Car Doors
If you like gull wings and specialty car doors,
you HAVE to look at:
http://www.disappearing-car-door.com/
Need a Green SUV
For taking my crew and all of their belongings for a week of snowboarding. Where there'll more'n likely be snow on the ground. And for pulling lightly loaded, low carbon footprint gas electric toy Priuses (prius's?) out of a snowbank.
Isetta successful?
I hope the Smart will move into the history books as one of the more successful microcars along with the Mini, the 2CV, and the Fiat 500 ( I want one...) I mean the originals AND the remodeled modern versions.
I prefer the originals though - light, simple, and fun to drive even though they weren't very refined.
I hope the average Americans will start buying cars that match their needs rather than the largest vehicles they can afford.
Chris in TN
'65 Beetle 2.0L
'78 VW Westfalia 2.7L (Corvair implanted)
Detroit can't compete
I think the Lazy Americans that the Toyota guy talks about should stop buying Toyotas like the folks in Japan have...
The Chinese
I prefer a multi-purpose vehicle; but this Yellow Chinese "Drainage" vehicle is a lot more in tune with intelligent peoples needs than some overweight, oversized , over-powered,dumb pick-up truck......
AFS Trinity Battery Life/Cost
The expected battery life of the AFS Trinity hybrid (based on 300 FULL discharges per year) is roughly 3,000 cycles or 10 years, so someone would likely want to buy a new car before they'd replace the batteries (which makes your questions irrelevant). Also, battery prices will change dramatically over the next ten years, so predicting the cost would be difficult.
Perhaps you should've inquired further before deciding that none of our representatives knew the answer to your question. We encourage you to visit www.afstrinity.com in the coming weeks and visit our FAQ (coming soon) for further information.
Auto Show
Why does there even need to be "security" at the Detroit Auto Show? Sounds like a question that Chris Rock can answer.
No food or beverages allowed? That's the least of your worries!
The 2001 Auto Show hosted a known gun battle that the media later retracted. Oops, sorry to spoil your planned weekend but there is another reason that Detroit has been blasted from the map as the auto capital of the world.
New Vette
Can someone post a good pic of new vette? The one on home page is sketchy at best.
thanks
da verg
de la salle pilots - 1974
http://the-sports-page.blogspot.com/
Tigers Sign new third baseman?
Did the Tigers wrap up their new third baseman, Cabrera for long term or is he free agent after one season?
Da Verg
De La Salle Pilots - 1974
http://the-sports-page.blogspot.com/
Kwame Cobo
Yes, it's all just a big laugh with Kwame. I myself am laughing so hard: the state is crumbling into nothing, I won't even set foot in the city that tends to randomly shoot and kill its visitors (e.g. Superbowl, fireworks show). So yes Kwame keep laughing. Keep doing the annual $25K Navigator leases, keep spending the taxpayer's money on your family's resort stays.... By all means, whatever you do, don't eat a little humble pie and just focus on what needs to be done. No, keep up the show, the backslapping, and all the glitz and glamor that amounts to absolutely nothing. You're a disgrace.
Detroit simply can't compete
I don't want to insult people, but have to admit that people in the US tends to be lazy and complain all the time about not being able to compete against Japan.
I am from Aichi prefecture, hometown of Toyota, it is the richest place in Japan after Tokyo, but do you know that people here are working very hard, my brother is an assmbly line worker and he works from 8:00AM to 5:30PM, and his salary is only about 5.7 million Yen, towards the end of December, he usually get a bonus of 1.8 million Yen. During my stay in Michigan, lots of people told me that GM/Ford/Chrysler employees often smokes inn the factory, often late for work and has a lax attitude toward quality, here is what's happening in Aichi: Anyone who spot quality problem can stop the flow, regardless of his status/rank in the company. On average, it only takes 23 man hour to make a Lexus ES350 and on average, Toyota employee's productivity is 70% thn the best Big three factory, so what do you have to complain when you can't compete with us.
Go back and study and work hard, or you will NOT have future. BTW, even GM/Ford drop the vehicle price by 50%, it wil not be competitve in Japan.
Engineers on the prowl
While there is some value to knowing your competition (and corporate staffs already exist for this dedicated purpose), the real engineers are busy back at the roost working hard on their product - not running around during NAIAS Supplier Days with tape measures and cameras looking busy (most likely on grossly overpriced tickets they weren't supposed to accept from a supplier!) The real engineers will be at the show when it's open to the public - and probably on their own time.
Prius Mileage
I beg to differ with you.
I have owned a brand new 2008 Prius since the end of October, 2007.
So far, I am averaging about 57 mpg.
Depending upon driving conditions - the WORST mileage that I have received with this car has been about 50 mpg.
The Prius is in a world of its own.
Your article on diesels
With the US dollar having lost so much value, foreign car makers will be making more and more vehicles in this country including those powered by diesels.
As far as I can tell, the principal diesels manufacturers in the US are for motor vehicles are Cummins, Navistar and Detroit Diesel. I suspect that Cat and Deere might enter the market as well.
I would like to know if there are additional US manufacturers that can make diesel engines for SUVs, other light duty vehicles and cars.
***
Oil companies are investing heavily in LNG from which diesel can be made clear as water. Exxon for instance has invested over $7 billion in an LNG plant in Qatar half of which will be used for diesel. Once these plants are on stream, the supply of diesel fuel will substantially increase, presumably the cost will go down, and given that it is very environmentally friendly, diesel will become more popular in this country as it is already in Europe.
Geely has passengers - and baggage
To Neal Rubin, the Detnews writer: your hostile article on the public newspaper is so unprofessional. You better to remember that without Chinese goods, you will be deep in trouble and you will have miserable life. What kind reaction they will give to you if your article made to public Chinese media? Think before you saying and writing. Put our American reputation out there. We American truly benefit from Chinese goods, and we need appreciate for that, and on the other side. How can you gain respect from other country of the world. Bad-mouthing is not typical symbol of American media. Cheap.
