on earth and he wants change?

I don't see or hear about any body swimming to cuba or climbing the fence to get to Mexico. What is wrong with everybody? There is no outrage.

Everytime I turn on the TV I see this dude on and the media is kissing his "a". and he is giving away something else that ain't his to give. What happened to free enterprise? Who in their right mind would loan a company who is on the verge of bankruptcy 50 billion? Our new President did. And now that they have declared bankruptcy- who will bet the loan gets paid back - not me. Who wins? The chinese? Now he is overseas catering to a dictatorship that nationalized the oil fields that American companies developed and has become arrogantly wealthy off of the Americans who love our cars.

Every Jeep/Chrysler Dealer that I have heard that got the axe is a Republican. Anybody heard of any different.

Has any bailout money produced any jobs anywhere outside of Nevada?

Harry Reid is having a railroad for tourist built to go the whore houses? I think every taxpayer is on that train if you know what I mean.

Where is the outrage?

I am missing something, I don't get it.

[garyde]

From everything I've read the 35mpg is for a percentage of autos built by 2015 I believe. Some will get there by getting smaller and lighter, others will be Hybrids. i do believe the Truck will always be produced, possibly with some design changes to limit the number of cylinders firing at different speeds.
1st Tier and 2nd Tier parts producers was one of the major reasons GM was saved. They supply ALL auto manufacturers in this country including BMW, Toyota, Volkswagon, etc. If GM went down, many of those companies would have disappeared, so goes the thinking anyway.
With the Unions owning some 40 percent approx. of the new GM its only a matter of time before GM gets broken up further. This is whats called a gradual deflating or bring down of a Company instead of just licqudating.
As far as what I would purchase for me or my Company, I've been a Ford Truck guy for over 20 years, with GMC's for personal use. But I did buy Toyota Trucks in the 70's. They were Cheap and they would run forever.
I do think Natura Gas is the choice for the future, Slim Pickens has been trying to convince people of that for some time now.

[michaeldterry]

What is wrong with everybody? There is no outrage.

Roger - I agree! It scares me to death that there doesn't seem to be any significant show of concern by the majority of my fellow Americans while Obama and the libs are putting our country on a fast track to textbook Socialism! It's as if everyone is afraid to call a spade a spade (no racial context intended) and begin making the difficult choices and decisions required to put the country back on the right track to protect our freedoms and the lifestyle that we have enjoyed for the last several decades.

Wake up, America - before it's too late!