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We have traveled this road before
LARRY RINGLER
Tribune Chronicle
In 1973, Detroit was making tons of money with Big Iron - massive Cadillacs, Lincolns that seemed to stretch for a city block - and tire-burning muscle cars like Chevrolet's Camaro and Dodge's Challenger.
General Motors Corp., Ford and Chrysler made the big boats because that was what people wanted - and because the automakers made tons of profit on them. They sneered at the little Japanese cars just hitting the California coast. Who'd buy those tin cans, they laughed.
The Arab oil embargo showed them who: You and me. With gas at record high prices - if you could get it - people abandoned Detroit's behemoths in favor of Japan's midgets.
GM, Ford and others rushed their own cars into the factories. The results included the Chevrolet Vega, which triggered the Blue Collar Blues at GM's Lordstown Assembly Plant when GM racheted up production of the ill-fated car in a panicked attempt to stem the Japanese tide.
Well, guess what. The Japanese are landing again, this time with hybrid electric-gasoline cars. And what are GM and Ford doing? Fiddling with fuel cell cars that don't even have a refueling system in place.
These Japanese cars are knocking out 50 miles per gallon on gasoline and electricity - two energy sources we have right now.
Meanwhile, Detroit keeps pumping out SUVs and big, honking trucks that get 15 miles to the gallon going downhill with a stiff wind behind them.
The only thing I can figure is Detroit believes high gas prices will be temporary, so there's no need to focus on hybrids for the masses. Perhaps they're right. But is our most important industry really willing to cede the future of fuel-efficient vehicles to the Japanese again?
U.S. automakers are taking some steps. GM diesel-electric engines will be used on Seattle buses next month. The company wants to create the nation's largest fleet of such buses.
GM also is putting hybrid power into some pickup trucks, apparently believing buyers will see small cars as fuel efficient enough with gasoline engines.
And the company is making progress with fuel cells. Its HydroGen 3 car is breaking distance records on a European run from Norway to Portugal, a distance of some 6,200 miles.
Of course, traditional gasoline engines are getting better all the time. Chevrolet hasn't released gas mileage figures for the premium Chevrolet Cobalt small car that will be made at GM's Lordstown Complex, but no doubt they'll be respectable. Chevy also has its sub-compact Aveo that sips gasoline.
The problem with that is, just as in the 1973 Japanese invasion, buyers who get a taste of 50 miles per gallon in small cars will be apt to stay with the same company when they move up to bigger, most expensive - and higher profit - vehicles.
Full Article Here
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LARRY RINGLER
Tribune Chronicle
In 1973, Detroit was making tons of money with Big Iron - massive Cadillacs, Lincolns that seemed to stretch for a city block - and tire-burning muscle cars like Chevrolet's Camaro and Dodge's Challenger.
General Motors Corp., Ford and Chrysler made the big boats because that was what people wanted - and because the automakers made tons of profit on them. They sneered at the little Japanese cars just hitting the California coast. Who'd buy those tin cans, they laughed.
The Arab oil embargo showed them who: You and me. With gas at record high prices - if you could get it - people abandoned Detroit's behemoths in favor of Japan's midgets.
GM, Ford and others rushed their own cars into the factories. The results included the Chevrolet Vega, which triggered the Blue Collar Blues at GM's Lordstown Assembly Plant when GM racheted up production of the ill-fated car in a panicked attempt to stem the Japanese tide.
Well, guess what. The Japanese are landing again, this time with hybrid electric-gasoline cars. And what are GM and Ford doing? Fiddling with fuel cell cars that don't even have a refueling system in place.
These Japanese cars are knocking out 50 miles per gallon on gasoline and electricity - two energy sources we have right now.
Meanwhile, Detroit keeps pumping out SUVs and big, honking trucks that get 15 miles to the gallon going downhill with a stiff wind behind them.
The only thing I can figure is Detroit believes high gas prices will be temporary, so there's no need to focus on hybrids for the masses. Perhaps they're right. But is our most important industry really willing to cede the future of fuel-efficient vehicles to the Japanese again?
U.S. automakers are taking some steps. GM diesel-electric engines will be used on Seattle buses next month. The company wants to create the nation's largest fleet of such buses.
GM also is putting hybrid power into some pickup trucks, apparently believing buyers will see small cars as fuel efficient enough with gasoline engines.
And the company is making progress with fuel cells. Its HydroGen 3 car is breaking distance records on a European run from Norway to Portugal, a distance of some 6,200 miles.
Of course, traditional gasoline engines are getting better all the time. Chevrolet hasn't released gas mileage figures for the premium Chevrolet Cobalt small car that will be made at GM's Lordstown Complex, but no doubt they'll be respectable. Chevy also has its sub-compact Aveo that sips gasoline.
The problem with that is, just as in the 1973 Japanese invasion, buyers who get a taste of 50 miles per gallon in small cars will be apt to stay with the same company when they move up to bigger, most expensive - and higher profit - vehicles.
Full Article Here
Yes, the Vega was rushed into production in response to the 1973 oil embargo. Of course, GM somehow knew that the embargo was coming and actually put it into production 3 years prior to that...
