Auto Execs Fly Corporate Jets to D.C., Tin Cups in Hand

[epchick]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

Very interesting article. Mulally has given me a big respect for Ford.

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

I've been a fan of Mulally since his Boeing days. He still impresses me.

I agree with both of you, I think Mulally is a good thing for Ford. It looks as though his "bad days" (my words, not his) at Boeing, when they had to cut jobs, etc gave Ford a heads up in this auto bailout.

I'm glad he's doing good at Ford, cause i still really want a Ford Edge! hahaha.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by epchick

I agree with both of you, I think Mulally is a good thing for Ford. It looks as though his "bad days" (my words, not his) at Boeing, when they had to cut jobs, etc gave Ford a heads up in this auto bailout.

I'm glad he's doing good at Ford, cause i still really want a Ford Edge! hahaha.

And you should! The Edge is awesome and great on gas. I'm not sure how it compares to other crossovers, but I'm really enjoying mine.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

And you should! The Edge is awesome and great on gas. I'm not sure how it compares to other crossovers, but I'm really enjoying mine.

Really? That is what i was worried about (the gas efficiency). Glad to know it is good on that, since both my parents have Fords (an f-150 & an Explorer sport) but they are both gas guzzlers.

I had originally wanted a Nissan Murano, just cause I <3 Nissan, but the Edge has been calling to me. It'll probably be a while before I get it though, cause I want the Edge fully loaded w/ Sync and the navigation stuff. lol.

[AGDee]

I really like the Edge too. If my dad weren't a GM retiree (read, I get employee discount), it would have been a tough choice between my Vue and the Edge! Both of them were catching my eye on the road over and over in my daily travels.

[PiKA2001]

Good article about what helped the declining domestic auto sales. Very much agree with the paragraph about the Jeep Compass.
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...5rLWRldHJvaXQ-

[AGDee]

While I agree about the Jeep Compass, I do not agree with the Cavalier or the minivan comments for sure. My first new car ever was an '88 Cavalier when I graduated from college. I absolutely LOVED that car. I was driving 40 miles each way to work and it was one of the best on gas then. It was the perfect entry level car. I ran it into the ground. When it finally died, I had just had a baby so I decided I had to "mom up" and go for the mini-van market. I bought a used Pontiac Transport and THAT van was awesome. I really didn't like driving a mini-van so when the air conditioning needed to be repaired on the Transport, I decided to get another Calalier.. a '99 this time. Again, I loved it. It was the newly designed one, amazing with gas mileage and a really solid little car. The biggest problem I had with it was that a viaduct jumped in front of it one very icy afternoon and things were never quite right after that. That wasn't the car's fault though. Blue book on it was $7200 and the damage estimate was $6800 so I had to get it fixed but seriously, it should've been totalled. I'm convinced the frame was bent because I had to replace the rack (of the rack and pinion steering) for three years in a row after the accident. That shouldn't have happened and I'm sure it was related to the accident somehow because the front end was so messed up.

In any case, I keep hearing the auto companies getting slammed for selling SUVs but that is what the consumer wanted at the time. The demand was sky high. Moms didn't want mini-vans anymore. Dad's liked them better than pick-ups because they could still fit things into them and still use it for the whole family too. They were, and still are, great vehicles for a lot of families. I can honestly say that I don't know a single family who doesn't have at least one SUV. Shoot, after driving baby cars (two Cavaliers and an Aveo) most of my adult life, I bought a crossover SUV (Saturn Vue) just this past December. I absolutely love having all that extra room, not having to reach into a deep trunk to get the groceries out, being able to go to Home Depot and buy a door or something big like that and have room to haul it home. There's so much more cargo space. Until gas prices went crazy last summer, people were loving their SUVs. They were building what the consumers wanted. That desire fell so sharply when gas prices skyrocketed last summer and everybody freaked out. Now that gas prices are down again, I see more trucks and SUVs on the road than anything else.

As far as Hybrids go... I seriously contemplated getting the Vue hybrid but after researching hybrids in general, I decided it was a no go. The damage to the environment with the junking of lithium ion batteries outweighs the emissions advantages. The increased cost of a hybrid outweighs the cost savings on gas. There is little cost savings or fuel savings if you drive mostly on the freeway, because you're using gas then. And when that lithium ion battery goes? You're talking about $8000-12,000 to replace it. You can buy a brand new Chevy Aveo, which gets 38 mpg highway for $13K, so why??? I think the technology on the Chevy Volt is actually a better way to go. E85 engines are also better, if they would sell the gas anywhere. GM had been doing extensive work on a hydrogen cell fueled car that holds a lot more promise in the "green" arena. Hybrids are not the "be all, end all" green cars in the long run. They also don't save you money.

I think the most difficult thing for the auto-industry is that the consumer's choices can change on a dime (like when gas prices skyrocket) and the expense and time in changing over a line that is designed to make one vehicle is astronomical because so much of it is automated now. They use less people to make cars, but the machines for each part are so specific. The more that is automated, the harder it is to switch over a plant from making SUVs to making compact cars, etc.

I talked with some people who have been at GM for 20 years and they were all really upset about Rick being asked to step down. They were swearing up and down that he had done a lot to change GM and that if he hadn't been at the helm, the company would've been in this place much, much earlier.

[nittanyalum]

^^^buying a Volvo would kinda be like buying American since Ford owns Volvo.

Here's something that hadn't even occurred to me: Nascar's feeling the pinch of the "Big 3" troubles: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28269152/

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

^^^buying a Volvo would kinda be like buying American since Ford owns Volvo.

Here's something that hadn't even occurred to me: Nascar's feeling the pinch of the "Big 3" troubles: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28269152/

Never said I wouldn't buy American, just that I had a preference for my Subaru, and I'd consider a Volvo. I'd probably end up with the snazzier Subaru, like the Tribeca or whatever they come out with.

[nittanyalum]

George Will weighs in: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...d=opinionsbox1

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

George Will weighs in: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...d=opinionsbox1

Very interesting article. Mulally has given me a big respect for Ford.

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

Very interesting article. Mulally has given me a big respect for Ford.

I agree. I am in the market for a new vehicle and my mind was set on Honda, but I am planning to give Ford a serious look now.

[Elephant Walk]

Hopefully the UAW somehow falls as a result of this.

The Union's deserve the loss of their jobs, afterall they created it.

[jojapeach]

^^^ I have to agree.

However, I'm sticking with my Honda. I've got 209K miles and counting. It's lasted me through the Bush years as I've planned, even after a nasty rear-end collision. Given this economy, I hope she can last through Obama's first term.

[jojapeach]

BTW, just posted 10 minutes ago: President Bush: Automakers to get $17.4B

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081219/...meltdown_autos

The line that got me was, "The White House package is the lifeline desperately sought by U.S. automakers..." So what lifeline is available for the average American? *sigh*

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by jojapeach

BTW, just posted 10 minutes ago: President Bush: Automakers to get $17.4B

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081219/...meltdown_autos

The line that got me was, "The White House package is the lifeline desperately sought by U.S. automakers..." So what lifeline is available for the average American? *sigh*

My anti-Obama father called a few minutes ago blaming this Bush bailout on Obama. He said Bush was forced into it because Obama had promised the automakers a large amount of funding and that this bailout is just a "Bridge to Obama."