"Calif Bill" wrote in message
m...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 1 Aug 2008 21:57:26 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

I'll try again.

Automakers build what the consumer buys.

Eisboch

That's true up to a point but GM and Ford pigged out at the party.
They knew very well they were making much higher margins on their big
vehicles, and as a result, put way too little funding into R & D for
fuel efficiency. The handwriting has been on the wall for quite
awhile for anyone who cared to look, but GM and Ford had their head in
the sand. Is there any doubt that they could have produced high
quality efficient vehicles, similar to Toyota and Honda, if they had
put an effort into it?


And Toyota and Honda have also taken a bad road. Looking at new vehicle
for SWMBO. Liked the Acura MDX. People complaining about mileage. 12-18
mpg. Look at the new Tundra. Same size as an F150. 14 mpg highway.
Toyota Highlander Hybrid. $49k. Like the look and feel of the Saturn
GreenVue. 32 mpg highway, 20+ around town. $25k. My daughter bought a
new Sequoia last year. $48k, and probably gets the same crappy mileage as
the same size Ford Expedition. About 14 around town, and 16 highway.
Look at all the ads for the Japanese cars. Touting the performance.

In the year I bought my F150, there were more foreign parts in it than the
Tundra. Both assembled in the USA. I like my F150. More of them on the
road for cheaper parts when it gets older. But I get better gas mileage
than above, guess it depends how you drive it.

I don't subscribe to the Japanese myth any more. Sure, once they were
better but had a imported Nissan Pathfinder changed my mind.