More automakers pleading for government handouts camoflaged as regulatory leniency. We shoulda called Crysler's bluff in '79.

Now come on, I know GM has had the technology to have their cars turn off when stopped for years, though I don't think that was intentional then...

Seriously, they could go a long way to the proposed goals by simply using smaller engines in many of their cars. Does anyone really need a Jeep that does 0-60 in under six seconds? And that without even increasing towing capacity, so there's not even any diminished utility from the smaller motor.

I also noticed that the hybrid Tahoe gets 25% better highway mileage, and most of that is probably attributable to the more than 15% reduction in drag compared to the normal one. You can reduce drag without fancy hybrid powertrains, you know...

Haven't these guys ever heard of the Porter Hypothesis? Or of the Japanese car industry for that matter??

For those of us who have towing requirements.What do you suggest?I looked a a hybrid 4x4 ford escape.It has crap for towing power.I hook up to a trailer between 10 and 12 thousand pounds twice a week.The leave for 3 days at a time for work oriented.There is not a hybrid that can tow yet.When they make one.Post it.So that i can locate one.

How about they change their way of thinking entirely and develop all electric cars? Hybrids are an annoying bump in the road and a boondoggle.

I'd buy it if it was $10k more. make the change already!

How can they afford not to? Haven´t these guys seen Toyotas figures and compared them to their own?

these companies are already in trouble, thats why they are wining like little girls. they need profit and dont want to spend.

toyota has a new pardo tubro diesel that does 9.2L/100k tho i know diesel is not for everyone. and the new yaris will have idle cut off with all the new dual vvti but americans all think theyll die in them cause they still dont understand corners

guess these US companies just want to hand more business over to japan, which is stupid considering US deficit is getting close to 9trill

wish AUS got the aygo but aussies mums want their 4x4s so they dont scuff the alloys when they park

oh, id like to see a company introduce this 6 stroke idea, considering its an ex ford nascar employee that thought of it i find it most ironic.

oh, whatever. You create markets through advertising.

@ Anonymous Tower,

No one is talking about professional work that requires good towing capacity. There will always be that need and that market will always be served. Why would you consider a regular Escape for professional towing? Wouldn't you want a heavy duty pick up truck for that? This article was about light duty trucks and SUVs,
You know that most people who buy SUVs are NOT towing ANYTHING. Maybe they'll tow a U-haul trailer when they move their kid off to college.

"No suggestion of perhaps not making any more Tahoes and Escalades and concentrating on smaller, better designed, more fuel efficient cars..."

Tahoes and Escalades make money. Most small cars are sold at a loss. Someone please explain how selling fewer profitable vehicles and more cars at a loss would help GM.

The market for these kinds of cars was constructed by the car companies. The people are easily influenced. Compare how many SUV commercials you see to how many car commercials you see. Ive seen so many Ford Escape commercials i don't even know what cars they sell anymore.

"Haven´t these guys seen Toyotas figures and compared them to their own?"

Yes, but the economics are completely different. The cost to produce the same vehicle costs the domestic manufacturers thousands more than it does foreign manufactuers, even those that build vehicles here (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, etc.) Workers for the domestic manufacturers are all organized under union contracts. None of the foreign manufacturers are. The differences in benefits and legacy costs are huge.

"Seriously, they could go a long way to the proposed goals by simply using smaller engines in many of their cars."

But power is one thing that buyers look for. Less power = less sales. Larger engines also carry more profit.

"Haven't these guys ever heard of the Porter Hypothesis?"

The Porter Hypothesis will only work if the public accpets the resulting products and the manufacturers will only survive if they can sell vehicles for more than it costs to build them. In spite respective gains and losses in small and large vehicle sales, large vehicles still dominate the market and provide all of the profit for the domestic manufactures and a good portion of the profit for many foreign.

"Or of the Japanese car industry for that matter??"

...which thrives on its cost advantage. But even Toyota has said that the increases would be difficult. In the US most of their profit comes from their SUV's, pickups, and large sedans.

Yeah that's right this is totally the Public's fault. Thank you for solving the problem for us. Maybe the next mystery you could look into is fixing the CAPSLOCK key on your keyboard.

Seriously saying that this is all the Public's fault is just ignorance at this point. That sort of argument completely ignores the billions of dollars the Auto industry has spent on marketting to push these inefficient vehicles, the lobbying of automakers in Washington DC, the subsequent subsidies and tax breaks created by the lobbying and the dismantling of the EPA (because the Envirnomental Protection Agency has no powers to protect the enivironment!).

Let's find some new arguments people. Another one I am tired of hearing "People will buy more fuel efficient cars, increasing the supply of gas so prices will go down". Wrong. That one assumes that the US is a closed market and nobody else in the world might be interested in gasoline. Please put away your Econ 101 text book and retire this tired argument.

I am so tired of reading these ridiculous CAPSLOCKed arguments. Oh, if there was no market they couldn't sell gas guzzlers? Brilliant! Someone get this poster a nobel prize in economics.

Sorry for all of the sarcasm, but I am really tired of these foolish comments.

For those of us who have towing requirements.What do you suggest?I looked a a hybrid 4x4 ford escape.It has crap for towing power.I hook up to a trailer between 10 and 12 thousand pounds twice a week.The leave for 3 days at a time for work oriented.There is not a hybrid that can tow yet.When they make one.Post it.So that i can locate one.

Sorry i need to clarify.A friend of mine sold me his used ford excursion diesel 4x4.He downsized to a ford escape hybrid 4 x 4.Which can't tow #$%!.Not even a small 4 x 8 trailer loaded with firewood.

I recently was accused of owning " diesel sucking planet killer ".As i use it for towing.After all it is on a truck chassis.How is that bad? I no longer need to rent hotel rooms.Or eat out all the time on the road.I can pack all needed food/tools and ect.Perhaps there is a happy medium for both sides.Most of the world may live in cites.But a good part do not.

End result.He still has the escape.But i sold him a vintage mil spec chevy blazer 6.2 diesel 4x4.

What are they thinking indeed!? I'm buying Toyota, and shorting GM. I'm convinced these morons will flounder in their own myopic ignorance.

"Brilliant! Someone get this poster a nobel prize in economics."

So, what's your solution proffesor?

yaris is the third largest seller for toyota worldwide, with toyota making record profits. its a small car and they certainly arent making a lost from selling it.

but because of the US mindset, toyota pulled them from the market because they dont sell there. then everyone is dumbfounded when they make the tundra pickup.

as oil prices push up with the finite resource it is, hopefully we will see their egos change a gear and choose something partical

but yes, theres a professional need, but somehow i dont think thats were the major of their SUV/pickup market is.

Here's a thought guys (and gals) at GM, Ford & Chrysler: Stick with business as usual and we'll all by cars from foreign manufacturers. You don't have to sell any of the solution, you can remain part of the problem. You can try to incentive / rebate your second or third rate merchandise out of the showroom. Maybe you can throw in some of that "Be American, Buy American" to try to shame us into your obsolete vehicles. Then you can whine to Congress that there's unfair competition from abroad. My family's bought nothing but domestic vehicles until about two years ago. Now, we barely look at the domestics as we drive to the Toyota dealer for our new car.
When the first gas crisis happened in the 70's, people flocked to imports and you gave away market share from lack of preparation. What's the excuse now?

damo, what? I've got a Yaris in the US! They haven't 'pulled' anything. But yes, they are making record profits.

Forget trying to regulate the US auto industry through more strict CAFE standards. They will fight the government all the way and pay off any politicians they need to.

What we need is 3$ to 5$ per gallon gas tax increase so prices are at European levels. Then consumers will demand smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. Plus more people will turn to cycling and mass transit. Justify the tax as a carbon tax to fight global warming or for national security reasons to wean us off middle eastern oil.

If we had strong leaders in Washington this solution could be possible, but with the crowd that rules now I am not holding my breath.

If they are so worried about costs, why don't they all stop wasting millions every year developing concept cars that they never intend to manufacture and touring the country showing them off. What a waste of money, tax dollars and time.

Green Car Congress (maybe Treehugger too!) last year had a report about diesel/hydraulic hybrid Ford Expedition w/3.8L TD. This was done with the EPA and Eaton Corp's help. 22mpg HWY/32MPG city....performed better than 5.4L gas motor, towed more, quicker, 50 state legal too! Additional 1st cost to manufacturer (under production scale) only $600 higher than stock set-up.
I work for an American auto manufacturer (at least in a few weeks it will be American again) and we have all the European diesel versions of our vehicles running around getting 25%-50% better milage than it's gasoline counterpart. It's kinda like "Yeah!...look what we've got and you can't have any of this!"
The beancounters keep saying that you can't pass along (to customer) an extra $1000 in emissions equiptment for a diesel to pass NAFTA emissions standards....Yet we offer 6,7,8 thousand dollar rebates to get you to come and look at our guzzl-line powered products !
Hopefully our "new Daddy" is a better parent and not another "book-cooker".

GM and the Paris Hilton Blues

GM really cannot afford not to make their vehicles more fuel efficient if they expect to remain alive. By keeping their vehicles less fuel efficient than ones from other countries, they only doom themselves to extinction.

In my opinion, they are acting like Paris Hilton in front of a camera but instead of trying to have a winning image, they just beginning to portray a run of the mill personality. They are so rolling in dough that they are free to act and say whatever they wish. The problem is that they have really lost contact with what is going on in the car industry because they are living in a make believe world of their own. No, No, GM will not be having its own way forever. Unless they come to understand that people work hard and do not wish to throw their money away on gas guzzlers, they are going to end up in the economic calaboose. Move over and make room Paris.

adrianakau2aol.com

"For those of us who have towing requirements.What do you suggest?I looked a a hybrid 4x4 ford escape.It has crap for towing power.I hook up to a trailer between 10 and 12 thousand pounds twice a week.The leave for 3 days at a time for work oriented.There is not a hybrid that can tow yet.When they make one.Post it.So that i can locate one."

There will always be some people that need a car/truck that needs to have the power to 'work'. I do not envision any hybrid cement trucks or dump trucks in the near term. Same goes for towing and other utility needs for working vehicles.

The problem is 90% of the people that drive pick-up trucks and large SUV's do not need to. Many families need to figure out why they are buying cars twice the size of what they need. They don't need a hybrid Hummer H2, they need a reality check.

If $85 fuel fill-ups don't wake a person up, what will?

as far as i am concerne (from canada) i think that cars that are Smart :P are a better & more practical solutions for day to day comuters.
well you are a company run diesel thats ok at least make it bio ... as for the $$ prob just tell me what kind of car the ceo of GM & crysler are driving ? it is you as people & consumer that has to take action start you own companies employ local labor & make better cars ... If Gm & crysler are so dumb let them be & be smarter ...

This whole profit/loss babble is sickening. We need to burn less fuel, period.

When industry fails to provide the correct technology, society (trough government) should step in and correct the vice.

maybe we should hire the japanesse manager,with no golden paracheaute to run g.m. and have management that works!!! and loss the current high paid management.....

If America really wants a non-petroleum ,
non-electric, fully renewable and full pwered, full featured autmobile.. INVESTORS SHOULD CHECK OUT MY IDEAS AND INVEST.
www.betterconstructed.com