Recent Comments:
Ford surprises with $100 million net income in Q1 {Autoblog}
Apr 24th 2008 1:41PM As a shareholder, I received the proxy voting packet from Ford this week. On the inside cover of the financial info book was a photo containing the US Fusion and the US Focus along with the new Fiesta *hatchback*.
I hope that means we're getting it here!
Geneva 2008: production Ford Kuga {Autoblog}
Mar 10th 2008 10:29AM Has there been some sort of official stance saying that this is definitely not coming to the US?
I ask because those headlights look DOT-compliant. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the orange/amber reflectors in the headlights are only required in the US - and are not very common in Europe. I was under the impression that European designs usually went for an amber bulb and a color-less reflector
Spy Photos: 2009 Ford Verve - Slightly obscured but camo free! {Autoblog}
Sep 13th 2007 11:14AM Ford will actually have the most exciting car in the segment in the USA - how often do you hear that?
In 2000, the Focus was undeniably the most exciting and the best small car in the US market. That is, it was until the recall issues started to pile up and it became obvious that Ford's attempt to "value-engineer" the Focus to meet the cheap-skate American price demands (the Focus was a very good car in Europe the whole time) were a disaster.
How many people were loudly complaining about Ford saving all the good cars for Europe until they got a taste of the Focus?
Cheap green bus rides: Megabus, LA to Vegas for $1 {Autoblog Green}
Aug 15th 2007 11:40AM Todd,
I've never heard any complaints about the Chicago-based MegaBus service.
But...
We all know LA is different. Kaiser Permanente is sure to recognize the cost savings of a MegaBus ride to Vegas over a taxi to Skid Row, so my guess is that you'll be sitting next to plenty of soon-to-be homeless people.
Euro vs. Dollar: More factories may be U.S.-bound {Autoblog}
Jul 23rd 2007 10:20AM Now you understand why Japan is the largest currency manipulator in the world. Congress makes a big stink about China, but Japan gets a free pass. The Bank of Japan makes sure the Yen sinks right along side of the Dollar. Here in America, the concept of putting a portion of your paycheck in the bank is unheard of. In fact, a falling dollar is great if you're up to your ears in [fixed-rate] debt. But over in Japan, where the average Joe is a prodigious saver and debt is bad, the falling value of the Yen is horrendously bad. I'm very surprised that Japanese folks are not protesting.
As it stands, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi are getting squeezed while Lexus and Infiniti are able to "enjoy" a bit of parity with the dollar.
Maserati GranTurismo Coupe pics surface {Autoblog}
Feb 20th 2007 2:33PM I am not a fan of the Quattroporte design, but this tweaks the design language perfectly. I like this car quite a bit.
Toyota wins most recent round in hybrid patent case {Autoblog}
Feb 15th 2007 2:15PM I'm not a lawyer, but I know a patent lawyer that defends companies against patent lawsuits.
Over some drinks recently, she let slip that on one of her cases, a major discovery happened - their side discovered that some of the patents in a case she was defending were already licensed. And up until then (over a year into the lawsuit, neither side knew it).
Apparently, especially in the cases of patents that change hands a lot, it's easy to lose track of who has licensed a patent.
Maybe Ford paid $10k a few years ago to license a few thousand patents Company A had in their portfolio. Maybe 1 or 2 of the patents in the portfolio worried Ford, so they just licensed them all without looking at the rest (it happens, or so I'm told). Company A then goes out of business and the patents are sold off to Company B and Company C, who cherry pick the good ones and sell the rest off to Company D, E, and F. Fast forward a couple years and perhaps Company X now has the patent and it has finally become relevant to the real world. Ford still has a valid license, and they might not even know it. Toyota, having developed their hybrid system in Japan, might have totally missed this patent.
Maybe Ford got lucky, or maybe Ford's system is just different enough
Germany's open speed limits upheld {Autoblog}
Feb 6th 2007 10:23PM My experience on the autobahn is that the average speed is not that much different than the average speed on the interstates in the US. Maybe Ms. Merkel is wondering why the greenies are all up in arms about nothing.
Future speculation on the Audi A1 {Autoblog}
Jan 24th 2007 1:06PM Looking at the size of the license plate in relation to the rest of the vehicle, I guess the future A1 will be larger than a Q7 and have 26" wheels.
What moronic publication thought this could be what the A1 looked like?
Your armrest is sooo 20th century {Autoblog}
Jan 10th 2007 10:17PM The center console in the photo doesn't look like it would be very comfortable to actually rest my arm on.
Do people actually think about this? I can still feel the lumbar adjustment piece on the 2000 Honda Accord I had to drive around in for a while. It dug into my elbow anything I wanted to actually relax my arm. Or the Subaru Legacy wagon I get as a rental constantly. The armrest on the door doesn't actually fit an arm on it.
