It's good that this thread isn't on its way to getting locked. Obviously (at least the 3 of us anyway) think there is something worth talking about.
You have to remember what even led me to raking through the info...and I mentioned it in the previous thread that was deleted all together from record. I had only gotten like a page or 2 in, and found a pretty big error IMO. So that's what I focussed on.
-Wagons--I hear what you're saying. I totally understand the difference between the 70's American wagons, and the import wagons. I used to own a 1970 Ford Country Squire with a 390 V8, and I used to own a 1976 Toyota Corolla wagon than I bought used for $425. But the reason I mentioned his statement is because his use of wording, "Toyota did not manufacture anything that resembled a station wagon until 1987". Hell a 1976 Corolla wagon was a lot closer than a 1987 Corolla wagon to a 70's American wagon....at least the 70's Toyota was rear wheel drive.
Here's a pic of my Corolla.... (I was poor, and 18 years old!)
-Icons--This can be a thread all its own! lol I won't debate this issue on a GM site, because there's no need. But the most iconic Corolla is the AE86 "Hachi Roku" which means 86 in Japanese. I spent 2 years in Japan....and I have countless hours of the locals drifting these little buggers! They were the last RWD Corollas. I do concede though.....probably .4% of the members here @ GMIN would agree with me on this point....and that's ok.
-Porsche Cayenne--The reason I mentioned that was because the author claimed (paraphrasing) Porsche didn't need to cater to or become "American" to succeed in America. And instantly I thought of the Porsche Cayenne. It was developed about the time the U.S. SUV sales were peaking or about to peak. I know this doesn't debunk the entire article by any means.....but again it caught me off guard because the statement seemed so wrong.
-Interior toxins--I attempted to be as fair as possible with out listing every single vehicle. I provided the link after all
. Clearly a few Toyotas have high levels of toxins, and it's only fair to say GM had an equal amount of high-toxicity cars. The worst car (by score--5 of 5) in the whole data log is the Nissan Versa....so how this author decided that "Toyota is evil" from this data, I'll never know.
-Prius/Accord/Insight comparison--The reason I mentioned these was mostly because the "reasons" in the author's mind for Accord Hybrid's and Insight's demise is off. Yes, the Insight is a real car....but I can't use that car everyday. But I
could use a Prius everyday. It's not right to leave my kid behind at the house everyday while my wife and I cruise around in our Insight! My point was Prius is more practical for MORE people....and
that is why the Insight failed. Take a look at the spy shot "new" hybrid for Honda....how many doors does it have? Honda currently has a hybrid Civic sedan, but not a hybrid coupe...why? Because they learned their lesson IMHO. The Accord hybrid V6 was a sedan, yes, however it got terrible fuel economy.....I want to say high 20's in the real world. So no one bought them. The last ones had pretty good rebates on them in my area. I don't know why you think there are 2 separate Accord hybrids....but I think I know where the confusion comes from. In 2005 (first year) the Accord hybrids were rated at 29 cty/37 hwy. No changes were made to the power plant itself, but the 2006 models were rated at a more realistic 25 cty/34 hwy. The Accord hybrid is
almost single handedly the reason for the new 2008 EPA's new fuel economy standards IMHO.