thegriffon

"Right" and "left" have no meaning in this context. Such behavior can be an product of leftist groups as much as the right, especially when it seeks to change the secular status quo. In it's anti-materialist, anti–laissez-faire aspects it is even inherently leftist in nature. The left is about revolution, not civil rights and liberalism. Historically and by it's very nature it is as much or more opposed to civil freedoms as the right. You must not wear fur, you must not own a car, you must not do this, you must not do that. In most countries the former "right" has evolved into the party of liberalism in response (in Australia we even have a "Liberal" party, which is promoting itself as the party of personal freedom—choice in subsidized health insurer, choice in subsidized schools, choice in pension plan, choice in unionization etc.). In the US, where both major parties evolved from technically "leftist" revolutionary politics, both have championed civil rights, liberalism and state rights, and members of both parties still do. As the inherent differences come down to arcane matters of constitutional interpretation (even on matters of federalism the parties have switched sides), both parties continue to court voters and candidates on all sides of the political spectrum. Party politics has become the politics of populism, not of ideology, of choosing policies purely in order to win, about personal beliefs and ideas, not party ideology. Choosing a party has become like choosing a team to barrack for—you do it because it's the team your family supports, or because you like the players, or the manager, or they've been winning recently, or you think they'll win in future, or because on this side of town you follow the Cubs and the Democrats instead of the White Sox and the Republicans—for candidates as much as voters. In some regions sitting members as well as aspiring candidates have even been known to change teams (especially if they can get a better contract or chance of promotion).

The money is specifically for high-mileage projects that significantly advance fuel economy over comparable vehicles. As such it represents a minimum budget US automakers and suppliers must spend on such projects, which will be provided by the government.

Look in the back with the seats folded and you can see how van-like it is. GM has some cool video of it too: World Premiere: Chevrolet Orlando Show Car Signals Entry into New Segment for the Brand

There is no other Daewoo, there is only the Orlando.

What, no video? All-New Chevrolet Cruze Debuts in Paris Chevrolet World Premieres in Paris 2008 World Premiere: All-New Chevrolet Cruze: Exciting Design Arrives in the Value Segment

Forget about the body, there is no reason a Lambda-based Escalade would look like anything except an evolution of the current truck. Supposedly all the lare SUVs would switch to a new light platform. Don't think of the rumored Escalade as a Cadillac Enclave, but as an evolution of the current model with a new platform. Take Ford's Explorer America concept. Looking at it you wouldn't think it was based on the same platform as the Flex or Taurus X. It's an evolution of the current design.

I don't think we'll see direct injection until the higher-output Saab versions appear, and for now the PFI 1.6 Turbo fills that power niche. Now that there are more versions of the 2.0 Turbo it will filter down, first to the 1.6 and then the 1.4, but GM has not announced a strict timetable, just that DI will become more widespread.

Flint, MI — General Motors Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner today announced that the company will invest $370 million in the U.S. to build a new manufacturing plant for its global 4-cylinder engines in Flint, Mich. The plant will begin production in the U.S. in 2010, and will be the exclusive manufacturing facility in North America to produce the Chevrolet Volt's range extending engine. The investment in Flint is one of several that have been announced at U.S. plants in the past 10 years, adding up to over a $9 billion total investment in Michigan and more than $42 billion in the United States. … Full releases, photos and video at AutoReport Family 0 comes to America. Surprised this didn't get posted days ago. Video has more views of the Cruze, 2nd release more engine details (Volt is NA 1.4, Cruze the same 1.4 Turbo as the Zafira).

This is why it depends on the EPA test standard. If the test is only 40 miles, then the Volt might get infinite miles per gallon. It it's 390 miles, then it will be much less. For a plug-in like the Volt the resulting estimated and actual mpg depends heavily on how far you are travelling, how long the APU is running, and whether you have the optional solar panels.

Half the world's population is genetically adapted to consume dairy products throughout their lives (the rest essentially can only drink breastmilk during their early childhood). The Humane society is just like PETA. Don't confuse it with the local groups that run shelters or the American Humane Association. Cows need milking even without hormones, but if you don't milk them they just stop producing milk. Lactation is a demand feedback system. The more you ask for, the more you get, as long as the food/fat reserve is available to produce it. It's great for losing weight.

It's not a downsizing. The Lambdas are just as big as the large trucks. The Traverse is over 5.2 m long. Only the Suburban, Yukon XL and ESV are bigger. A rebodied lambda could offer just as much room, and with more functionality and better mileage. As for the engine, there is no reason the Escalade's small-block V8 could not fit—GM knows how to package a fwd version.

The new Equinox is more of a Dodge Journey competitor. The Orlando is smaller and more van-like rather than an SUV. It's key competitors are the VW Touran, Corolla Verso, Mazda5, Kia Rondo/Carens, Renault Grand Scenic, Citroen Grand C4 Picasso, Nissan Grand Livina, and Opel Zafira (of which the Orlando is the NG Chevy version). Less direct competitors include larger 5-seat C-MPVs such as the Ford C-Max and Seat Altea XL; 7-seat compact LCVs such as the Renault Kangoo and VW Caddy Life; 7-seat wagons such as the Honda Stream and Peugeot 308 SW; and 7-seat compact crossovers such as the Nissan Qashqai+2 and lwb RAV4. With their cab-forward profile, high roof and lower ride height the vans tend to offer more space than wagons or crossovers of similar size—as much or more than larger 7-seat D-segment crossovers such as the Santa-Fe, Captiva, Outlander and Highlander. Being lighter and smaller however they don't need a V6 for good performance and can offer better fuel economy, at the sacrifice of off-road pretensions. Think of it as a compact version of the Uplander or Express rather than the Traverse. Opel and Chevy sell hundreds of thousands of Zafiras every year, and GM intends to take back some share from the Zafira's later rivals with a distinct Chevy model that may appeal to an audience with the same needs but a different sense of style.

Nope. The news was a confused pile of BS. If someone knows what GM currently plans to do with the Orlando in North America you haven't heard from them yet. We can say for sure the Orlando is the Global Compact Car-based MPV7 Chevrolet—i.e. a 7-seat C/D-segment minivan like the Zafira. While the Zafira remains a Euro-style monospace MPV like the smaller Meriva and the larger Vivaro and Movano, the Orlando is quite appropriately a more American-style minivan with a distinct 2-box profile like the Dodge Caravan, Chevy Uplander and Chevy Express. There is no alternative from Daewoo, there is no plan to call it something else in North America, and it is not a replacement for the HHR.

Generally fresh breast milk is free from infections, and as a bonus comes with built-in antibodies to anything the mother is exposed to. It is even recommended that mothers with HIV still breast feed rather than use formula. Certainly ice-cream made from human milk would be better for you, but still, this is a crazy idea and PETA knows it. It's all about hyperbole and shock value. Not that soylent green is not their ultimate aim (people are animals too you sick bastards!!). PETA should remember what will happen to all these dairy cows if no-one wants cow-milk anymore. How is that ethical? Real wild oxen are extinct (there are a few feral herds of some ancient domestic breeds), but the survival of cattle as a species is due entirely to domestication.

Errr, the cool thing about the Volt is it normally charges in off-peak times, when there is excess capacity. Peak loads when the grid fails are typically during the day when offices and plants add to the demand for power, especially when A/C loads are highest during summer afternoons. Utilities view plugins like the Volt as another way to sell more power without needing to add capacity or straining the grid.

Does not seem a credible report, unless GM thinks they need added capacity for the Cruze beyond what they can do at Lordstown. The only other small cars coming from Asia are the Aveo replacement and B-MPV. I do not think you would have seen GM releasing PR through Chevrolet USA if the Orlando is not coming to America, esp. with such an American (disneyworld) name. When did they ever announce the Chevrolet Epica through the US PR machine?

No. It's not a patent, its a register of designs. Most countries have them. In the US they're called design patents, but it's not like an invention. If you design a punch bowl or a bracelet or a handbag or a car or a toaster you can register the design. It's a bit like registering a copyright, which the intellectual property registers of some countries also do. The EU office is actually the OHIM—Office for Harmonization (of intellectual property registration) in the Internal Market, not the "patent and registry office", although they also handle patents. These kind of reports have dried up most sources for these designs. Manufacturers now typically only file designs after press photos have been released or with agencies that will only publish them after that date (Australia only publishes the images of registered designs, and just the text of applications). The smart thing to do would have been to commission an artist's impression based on the registered designs not mention the source. At most you say "based on sources from inside Suzuki". Telling a manufacturer who or where you got the design from is akin to publishing a news story saying "Antonio de Medici of the Strigacelli mob informed the Post that Don Carione ordered the hit himself." You won't be hearing from that source again.

It's as big as the Accord and longer than the 5-Series. Aside from the 300 and Charger, which can be had for several thousands of dollars less if you are willing to give up any performance, there are few longer cars that are more popular. Don't forget alos that dealers were charging a $3000 premium when it first went on sale.

A CTS is $15K cheaper than a comparable 5-series. That money buys a lot of extra refinement, expensive materials (more aluminum e.g.) to cut weight and more technology. GM can't compete long term without substantially increasing the CTS' price. It is slowly doing that, but exchange rate moves have forced BMW to do likewise. I doubt Alpha is cost-effective just with Cadillac's volume. They are a long way from matching the 3-series' sales levels. I agree that the Alpha should be a Pontiac rather than a Buick, but the Chinese market demands a Buick to match off against the rwd Toyota Reiz (Mark X/Cressida).

A recent federal commission of transport infrastructure and funding requirements recommended spending of $8billion a year for the next 44 years on intercity rail projects to relieve expected congestion on highways and in airports. However with expected requirements to boost highway expenditure just to maintain the current system, it would require a substantial increase in the gas tax just to keep the highway trust fund from running out of money, let alone fund other infrastructure projects. Notgonnahappen.

More than 25% of a recent $15billion federal infrastructure bill was set aside for rail transit projects like Metrolink. Zero $ were allocated for intercity rail projects like Japans bullet trains or France's TGVs, although a Michigan democrat was trying to add a few hundred million.

No, a sales tax on everything, imported or not, to boost social security and provide 100% coverage for the pension benefit guarantee fund, medicaid and 100% tax rebates for medical insurance. That would cut costs dramatically for US producers, but not importers, and can't be called protectionist.

It's the same in Australia, although taxes inflate the price. Motoring organisations (the equivalent of AAA) are perpetually screaming for the government to lock someone up about it, but nothing effective is ever done. Consider yourselves lucky the US has many more refiners supplying fuel and growing biofuel supplies or it would be even worse. Yet another reason to buy a Volt, just to — the bastards.

The other way round—the Cruze is base on the next Astra platform, it just gets released first because of product cadence—the Optra needs replacing before the Astra. Since production is still a year away this is just the beginning of the buzz, and it only starts now because the new Golf and Mégane are debuting in Paris.

Close. The Passat is the right price range but is smaller and probably lighter. The LaCrosse is a better match for the Maxima, Avalon, MKZ and surprisingly, the Accord, which is now costs thousands of dollars more than any other "family" sedan such as the Camry, Altima or Aura. Which is fair enough as its closer in size to the Avalon now anyway. This is because in a few key markets both the Accord and smaller Accord Euro are sold side by side as Hondas, and as the Accord Euro is now squarely aimed at the Passat in size, the standard Asian-American Accord/Inspire has to be so much bigger as well.