thegriffon

Umm, you do have a national passenger rail network. It just doesn't get the funding highway construction (which is 100–1000 times more expensive per passenger mile) does. In fact efforts are underway to return to centralized price fixing for freight rail, even though it bankrupted nearly every railroad in the US before it was lifted in 1975.

?? Forster is a manufacturing guy from BMW. The demise of the muscle car has nothing to do with him and everything to do with congress, rising fuel prices, and changing consumer buying habits. Large sedans such as the Impala are dying out. Look at the sales charts—it's all downhill. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean everyone else buying cars is going to stop downsizing. GM has to adapt like everyone else. A more extensive lineup of small cars as offered by GM Europe is just what they need. As long as you can afford to fork out for the fuel-saving technology and fuel bills you can still buy a V6 or V8 performance car (hey European Epsilon sedans have higher-output V6s than US models), there just won't be anything "affordable".

The new estimates for older cars are real "estimates" of the new estimate (which is actual performance under the new test, which itself estimates driving behaviour in certain conditions), they haven't actually been tested under the new system (which still makes certain assumptions which vary from vehicle to vehicle and may not be equally reliable).

Mexi (australian school french)

FHI Introduces All-New Subaru Forester Tokyo — Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. (FHI), the maker of Subaru automobiles, today announced the debut of its new generation of Subaru Forester in Japan. The new Forester went on sale nationwide through Subaru dealerships today. The third-generation Forester is a new-generation crossover SUV from Subaru, a car that meets the demands and needs of everyday driving. It has been designed around the concept of Best Package for Active Life, which blends high levels of comfort, performance, versatility, and safety to create the best and most versatile vehicle for drivers and their families to enjoy an active lifestyle. Go to full release and photo gallery at AutoReport FYI, it's now bigger than the Escape, and a shade smaller than an X3. North American version with 2.5 L engine debuts at the NAIAS (previous release).

This is just the standard Toyota 5-year upgrade on the old platform. The big change was introducing the wide-body version underpinning the 1st-gen Vibe and Matrix. The Corolla sells too well for Toyota to realize there's a problem with this when the competition makes a more significant upgrade. In Europe the Corolla was still under-performing and so the Japanese models (Corolla Spacio and Runx) were replaced by the Corolla Verso and Auris on the wide-body platform. Toyota has better compact sedans—the JDM Premio and Allion, which use a longer wheelbase like the Civic and Astra sedans.

That's what significant others are for. Why else would you put up with them?

By all means let's ditch he alphabet soup. From now on let Cadillacs go back to the classic model designations: Series 60, Series 62, Series 75 etc.

That's OK. Navistar should seek a merger with Isuzu anyway (and Iveco while they're at it).

Looks like Mitsubushi's Pajero iO

AT1=compact 1 series rival (not in production plans) BT3=BLS successor, lower midsize, 3-series rival CT5=CTS successor, 5-series rival CT6=CTS coupe, 6-series Rival DT7=STS/DTS successor, 7-series rival Not filed, but the logical progression would be: ET8=E for Eldorado, larger coupe (8-series, CL-, Continental GT rival) FT9=F for Fleetwood, Bentley Continental Flying Spur rival The BTX, CTX, DTX are less obvious. As Edmunds says could be either awd versions or compact, medium and large crossovers (probably not the CTS wagon though). If you look up Cadillac CTX or DTX on Google, you will find references to what are actually the CTS and DTS. You are not supposed to remember the model name though, rather that it is a Cadillac. Model names are introduced when a brand begins to lose its lustre, its aspirational value. It is no longer enough for consumers to want a Buick, instead a Century or Super must be introduced to attract interest. GM is trying to reverse this with Cadillac by ditching the names (which long ago lost their attraction for most buyers) and focusing on the overall brand. They want people to say "the new Cadillac is superb".

The classic car community needs to be active in locating unmodified classic cars in good condition and having them designation as "protected" (just like buildings) or too many of them will end up in the crusher to be recycled. Be pro-active and do it now before demands come to get rid of old gas guzzlers. The provision that they be only driven limited miles like the oldest classics should appease "green" lobbyists.

What choice do they have FOG? "Embracing" CAFE is all about PR—no-one wants to be enabled the evil corporate opposition to good fuel economy. There is also an element of "Will you please come to an agreement so we can decide how many people to fire (the UAW should have laid seige to congress over the summer—2013 will be black Friday every day), plants to close and models to cut. They won't take your old cars FOG, although they should have made it increasingly more expensive to register them for daily use, and offered substantial rebates to trade them for modern, fuel-efficient models. Like increasing gas taxes, I think the anti-car opponents are too scared to bring a wider range of older cars under the limited annual-mileage "classic" category. Get in early and organize a national heritage register for specific vehicles in good condition to ensure they are saved from the crusher.

:rotflmao: The auto companies caved now because a) it was a losing battle; and b) it would only get worse (much worse) after the election (do I hear 50 mpg, I have 50 mpg, do I hear any advance on 50 mpg? …) The main problem for auto companies is not technical, it is the economics of supply and demand, which is why CAFE has never worked in the past and never will in future. If cars are priced similarly consumers treat more efficient vehicles as an excuse to buy more powerful vehicles with the same economy. If increased fuel economy costs more money, they'll buy a used car that doesn't have better fuel economy. These higher regulations will add a lot of cost (at least $5K in the near future, probably $10K by 2020). Added cost will drive down sales, and result in an older fleet of less efficient, more polluting vehicles. Unless sufficient financial incentives are given to consumers, particularly in the form of tax rebates, they will not buy the more efficient vehicles congress thinks they want. They simply won't be able to afford to. It won't just kill big trucks and large cars, it could kill mainstream cars sales as you know it. Choices will be limited to A-, B- and C-segment cars in the affordable brands, and only luxury models for anything larger than a 1.6 L compact. No Accord, no Camry, no Malibu, no Chrysler or Buick under $35-40K. The top 5 best-selling cars lines wil be the Aveo, Fit, Yaris, 3-series and Fiesta. The top 10 won't include anything larger than the Astra (which will cost as much as a Malibu [or more]). Higher fuel consumption, clapped out 10-15 yo cars will be nearly 70% of car purchases in 2020.

I'm surprised the insurance industry doesn't complain and have the ads withdrawn and Toyota issue an apology and retraction "We do not condone the use of insurance fraud to finance the purchase of new Toyotas"

My host is currently doing a deal, $2.95 a month. Of course I get a juicy commission if you follow the ad link on my site.

The uglified the Navigator pretty well in the last update.

The auto was the Aisin AF23, the default transmission for non-Toyota users prior to the new 6-speed autos.

The CVT had some manufacturing problems early on, but the biggest problem was consumer acceptance. It unnerved people too much when it didn't shift when they expected it to.

Is that Demi Moore?

Perhaps Northie could clarify, but I understood he simply said the MT article was BS, not exactly a denial that Pontiac would not get one.

http://www.tudou.com/home/gm_china Curiously most seem to be American videos—ad complilations etc.

That explains why the TB still tops the sales charts for midsize SUVs and crossovers in many months, and could still unseat the Explorer this year if it has a good December. As for the HHR, I think it is cool, but needed more money spent on it. It has neither the cargo-hauling utility of longer-wheelbase European LCVs such as the Combo, New Kangoo and Doblo, nor the awd option and minimal off-road ability of traditional compact utilities—which would I think push sales much higher. I believe the latter will be addressed in the HHR replacement, which doesn't look like being an HHR. If they hae any sense they should turn the HHR into a proper high-roof European-style LCV to better serve the market for HHR Panels.

"I told you Toyotas have great fuel economy. … Well, yeah, but we had sludge problems before too."