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"The difference is, Toyota still has the money to cover such bets and can still make a profit while selling cars at discount prices. How does GM expect to play ball, given they were taking about a $7000 loss on every vehicle sold last year (prior to bailout)? They won't. All their talk of "May the best car win" just went right down the toilet, because any lobbying they might have done to put pressure on Toyota just shifted the game right back to price wars and a race to the bottom. Now they'll have to sell on price, which means they'll cut more corners, and, as I've said a number of times now, Toyota will go right back to selling more cars than anyone else on the planet."
Once Toyota passed GM as the worldwide sales leader in '07/'08, you knew something was going to go down.
I'm surprised it took this long and that the effort was so ham-handed. Doesn't matter; Toyota lost a huge chunk of change. The message to the rest of the world is: the US wins by any means necessary.
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Originally Posted by DR1665
Agreed. And if this were a true conspiracy, it would be a failure, much like GM's business practices for the last 20 years. Detroit offers cash incentives to clueless Toyota owners, trying to lure them onto the lots, but now Toyota fires back with incentives of their own.
The difference is, Toyota still has the money to cover such bets and can still make a profit while selling cars at discount prices. How does GM expect to play ball, given they were taking about a $7000 loss on every vehicle sold last year (prior to bailout)? They won't. All their talk of "May the best car win" just went right down the toilet, because any lobbying they might have done to put pressure on Toyota just shifted the game right back to price wars and a race to the bottom. Now they'll have to sell on price, which means they'll cut more corners, and, as I've said a number of times now, Toyota will go right back to selling more cars than anyone else on the planet.
I'd welcome a conspiracy. A real conspiracy would suggest that politicians, lobbyists, and big business tycoons actually had some sort of diabolical plan, executed said plan, and realized some sort of ill-gotten gains. As it stands, most of the financial and economic ruin comes from blind greed and ignorance.
There is no conspiracy but there are those out there who believe that this is all a ploy devised by the government so GM and Chrysler's sales will go up. Some have even said all the people claiming unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus cars are actually government employees.
The things people can just make up makes me laugh my arse off.
I know, I agree...makes me laugh, too.
I just couldn't stand that conspiracy post not getting poked at.
Now, if we could just tie it in to 9/11, the Kennedy assassination, Area 51, and Jimmy Hoffa we'd have something!
Guy1, there isn't a conspiracy strong enough that's going to bring GM back to number one any time soon. I hate that, too, as I'm an American business and car fan, but when a company has consistently shot itself in the foot for 30+ years, it's going to take more than a government orchestrated miniscule sample of cars running away to bring a giant like Toyota down to the point that the government bureaucrat in charge of ultra-secret conspiracies can lean back, put his feet on the desk and say, "Ah, mission accomplished. We can now say once again that GM is number one in car sales."
But thank goodness for them...it keeps people working.;;
Another interesting turn of events in this ongoing investigation. Was Sikes faking it, or was he genuinely a victim of unintended acceleration? We have new information from the CHP, who is apparently not discounting Sikes' side of the story.
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In reality, the California Highway Patrol isn't taking sides with anyone regarding the recent speeding Prius of Jim Sikes. But the CHP doesn't see any reason to doubt Sikes' version of events that led to his hybrid reaching speeds of around 90 miles per hour, apparently unable to bring the barreling vehicle to a stop. Also of note is the fact that a Border Patrol agent had also responded and was leading the Prius with its emergency lights on when the CHP officer arrived.
The officer that responded to the scene states that he "could see the driver sat up off his seat indicating that he was possibly applying the brake pedal with his body weight... His back was arched and both hands were pulling at the steering wheel." A short time later, the officer positioned his patrol car in front of Sikes' Prius when he "noticed that the Prius' speed had dropped dramatically" before coming to a complete stop on the highway. According to Sikes, this happened after he applied both the standard and parking brakes.
Paramedics arrived on the scene and found that "Sikes' blood pressure and pulse rate were very high." Another interesting tidbit is the the officer encouraged Sikes to speak with the media, despite the fact that the driver indicated he preferred not to. Later at the station, the officer took a statement from Sikes, who described his Prius as 'feeling funny' under braking, saying that the "whole car was shaking and vibrating" when the brakes were applied.
Sikes also claims to have manually pulled up on the gas pedal three separate times with no effect, and he was afraid that shutting the car off would cause the steering to lock up. The officer reports seeing the car's brake lights on and off intermittently, smelling the scent of worn brakes and seeing that the pads were worn completely down after the event.
CHP spokesman Brian Pennings has said that it is the CHP's position that no evidence has emerged to doubt Sikes' version of events. See the CHP officer's complete report in our image gallery below. For a slightly different view, click here and here to see what Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found after inspecting Sikes' Prius.
Another interesting turn of events in this ongoing investigation. Was Sikes faking it, or was he genuinely a victim of unintended acceleration? We have new information from the CHP, who is apparently not discounting Sikes' side of the story.
Another interesting turn of events in this ongoing investigation. Was Sikes faking it, or was he genuinely a victim of unintended acceleration? We have new information from the CHP, who is apparently not discounting Sikes' side of the story.
al the cops are saying that he was arching his back like he was braking and they smelled braked. And his blood pressure was up after words. Well duh. He was attempting to pull off the scam to get him out of debt. Sure he was nervous. That link proved absolutely NOTHING.
Why was he "intermittently" on the brakes instead of STANDING on the pedal? And how the hell did the officer see that the pads were worn down completely? Did he put it up on a jack, take the wheels off, and do a brake inspection?
Why was he "intermittently" on the brakes instead of STANDING on the pedal? And how the hell did the officer see that the pads were worn down completely? Did he put it up on a jack, take the wheels off, and do a brake inspection?
You think they don't investigate these thins? Amazing!
al the cops are saying that he was arching his back like he was braking and they smelled braked. And his blood pressure was up after words. Well duh. He was attempting to pull off the scam to get him out of debt. Sure he was nervous. That link proved absolutely NOTHING.
It's a heck of a lot more credible than anything you just said.
It's a heck of a lot more credible than anything you just said.
really? How so? They saw brake lights and the driver arch his back. Wow, there is some great info to prove the car was 'in run away' mode there..
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Amazing!
