Petra

An Octogenarian collision, I assume? I mean, c'mon, it's a ten year old Chevy and a Buick... what am I to think?

That comment was intended to be a reference to this character, who has a penchant for declaring things to be the "Worst (insert topic at hand here) ever": I'm sorry if you didn't pick up that reference. I'll make an effort to never make another popculture reference ever again.

Quality of the interior, or Ugliness? There is a difference.

I actually like it better than the xB (though that is damming with faint praise). At least it doesn't look so boxy; it actually has some curves! And, even though the 2tB will be our next xB, I'm better that some of the same materials (mostly in the interior) will trickle down to the xB from this JDM bB.

Ditto. Worst interior ever. I was also bemused by this little tidbit: In a GM vehicle, this would be an automatic "F". You'd never hear the end of how the rear seat is impossible to get into, and how you can't see out of it, and how it is so very difficult to park.

Who wants a Prius coupe?

The ball is in your court, GM. It's your job to market this "award" to death.

I know it's an oft-beaten dead horse, but the only reason GM & Ford pay their workers so much is because the UAW strong-armed them into doing so. There are people at GM plants doing tedious, mindless jobs like sweeping the floor. They earn $25/hour doing a job that is worth $15/hour, at the very most. To say nothing of all the workers GM employs who do nothing but sit at home, yet still get paid as much as they would for actually working. Well, no ****, Ford is gonna close their plant! Besides the fact that the Taurus is dead, Ford simply can't afford to pay the workers those outrageous wages. The days of UAW members getting a free ride are coming to an end. The UAW votes to get themselves more pay than they EVER deserve (or else they'll strike), drive up their cost of living to match their ill-gotten gains, and then play their "poor pitiful me" sob stories when the company they're raping goes bust. Well, don't come crying to me. I'm not listening.

Canada isn't really that different from the 'States, but most Canadians like to think that Canada is. Makes them feel special, or something. I, for one, don't understand it. One thing I do wish we had here: White Castle! That stuff is addictive!

Just remember: You get what you pay for.

The poll is flawed. It asks both wether GM has class-leading products and competitive products. We need to make a dichotomy here.

I never said anything about what I want. From what I've observed, however, the general public does not want subcompacts and are finished with trucks. Point taken. Seeing as how we don't know anything about the next Highlander, I'm not going to make predictions. Once again, however, I will say that the short-term gain in RAV4 sales will not add up to much of a net gain once lost Highlander sales are factored in. By the time the Highlander is redesigned, RAV4 sales will have naturally peaked, anyway. I just don't see the RAV4 being a contender. Toyota's SUVs, even the truly world-class, world-famous ones like the 4Runner and Land Cruiser, have never been big winners in the sales department. That is my opinion, and it's worth exactly what you paid for it. 192 horsepower isn't V6 power? Seems to me that it wasn't so long ago V6 engines struggled to surpass 200 horses. Family sedans with V6s in the 240 horsepower range are a very recent phenomenon. Furthermore, I can't think of any 4-cylinder motors with 190+ horses that aren't forced-induction or very high-strung (e.g: Acura RSX). I don't think Toyota will be able to produce enough Hybrid Camrys, but, much like the Prius, I think that will have more to do with limited supply. And I still think most of the people who buy the Hybrid Camry will be traditional Camry buyers, therefore negating sales gains to a signifigant degree. Once again, my opinion, worth what you paid for it. I just don't see the FJ having much staying power. It may burn bright for a few months, but it will quickly be forgotten. As for "The 300 effect", I will admit that it is possible, but I see a dire lack of any other products in the Toyota showroom that would be attractive to the FJ's demographic. I'm sure every 30 year-old male who walks into the Toyota showroom looking for an FJ will be totally stunned by the Avalon sitting across the floor. Doubling or tripling sales is not the Toyota way. They take it slow and steady. Will the new Tundra pick up 50,000 to 100,000 more sales? That's absolutely plausible. But 300,000 sales? Not bloody likely. Also, remember what I said about the RAV4: Toyota trucks, even the ones that are/were serious contenders, have never been much of a sales success. I don't see that trend ceasing anytime soon.

Whatever Kerkorian's plans are, he's keeping them well hidden. I can't blame him.

[quote]Of course I could be overestimating Toyota's potential. All these new Toyotas, or some of them, might arrive with a thud.[/quote] You can say that again, Flintlock. Let us, indeed, look at the lineup coming over the next 12 months: [quote]• A new RAV4. That's the original little SUV; but this one, due soon, grows long enough for a third seat row and heavy enough to warrant an optional V-6 at 269hp as an alternative to the 166hp four-cylinder engine. Toyota sells 70,000 of the old RAV4s a year. I figure Toyota will double that number with these new vehicles. This will squeeze Honda's CR-V and Ford's Escape, maybe even the Jeep Liberty.[/quote] I seriously doubt Toyota will sell 140,000 RAV4's a year. Unless they advertise the heck out of it, I just don't see drawing in that many buyers. It seems to me that the compact SUV market has peaked, in no small part because everything that made the "Cute Utes" a success in the first place (cute styling, compact size, frugal, 4-cylinder power) has all but dissapeared. I'd say 100,000 a year in the first year is far more plausible. Also, don't forget that the RAV4 is now cannibalizing Highlander sales, so, while sales of the RAV4 will rise, sales of the Highlander will tank. [quote]• The Yaris. This is a small, high-mileage car, sold in Europe and Japan now. There will be a two-door hatchback only 150 inches long. That is shorter than it sounds--only 6 inches longer than the BMW Mini. Toyota will also have a four-door sedan of more normal length, at 14 feet. Small cars have not done well in America. Toyota's last, the Echo, was no success. But the Big Three of Japan--Toyota, Nissan and Honda--are tossing these small cars into the market next year. The Yaris will come out first in the spring. Maybe the gasoline price shock of 2005 will spur their sales. Figure 70,000 full-year sales for this new Toyota, conservatively.[/quote] 70,000+ Yaris' a year? Not in the States. The ECHO proved that Americans just don't want subcompact cars right now. The Boomers don't want a tiny tinbox of a car, they want something to show off their wealth. Gen. Xers (that is, people in their late 20's to late 30's right now) want a car that will be practical for their families, yet will also show their rising social & economic status. Lastly, my demographic, Gen. Y, simply cannot afford to buy a new car, or, if they can, would not buy a lame subcompact like the Yaris, and would instead choose a SCION. Really, about the only people I can see the Yaris selling to are seniors who don't have much money to spend and are tight as ticks with it, or people of various ages who are simply frugal. And I don't think Toyota is going to find 70,000 of them. While I don't think the Yaris will be as big a flop as the ECHO was, it will still be a sales flop. Trust me on this one. [quote]• A new Camry, out this spring. The Camry, built in Kentucky, is America's bestselling car, at 400,000 or so units this year. But the car testers at Motor Trend and Car and Driver rate it behind Honda's Accord, Ford's new Fusion and even Hyundai's Sonata. I expect big improvements next year, including a six-cylinder engine delivering extra horsepower, to help Toyota hold to its number one spot.[/quote] The Camry has been Toyota's ace in the hole for the last decade or so, but they've reached a point where they simply can't sell any more of them. 400,000 seems to be the breaking point. In fact, the only way I could see the Camry gaining any sales would be because of the... [quote]• A Camry hybrid. Coming next fall, the bestselling car gets a hybrid version with a four-cylinder gasoline engine plus the electric motor. Mileage could top 40 per gallon. Maybe 40,000 added sales.[/quote] ...even then, I expect that a good chunk of Camry Hybrid buyers will be people who would have bought a V6 Camry otherwise, but are sold on the idea of V6 power and i4 frugality. I don't see the Accord Hybrid increasing Accord sales by leaps and bounds. It's because most of the people who are buying them are traditional Accord buyers who are saving up a few thousand more for the Hybrid version. [quote]• The FJ. A new SUV with a military Hummer-like look but normal size and normal price, probably in the $25,000-and-under territory. Likely to be very popular, maybe 50,000 full-year sales. Comes in the spring.[/quote] Like reg said, initial sales could be high, but I don't see this thing sticking around for long, at least on the sales charts. They will be sticking around, unwanted, on dealer lots for ages. Once the initial rush wears off, you'll never hear from the FJ again, and Toyota will probably just quietly kill it. The downside? Pretty much all sales of the FJ will be added volume, as it won't steal sales away from any other model (maybe the 4Runner), and it's pretty much a unique vehicle, style-wise. [quote]• A new Tundra pickup, and a new plant, too, next fall. I figure this will add 150,000 sales here in 2007.[/quote] I really don't know what to think about this one. Toyota has been very adamant about how well this vehicle will do... Look at how many times they've announced that they will increase production at the factory, even though it hasn't opened yet. Then again, Nissan was adamant about how well the Titan was supposed to do, and we all know how that turned out. Also, the timing is totally off, with gasoline prices soaring (though I fear this will haunt the GMT-900's, too). In the end, I think it is very unlikely that Toyota will sell 250,000 Tundras a year as Flint predicts. I think they might experience a slight sales bump, say, 150,000/year, but that will be it, and sales will fall back down to current levels (100K/year, give or take) before long. Maybe I just really want to see Toyota shoot themselves in the foot here, but it seems more plausible than the Tundra becoming a huge hit, IMO. So, all things considered, I'll predict that 2006 will be yet another year of Toyota sales moving forward (pun intended) at a slow, death march pace, while GM sales continue to slide backward, also at a slow, death march pace. Inevitably, Toyota will catch and surpass GM. However, unless GM sales take a huge dive bomb, I don't think it will happen in '06. Give it a few more years yet.

Sorry. By "Set", I thought you were referring to the cast.

Wow! I feel your pain, Fly.

At long last, here's a picture of my first car, a 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis. I've had it for about 9 months now, I'm just really lazy when it comes to developing my pictures.

Stupid, senile Canadian tire employees who insist that a set of windshield wipers will fit your car, but they don't, and you have to return them for another pair, and the Canadian Tire you bought them from is a 45 min. drive away, and you tore up the receipt. That's my rant for today.

More like the Gorilla Unit, actually (political correctness be damned; sometimes, you've got to tell it like it is).

No offense, but, yeah, Brantford blows. My cousin lives there (he literally lives on the wrong side of the tracks), and I can attest that the city is a dive, at least in the downtown area, where these crumbling buildings line a confusing path of one-way streets. Urban sprawl has certainly been a factor in Brantford: Businesses have moved away from the downtown and out into the countryside, and, with them, hundreds of clone-houses have popped up as well. It's the kind of place that looks good when you first see it, but it's falling apart on the inside. Eventually, Brantford will probably just be a satellite city for Hamilton and Kitchener/Waterloo. J's Place is pretty nice, though... my cousin has played there a few times. As for Toronto? I don't go there much, but, when I do, it doesn't seem like it has a lot of Urban Sprawl, in the sense that subdivisions of clone-houses have been spreading out like a cancer. Rather, it seems to me like the whole Golden Horseshoe is just one vast city. You can't tell when Hamilton ends and Brampton begins. The same is true for Detroit: Where and when does Pontiac end, and Detroit begin? Of course, you can't see the whole picture from the major freeways that I always take, but I think the point remains valid. Toronto and Detroit do sprawl, but in a different way than you might think.

Maybe it's just because I've been reading a lot of Mystery novels for English class, but something tells me that there is a, deep, intricate plot afoot here.

Awesome idea, providing this would be a seperate platform from The Platform Formerly Known as Zeta. That way, it wouldn't encroach upon the G8's territory. Chances of it happening, though? Sadly, pretty much nil.

Perhaps the next-generation of the TrailBlazer/Envoy/etc. family with come with a third row seat option. To me, that makes far more sense than spending the time and money to develop an extened-length version that overlaps with your flagship SUV models. Besides, sales of these SUVs are only going one direction: Straight down. GM is wise to scale back production now, before they have a 150-day supply of unwanted trucks on the factory lot, and the workers don't have any work so they have to be paid for sitting at home.

I second the motion. New cars are for suckers, especially when they're leased. Sure, if you buy used, you might not be able to get exactly what you want, but you will save thousands of dollars and lots of trouble. Here's a list of used (most of them are hardly used at all!) G6s in your area: http://www.trader.ca/search/Results.asp?BF...category=&CAT=1

To which my response is: 1: Who says it has to look different from any other present GM model? Using again the example of the W-Body, much of the car could be based on now defunct W-Body models, like the Regal or Intrigue. This ensures high quality and low cost, because it's the same parts that have been used for years and the same people fitting the parts who have been for decades. And, if the parts were mixed and matched sufficently, you'd end up with a totally different car, neither a Regal nor an Intrigue. 2: I don't think that is really a big deal. Many rental companies, like Enterprise, put a sticker or some other identifyer on their cars, so it isn't really too difficult to tell that a car is a rental, anyway. And even if you can't tell that their car is a rental, you should be able to tell when a person is from out-of-town. If you are bound and determined to rip off some poor stranger, then you probably will, regardless of what car they drive. However, I place a little more faith in the general decency of mankind than to suggest that this is a constant occurance. If it was, every truck stop in the nation would be facing lawsuits right now. Another thought occured to me: These fleet-only cars could be a great way for GM to achieve economies of scale. GM could afford to put things like higher-durability shocks or QuietSteel or NVH-improving foam in more models, because putting them in the fleet models would lower costs enough that they might be affordable across the lineup. This would also make a great impression on rental car borrowers who might never have considered a GM otherwise. This would be expensive at first, but the rewards reaped down the road would be great.