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Explain please, How is the current presidents trade war not responsible for higher cost across the board to exporting and importing into both countries?

So their powertrains are the same age as the G-Wagon?

I owned a 2005 Impala SS. I had the other mags. The ones that looked like the 1995 Impala SS on my car. Great car. Great engine. Great everything...except the interior. Cheap. Cheap. Cheap. Not worthy the 40 000 Canadian doallrs that I bought it for. But...I miss it dearly. I miss the sleeper aspect of it. Nobody new what it was, other than a cheap ass Chevy that 99% of the population that it was... The othe 1% that I was an undercover cop prowling the Streets to give out tickets. (When that version of the Impala was actually a Montréal cop car...)

Interesting that they blame most of it on Musk, but a large chunk of the failure is also directly a result of Trump's trade war with China.

The Renault Master and Ram ProMaster could be merged into a single product. The Kangoo could become a ProMaster City. Fiat the brand could be saved by platform sharing with some of Renault's small cars. Dodge and Chrysler could be saved with Renault's mid-range vehicles. The issue will be Nissan's reaction. But Renault owns 45% of Nissan, so they might not have much say. I wonder if this would also give FCA a controlling interest in Nissan or if Renault would divest themselves first. New name.... FCAR?

Yes, welcome back VenSeattle. It has been a long time.

I rented a car because I got a good deal. AAA was giving a 3rd weekend day free if you paid for 2. Not only that, I got bumped up from a compact (because they didn't have any) to an intermediate. The car assigned to me was a 2019 Toyota Corolla LE. It was bronze with a black cloth interior and wheel covers on what appeared to be 15" wheels. Its styling is acceptable. The signature "angry appliance" grille isn't as bad as it is on some bigger Toyota's and Lexus products and an identifiable front fascia/bumper is welcomed. The greenhouse is sort of dull, as is the rear fascia. The small slats at the edges of the front bumper are odd but sort of grow on you. I think they're more stylistic than functional. So be it. Within the first half hour of driving it on the interstate, I made up my mind about this car. It's competent and easy to live with but it's boring. The last time I had a Corolla was in Montreal about a decade ago. It was a 10th generation Corolla. (I cheated and looked at Wikipedia to figure out its generation.) What I remember is how vague the steering felt but that, with that, the road was fairly well isolated. It was a trade-off. The current Corolla provides more steering feel and, with that, more of what is going on with the tires is transmitted through the steering wheel. There is more road feel but there is also more tire and road noise that is sent into the cabin. It's not significantly more, but I noticed it. For its genre, acceleration is fine for everyday situations. It's not the best car to get out of the way or merging onto the freeway when dueling with an aggressive V-8 equipped Ram/F-150/Silverado/Tundra driver. I'm almost sure the engine is their ubiquitous 1.8 litre 4 cylinder that has been around for eons. Kudos for how nicely the engine bay is laid out. It's very logical. Fluid checkpoints are easy to identify. It would be a snap to change the battery. And, of course, there are what appear to be hard plastic manifolds that are an everyday occurrence on price leader Asian imports. Since a person spends most of their time inside the car, the Corolla's interior is worth talking about. The seats are nicely contoured, have decent looking stitching, and don't tire you out after a long interstate jaunt the way small car seats used to. The dash is fairly sensibly arranged in most aspects. There are the 2 large dials with the tach and the speedometer with fuel and temperature gauges inset into each of these dials. Thankfully, there is a temperature gauge. On econoboxes like Chevy Sparks and Sonics, the temperature gauge is now gone. I want the redundancy of a temperature gauge backed up by a warning light. What was irritating is that the Corolla has square information area between the big round dials that tells you all sorts of things. The A and B trip odometer is easy to set and reset. However, while you might get range and current fuel economy, I could not find a simple setting for a digital display of the speed. I find this to be an excellent thing to have and one that is easier to work with than the speedometer dial. I therefore had to rely on the dial. Maybe I couldn't find the setting. On Cruzes and Focuses, for example, the easily located digital speed display is much appreciated. There are three stalks on the Corolla. One is the turn signal, the one at the right is for the wipers, and the cruise control is on a stalk set in as a downward angled protrusion on the right. I don't like the appearance of it but it's easy to work with. There are some other things worth mentioning about the Corolla's interior. There is a somewhat chunky and tall horizontal band at the right of the instrument panel for the driver. With this, the audio screen, which is fairly large, is set within it and avoids what I call the "laptop left open" look. In the upcoming 2020 Toyota Corolla, the "laptop left open" is overly prominent. I think I'll pass. The screen is fairly easy to navigate. Two horizontal air conditioning vents and a separate digital clock are above it. Below it is the climate control. What was unique and likable here was the use of toggles instead of dials to regulate the temperature. You just tap them upward or downward to get the desired Fahrenheits. That small panel is also easy to work with. The glove box is fairly spacious. However, the center console has a few demerits. The cubby hole in front of the shifter with the USB ports and lighter is small and not optimal for larger phones. Also, the armrest and the space inside the console are underwhelming. In larger Toyotas, these become more capacious. There are a few more things about the interior's ergonomics. I like that Asian cars are retaining floor tabs to release the trunk AND the fuel door from inside the car. A secured fuel door is a good thing to have. Surprisingly, the Corolla also offers good visibility. I dislike rear headrests but it appears they are here to stay. The two principal ones are integral with the rear seat while the center one is adjustable. If they weren't there, visibility would be even better. While not a religious diatribe, a revelation came to on the third day ... of the rental, that is. I was out of town with the car on the first two days and used it locally on the third day. A friend of mine was in the car on the third day I had it and was going on about how all these Toyota Corollas now had CVTs. I was convinced that mine had a geared transmission. As it turns out, it did have a CVT. It's a modified CVT, though. It shifts from first to second gear the "normal" way before operating as a CVT. This is probably to pacify those who would otherwise detest CVTs ... and there are many. However, I should have known better. In situations where I had to pass or pick up speed, the rpm's spooled upward and then wound down slowly and haphazardly. With a step gear transmission, the shifting of gears would have been crisper and identifiable. The plus side of the CVT is that, on freeway jaunts with some minor amounts of stop and go traffic, the car was pulling in about 38 mpg. I believe that, on a highway jaunt that has no gas stops and the like, the Corolla 1.8 + CVT can get 40 mpg. The Corolla appears to be about the same size as a Chevy Cruze but can't touch the surprising refinement of the Cruze. Instead, it almost drives more like a Focus. It's also priced more like a Focus while Cruzes cost a few thousand dollars more. For those seeking value on a budget, you really can't go wrong with a Toyota Corolla and its legendary reliability. However, if someone needs to drive a car that they also really like, this may not be the car for everyone. I give the Corolla a strong B+.

GM had an ignition leak? How does that work? Where's Dwight, we need a class in leaking ignitions!

LOL buhbye then, have fun with that!

I find it absolutely hilarious that every angle is used to try to blame the current US President. When it is obvious what is really going on. The jig is up.

HA! - found this, pretty interesting : https://jalopnik.com/mercedes-benz-forced-to-stop-saying-the-sprinter-van-wa-1833923936

Probably a 4 . 'Foreign vehicle made in USA'. Though a Mercedes built in SC would be highly suspect, because Mercedes are built in Alabama and BMWs are built in SC.

That's a market overview prediction. In response to my post RE Tesla, Musk has hinted at a boom month : https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-sales-set-for-record-breaking-quarter-ceo-elon-musk-reportedly-says/ We'll see what actually happens- his word is worth a teaspoon of coffee grounds.

So what do South Carolina built mercedes get coded as?

Asia J = Japan KL to KR = South Korea Europe SA to SM = United Kingdom SN to ST = Germany VF to VR = France W (all) = Germany (“W” originally stood for West Germany) VA to VE = Austria YS to YW = Sweden ZA to ZR = Italy North America 1, 4 & 5 = United States 2 = Canada 3 = Mexico Oceania 6 = Australia South America 9A to 9E, 93 to 99 = Brazil I assume there must be more than just those codes, though those are what I found. For example, a Ford Transit Connect is built in Turkey and a Buick Cascada is built in Poland. Edit: Apparently the Cascada gets VINed as W for Germany under Opel even though it is built in Poland.

I think GM is making sure the egg is there before the chicken.

I really liked the old Infiniti J30, but I was too young to buy one when they were out and by the time I could afford them, they had all been trashed.

Elon Musk would be wise to give all executive control of Tesla to a real car guy. Elon can then focus on other things instead.

I really wanted a few Infiniti vehicles, especially the 2003-2004 M45.

Yo Willis, what up with those number's?

So there is some significance to the first digit of the vin?

...and is the reason I will never own another car with a 1, 4 or 5 in the first digit of the vin. Not buying something built by people who elect such a person. Ever. Everything we buy will be from the Chinese in 20 years anyways....

engineering for 2.

I didn't imply that it did effect US sales. EU sales are up. I agree with the general premise that Musk is the liability, the problem is that he's been the liability for years and it may be too late. Spending all that money to get those stupid doors on the Model X when people would have bought it with normal doors anyway put Tesla at least a year behind in getting the Model X out the door right when SUV sales were spiking. Other OEMs already have their manufacturing in China. Cadillac builds Chinese Cadillacs in China. Buick builds Chinese Buicks in China or other non-US places like Korea. Ford is going to be building Lincolns in China. Tesla hasn't finished their factory there and it will be a while before it will be online and pushing out cars (now the question is, "if ever?"). So a $35k Model 3 now bases at $75k equivalent in China due to the tariffs. Also.... no. Incentive Spending on the Rise As More Vehicles Loiter on Lots

Frames for one...

^ don’t see how that effected the crashed US sales (which, BTW, are supposedly poised to be the best ever in May). Also seems many other OEMs would be likewise affected; not seeing that either. Tesla is doing horribly bad, business-case wise, and has been all along. That’s primarily an internal issue, not a global trade issue.

Seems like in the ancient world the tire choices were tall and skinny or more tall and skinny.

Was there as wide a variety of tire sizes back then as there are today? I would imagine it was a lot simpler getting tires then as they'd almost all be a specific size like 22" don't care about the width.

LOL zzzinnnng...

Go figure with Ford. I like my wife's Fusion. Good car, But I a tad disappoint with all those recalls on it. Not so much with the recalls, but with the fact that Ford rushed the model to market, and it took the recalls to perfect the model, but all that bad planning had made Ford lose money on a what is essentially a winning car only for Ford to now cancel it... Just plain dumb... And its like FoMoCo has not learned from its past doing stupid shyte like this... Very disappointing.

I take RJ at Rivian over Musk. Musk needs to go, he is hurting Tesla more than helping.

Yo Ven, About time you got your PNW butt back on the boards! WELCOME!!! ?

Imagine the possibilities for such a merger. Could have a new Renault Alliance based off the Megane for Dodge dealers.

There's only room for one. And he rocks.

Give some of the credit to UK folks who have to have their "fish and chips" wherever they go - the Canaries, the Balearics, Portugal, etc., etc. Some streets in beach towns in the south of Portugal may as well have been transplanted from the UK - pubs and "fish and chips" ad nauseum ... But, best of all, the Athens Metro now goes all the way into the airport and there are no train changes to get into the historical center. I was last there before they completed the Metro into the new (opened in 2001) airport.

I was looking at used ones for myself about 6 years ago. Used they are a screaming deal. And welcome back @VenSeattle

If you had a short in the ignition, stray electrons could leak out..

LOL you don't understand what I'm saying.

So this is a slight concern of my friend with his Tesla...