Recent Comments:
Tesla's co-founder says all other electric car companies are wrong, make "crap" {Autoblog Green}
Nov 15th 2007 11:41AM "The failure of DeLorean was also attributed to the the depression in early 1980's. "
DeLorean failed because it was a mediocre car, not because of the economy. Bricklin, of the same era, crashed and burned for the same reason. Ego-maniacs get into the sports car business with regularity, and most then go out of business at some point. I'm surprised Carol Shelby hasn't jumped on the EV sports car bandwagon yet :).
Tesla's new $5,000 wait list for 2009 Roadster {Autoblog Green}
Nov 15th 2007 11:21AM Fools and their money are easily parted. Sometimes people with lots of money are still suckers.
UPS leases 42 all-electric Zap Xebras for deliveries in Petaluma, California {Autoblog Green}
Nov 15th 2007 11:16AM I wonder what price the "lease" was made at. I bet it was very low as Zap's MO is to get maximum PR out of anything. The Zap "truck" is little more than a three wheel golf cart without enough range or capacity to do any significant delivery work. I've seen UPS drivers as much on their hand-truck than you can fit in that little thing.
Will America lose the "electric car race" to China? {Autoblog Green}
Nov 15th 2007 10:46AM Zap represents a stunning new paradigm in automotive marketing: Over Promise, Under Deliver. Write breathless Press Releases where the Sizzle is Always Greater Than the Substance. Announce Game Changing financial deals between Zap and It's Insiders. Call a three wheeled vehicle a "Car" but skip all the safety tests by having it actually be categorized as a motorcycle. Promote the notion that your Chinese supplier is going to move from prototype to production in weeks or months on a vehicle Toyota, Honda and GM haven't figured out how to build yet ... all while using readily available components.
No new Honda Accord Hybrid, diesel will make its debut {Autoblog}
Oct 23rd 2007 6:05PM "Why the fuss over Honda?"
First because they are the only company saying they will build a 50-state US emissions compliant vehicle without the need to periodically fill up a Urea tank (which is Mercedes plan).
Secondly because people have learned to trust the mass-market cars from Honda for both reliability and customer support, both of which are areas where VW has had huge problems, especially in the US market.
VW hasn't offered a diesel powered new vehicle in California and other states which follow it's emissions requirements for years now.
Europe is a big market for diesels in part because their pollution standards are lower than those of the US.
Big Three market share steadily running toward empty {Autoblog}
Oct 23rd 2007 5:53PM The 1997 Taurus sales disaster was a consequence of a dismal redesign Ford released that year. Rather than fix the screw up they simply walked away from the table.
Can you imagine what would happen if Toyota did a Camry redesign and that new version tanked in sales? Sitting on their hands wouldn't happen.
