i've never driven american and at this rate i don't intend to. where are the american hybrid cars?
Oh, you mean like the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Chevy Malibu Hybrid, the Chevy Silverado Hybrid, the Dodge Durango/Aspen Hybrids?
Those, you mean?
Or, screw hybrids for a minute, what about cars that just get GOOD MILEAGE and don't cost an extra $4000 for a stupid battery pack? GM beats Toyota on number of models getting over 30 MPG. Ford will a major player there, as soon as they get clearance from the Feds to bring over the good stuff they've had in Europe for years (Fiesta, Kuga, Panther, etc).
Chrysler has -- beyond hybrids -- a totally electric vehicle ready for the road in 2010 based on a Lotus Europa.
But... You won't consider an American car, so why even ask?
Why even bother, when American-based car companies offer higher mileage and better warranties (and goddamn, MUCH better styling) than the Asians do?
I'm sorry if that rant sounded preachy at all, and it certainly wasn't meant as anything personal.
Over the last few years (and in my work as an automotive journalist) I've been confronted with opinions very similar to yours - that American cars "suck," or that the Detroit makers "build cars people don't want," or that cars from GM, Ford, and Chrysler don't get good mileage -- all of those opinions are widely held, and are absolute misinformed rubbish.
What's killing Detroit right now is the same crisis that has Toyota and Honda and Mazda ALL scaling back, and asking their OWN government (in Japan) for help. The difference is, the Japanese government has long believed in helping its industries compete, and doesn't take to grandstanding and belittlement of its industries when they're taking a hit in the marketplace.
Detroit builds excellent cars, and you don't need to take my word for it. Just look at any legitimate impartial survey of quality and customer satisfaction (Edmunds and JD Power are fairly decent examples, Consumer
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PS: Just in case you're the slightest bit interested in finding out what the US-based makers are up to, there's a good article Ford's new Fusion Hybrid which, as I said, gets super mileage but doesn't look god-awful stupid like a Prius.
And with that, I think I've worn a hole in my soapbox... have a great weekend!
Comments 4
Oh, you mean like the Ford Escape Hybrid, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, the Chevy Malibu Hybrid, the Chevy Silverado Hybrid, the Dodge Durango/Aspen Hybrids?
Those, you mean?
Or, screw hybrids for a minute, what about cars that just get GOOD MILEAGE and don't cost an extra $4000 for a stupid battery pack? GM beats Toyota on number of models getting over 30 MPG. Ford will a major player there, as soon as they get clearance from the Feds to bring over the good stuff they've had in Europe for years (Fiesta, Kuga, Panther, etc).
Chrysler has -- beyond hybrids -- a totally electric vehicle ready for the road in 2010 based on a Lotus Europa.
But... You won't consider an American car, so why even ask?
Why even bother, when American-based car companies offer higher mileage and better warranties (and goddamn, MUCH better styling) than the Asians do?
Hrmph.
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in any case, based on my purely non-scientific research, i RARELY see these cars on the road.
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Over the last few years (and in my work as an automotive journalist) I've been confronted with opinions very similar to yours - that American cars "suck," or that the Detroit makers "build cars people don't want," or that cars from GM, Ford, and Chrysler don't get good mileage -- all of those opinions are widely held, and are absolute misinformed rubbish.
What's killing Detroit right now is the same crisis that has Toyota and Honda and Mazda ALL scaling back, and asking their OWN government (in Japan) for help. The difference is, the Japanese government has long believed in helping its industries compete, and doesn't take to grandstanding and belittlement of its industries when they're taking a hit in the marketplace.
Detroit builds excellent cars, and you don't need to take my word for it. Just look at any legitimate impartial survey of quality and customer satisfaction (Edmunds and JD Power are fairly decent examples, Consumer ( ... )
Reply
And with that, I think I've worn a hole in my soapbox... have a great weekend!
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