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One of my favorite posters (grbeck) on Blue Oval Forums said that nothing has hurt Ford more than the head gasket failure of the 3.8L V6. Hundreds of thousands gave up on Ford for good and switched to the Japanese thanks to all of the Taurus, Sables, Windstars, Continentals, Mustangs, Thunderbirds, and Cougars with that engine.I just don't see how Ford can be around 5 years from now if things continue like this.

Ford will still have a big FWD car available, and I am sure it will be thoroughly restyled around 2010. But there's just not much of a market for FWD cars bigger than the Camry and the Epsilons.

The base Camaro needs to be affordable, and that includes inexpensive insurance, so I don't think it would be wise for the base V6 Camaro to have over 225 hp. I have no problem with the base model having the 3.5 or 3.9 with around 225 hp, a mid level with a 275 hp 3.6, and a 400 hp 6.0L V8. Besides, the odds of higher CAFE standards increase by the day.

From what I see, the G8 will be, until the Zeta Impala debuts (I hope), the most impressive sedan sold by an American brand. Too bad I don't need a new car for another 7 or 8 years.

Hope for the best, expect the worst, and you'll never be disappointed. It's better to keep your mouth closed and have people think you're a fool than to open it and prove them right.

But GM has no large FWD platform planned to replace either the G or W bodies.

McCain may move to the center on social, economic, and environmental issues, but he will be far to the right on Iraq, dooming his candidacy. I think an argument could be made that John Edwards is the strongest Democratic candidate. Labor, minorities, and environmentalists could easily support him. However, I could never vote for someone who became very wealthy as a trial attorney.

I am curious what retail sales of the DTS are compared to retail sales of the CTS and STS.

McCain's support for the Iraq war, perhaps as strong or stronger than Bush's, has diminished his chances. Giuliani's views on social issues will not sit well with the base. I don't know how Romney's Mormonism will play down in the South. I would support Chuck Hagel if he runs.

An African American friend of mine told me that the country isn't ready to elect a black or a woman in our lifetime. However, I respond to him that I believe that the heavily populated, more progressive states on the east and west coasts and the Great Lakes would vote for either Obama or Hillary. Pundits on the Chris Matthews show this morning said to look for Al Gore to enter the race if Hillary's candidacy starts to fall apart.

The Commander just stole sales from the Grand Cherokee. Anyway, dealers selling Jeeps also have the Chrysler Aspen available for those wanting seats for 7, so I don't think Jeep needs a larger SUV.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2007/01/15/g8-...e-like-styling/

Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, pizza, chocolate cake, brownies, potato chips with spinach dip.

Absolutely. Foreign corporations pay U.S. income taxes on their U.S. income, but do not pay U.S. income taxes on their foreign income. However, there are a lot of controversies between these corporations and the U.S. government on transfer pricing and other international tax issues.U.S. corporations are taxed on their worldwide income, but usually get a foreign tax credit for taxes paid to foreign countries on foreign income.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/Read the entry for January 11, 2007 for one possible scenario.

Auto Snow: Not So Fast, Comrade Kuttner! The shift lever falls readily to hand for one R. Kuttner, who road tests the Pontiac G6. He doesn't like the door-lock releases. Or the steering. Kuttner concludes the problem wiith GM isn't its workers--or unions--it's GM's incompetent designers and executives: You might blame GM's woes on poor American workmanship or the cost of American labor. But Japanese total labor costs are comparable, even with Detroit's higher health insurance costs. Increasingly, Japanese cars are being assembled in the USA, and the quality holds up just fine. So what's wrong with GM? The cars. GM is famous for being run by bean counters and ad men. Toyota is run by engineers.' This is a common viewpoint, I've found, among my Democratic friends--Jon Alter, this means you!--who would never actually buy a Detroit product but who want to believe the UAW can't be blamed. The argument seems to be roughtly this: a) American cars are now reliable enough, having closed the gap with the Japanese brands, so b) the workers are doing their job; therefore c) if Detroit cars like the G6 are still obviously inferior--tacky and cheap, with mediocre handling--it must be because they're designed badly by white collar professionals, not because they're built badly by blue collar union members. The trouble with this comforting liberal argument is labor costs. When Kuttner says "Japanese total labor costs are comparable, even with Detroit's higher health insurance costs," he is--as is so often the case--talking through his hat. Look at this chart. GM pays $31.35 an hour. Toyota pays $27 an hour. Not such a big difference. But--thanks in part to union work rules that prevent the thousands of little changes that boost productivity--it takes GM, on average, 34.3 hours to build a car, while it takes Toyota only 27.9 hours. ** Multiply those two numbers together and it comes out that GM spends 43% more on labor per car. And that's before health care costs (where GM has a $1,300/vehicle disadvantage). If you're GM or Ford, how do you make up for a 43% disadvantage? Well, you concentrate on vehicle types where you don't have competition from Toyota--e.g. big SUVs in the 1980s and 1990s. Or you build cars that strike an iconic, patriotic chord--like pickup trucks, or the Mustang and Camaro. Or--and this is the most common technique--you skimp on the quality and expense of materials. Indeed, you have special teams that go over a design to "sweat" out the cost. Unfortunately, these cost-cutting measures (needed to make up for the UAW disadvantage) are all too apparent to buyers. Cost-cutting can even affect handling--does GM spend the extra money for this or that steel support to stabilize the steering, etc. As Robert Cumberford of Automobile magazine has noted, Detroit designers design great cars--but those aren't what gets built, after the cost-cutters are through with them. Look at the big Ford Five Hundred--a beautiful car on the outside, based on the equally attractive Volvo S80. But thanks to Ford's cost-cutters it debuted with a tinny, depressing interior that would lose a comparison with a subcompact Toyota Scion. Ford wants $30,000 for the Five Hundred. Forget it! Is it really an accident that all the UAW-organized auto companies are in deep trouble while all the non-union Japanese "transplants" building cars in America are doing fine? Detroit's designs are inferior for a reason, even when they're well built. And that reason probably as more to do with the impediments to productivity imposed by the UAW--or, rather, by legalistic, Wagner-Act unionism--than with slick and unhip Detroit corporate "culture." P.S.: If Detroit can only be competititive when the UAW makes grudging concessions, isn't it likely the UAW will only concede enough to make GM and Ford survive, but never enough to let them actually beat the Japanese manufactures? I try to make this point here. Update: But UAW President Ron Gettelfinger is right about Ford's botch of the Taurus. ... **--Non-union Toyota's productivity, in terms of hours per car, has actually been growing faster than GM's, according to the Harbour report cited by NPR. So--thanks in part to Toyota's lack of work-rule bottlenecks?--GM is not catching up. It's falling further behind. 1:57 P.M. link http://www.slate.com/id/2157272/kuttnerG6

Cancelled. http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...c=13596&hl=

The car magazines will hate this just the way they hate the Impala SS.

Ford needs to get the Interceptor into production by the 2010 model year and use D3 strictly for crossovers. Sales of the Five Hundred will not increase, and I will be surprised if the MKS succeeds.

My main complaint with the Five Hundred I drove was the noise, and hopefully the problem was solved with this one. I never had a problem with the styling of the Five Hundred, and this one is OK. But I prefer V8 and RWD so this wouldn't interest me.

No, we'll keep saying OHV, OHC, and DOHC, just as used in the automotive press for the last 50 years or more.

Yes, it is being phased out in favor of the HF V6 family on the high end and the 2.4L Ecotec on the low end.

It was the right decision to make. The market for medium priced brands has contracted over the last 20 years. Better to invest the funds in Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Saturn.

I wish they'd offer a free Hemi on a base level 300 for those who like V8 power and refinement without the luxury and gadgets.

Casino Royale is the best James Bond movie since On Her Majesty's Secrety Service. It is a return to world of Ian Fleming as shown in the 1960's films with Sean Connery and George Lazenby. The script is excellent, and Daniel Craig can really act. I would be curious to see Borat, and I think that The Good German looks interesting as well, as it appears to be in the style of the 1940's film noir.