So the Wards Auto Online had an interesting article about componenet supply chains... Pointing out that some stimulous money to help create domestic capacitor manufacturing capacity is good for the nation, the industry and ultimately our citizenry. This flies counter to the free markets that don't consider national security or jobs or pretty much anything other than cost of production into price points. Anyway, I thought it was an interesting example of how market forces, price points and our long term interests some times don't get allong that well. Full story here.... Matt
If we don’t, we might as well just turn over the keys to U.S. auto industry to the Japanese, Chinese and European auto makers the next time U.S. fuel starts heading past $4 per gallon. Haven't we mostly done that already? We do have the new Fiesta coming online, but other than that are there currently any domestic made high mileage cars? The Fusion hybrid and Cruz will be here next year, I know - but that's it right? Wonder how many of those will be sold compared to Honda Insight, Nissan Leafs and the biggy - Toyota Prius? All the other small 4 cyl higher fuel mileage cars are already coming from Japan, China, Korea and Europe right?
There are a lot of facets here... big car vs small car, but also how do we protect our economy/manufacturing base/domestic jobs etc when all we do is price on production costs? How do we protect non-economic national interests? When I read the "but haven't we done this already?" comment, I keep hearing the Monty Python phrase "But I'm not dead yet..." in my head... Matt
The American auto industry needs to pull their heads out of that dark place and start making cars people want... After the bailout and all the issues that were brought up in regards to it, and they are still pumping out the same crap they were prior to the collapse. Chevy was all about the Volt and then -- NOTHING. Why they can't get it together is beyond me. :frown2:
Well most buyers want large vehicles with big engines, basing their purchase decision on the monthly payment they can offord today as well as the current price of gas. When gas prices go up a lot quickly, they run away from the old buying habits like cockroaches when the light goes on in the kitchen. If there are no fuel efficient cars from the brand, the brand looses market share real fast. You can make the argument that GM got in the trouble they were in pre gas crunch because they gave the buyer what they wanted! Matt
I think Ford has bet the house on the fact that gas is going to go up, and they will be pretty well placed product wise if it takes a leap, they also have embraced the idea of smaller engines with forced induction pretty solidly, much like Chrysler did in the early 80's.....
I sure hope Fords forced induction small displacement engines are better than that carp Chrysler had in the 80's.
Agreed about Ford, they are positioning themselves well and planning much more strategically than the others.
My point was that Chrysler actually had a lot of success with their turbo engines, they put them in everything from the smallest little Sundance to the largest Caravan - and they introduced water cooled turbos to the mass market. Unfortunately the electronics of the time weren't quite up to where they needed to be, but like Matt says - things are much better now. I like that Ford has taken this direction and I hope it continues. It's interesting that at the same time as Ford is introducing it's turbo 4 and 6 cyl engines, it brings back the 5.0 in the Mustang too. Personally, I prefer a small, lightweight, powerful 4 cyl to a big lump tho..
The new 5.0 is anything but a lump.. Going off topic here, the block was designed for tons more power (think the TVS SCs of the Cobra and the Ford GT) and the head has the beef and room for DI! So the first N/A version is just a start to what the architecture can bring.... chrysler is hurting for new power plants. Cerebus really cut them off at the knees when it came to new product dev and the like. So while they've started with some new engineering efforts, they will be last to the party with more modern power plants. But they do have access to the Fiat MultiAir and the like for smaller cars, so I hope that stuff comes over here soon. neat tech in that valve train! Matt
Well, I didn't mean lump in a derogatory way, just that it's a massively big motor, especially when you add a supercharger on top - it takes up a lot of real estate! One reason I'm constantly impressed with what GM has done with the ubiquitous small block is the package size has remained pretty tiny compared to an OHC V-8 like Ford is using. The Ford motor may have more upside potential, but really - how much power and torque do you need in a Mustang?
Dave, I'll have to respectfully disagree with the statement that Chrysler was successful with those turbo'd turds of the 80's. They sold them to poor unsuspecting customers, & generated loads of work for their dealers service departments. Well on second though they generated a lot of money with the turbo turds. I think of SAAB as an innovator of turbo power not Chrysler. Hey Matt, a friend of mine had a multiair Fiat in the late 70's. Every metal panel had multi see through rust holes.
I had a Fiat too! and it was some of the most fun per dollar I've ever owned. What I always found interesting is that they last forever in Europe, but grenaded here. Was it the car or the support infrastructure? Anyway, Fiats will catch crap here in the US for anyone who remembers them. But the X1/9 was a totally cool car. The 850 spider was an underpowered but fun ride, and my 124 spider had four wheel discs with Al calipers, a central/rear mounted battery for better weight distribution, a dual overhad cam engine with an Al head and iron block! Heck, it even had a phase separator on the crankcase breather, something the Price Turbo engine really could use! It even had fiberoptic light distribution for a lot of the switches and the like in the console! I know they are easy targets here, but they were really fun, cost effective cars for sure... Matt
I think it was more a cultural difference. So many of us started driving our parent giant Buicks, Fords and Chevy's and found ti was easy to fix what we broke when out having a bit to much fun on a Sat night. We were often not really exposed to the Fiats, Alfas and other European "daily drivers" that we didn;t know what to do with them. Unless we had parents or friends with one of them foreign cars we just had no exposure. By the time next generations came along these cars were all but gone from our roads.
Living in the rust belt Fiat's around here turned to a pile of rust before the drive line wore out. I agree they were fine driving machines & I had fun in a 124 Spyder & X1/9. There seemed to be no support infrastructure around here for them. Yes they are easy targets, man you have to love FixItAgainTony... Here is the best plate ever!