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Your probably one of the people ranting this past summer that we would never see cheap gas EVER again... sooooo many people were singing this tune. Don't speculate because your probably just going to be wrong.
Or maybe, I'll be right! If that's okay with you, I'll keep my opinion.
Sales of the hybrid car have softened in recent weeks as gasoline prices dropped from a summer spike of more than $4 a gallon.
OK, so we saw gas prices rising for the past 3 years and dropping for 3 months, and that was enough to freeze production of the Prius?
What happened to "While the Big 3 are losing sales, Toyota is profitable and blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda"?
All I can say is that Toyota's business model is flawed.
I hope GM didn't waste money by creating the Volt, they sure need that car to be successful.
I'm starting to have serious doubt about the Volt, did you know it's going to cost about 40 grand?! That's just too expensive and the charge is only good for 40 miles before running on the gas engine AND while the gas engine is running, the battery will not be going through a charge!! Why would anyone in their right mind spend 40 grand on that type of car with its limitations??!! Not to mention reliability concerns. It's crazy talk!
I doubt it. They laughed at the Japanese early efforts and look what it got 'em. They're a lot more circumspect now.
Actually Americans put Japanese on their manufacturing feet by teaching them quality control techniques in mass production. Japanese have also always been able to engineer/design on their own, we never laughed at them rather we helped become who they are... this symbiotic relationship is still shared with them in technological fields... none of this reverse engineering crap that the Chinese are constantly guilty of, I would never use any heavy equipment made by those people, not in this century at least.
All of what you say is true, on a national level. But we were speaking of the automotive industry. The early efforts of the Japanese automakers at marketing their vehicles in our country were scoffed at by management of the big 3. I believe I might have laughed at them a few times myself.
But, by the mid 70s I owned a Toyota Celica and felt certain that it was the best car in the world for its price.
The Chinese have built a reputation for being reverse engineers, it's true. But, like the lotus, we'll have to wait for their manufacturing expertise to go full bloom. Best we not judge them too quickly.
The Chinese have built a reputation for being reverse engineers, it's true. But, like the lotus, we'll have to wait for their manufacturing expertise to go full bloom. Best we not judge them too quickly.
They will always lag behind until they get that practice out of their blood, until that day comes I will continue to chuckle and snide... should I also mention that they have the longest history of mass reverse engineering than any other country?
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