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Come down to middle of America. I'll buy you a beer here and we can find a classic car show to roam around. It isn't as ugly as you portray it to be. I'm sure it's also beautiful in the PNW where @G. David Felt lives and the Pittsburgh area where OUR leader resides, @Drew Dowdell. There are so many good people from these parts. Don't let the internet make you think everybody everywhere is jacked in the head. The internet can be very powerful and can portray many things that are skewed. There are certainly bad people everywhere, but I don't think there are as many bad people around as you think.

Perfectly worded. I also agree completely with the rest of your comment, just wanted to highlight this line in particular.

When we have this revolution I will be the countries number one supporter and wear red, white and blue every day for the rest of my life. I am just as disgusted with a ton of the dems as I am with the republicans. I think the US needs to stop thinking like an empire and take care of our people here.

The US needs a political revolution. The whole system and mostly the people in it all need to be re-done. I know there's no realistic way for something like this to happen, but it needs to happen. Both parties are so extreme in their viewpoints that 90% of the population stands in the middle. A third or even fourth party needs to be recognized, for starters.

Chevrolet will give us an Ultium Bolt. Which is not bad. I wish they would have changed up the styling. Not jut a refresh but a brand new body to go along with the Ultium battery technology. But I see how Chevrolet could keep the price down by just refreshing the body. Id like to see if Canadians keep the Elbows Up regarding the automobile industry. Its hard to boycott as GM, Ford and Chrysler do keep the factories open in Canada. It will be interesting to see how Canadians are going to react to the KIA EV2 GT. Of all the American product boycotting in Canada, GM and Ford are not really targeted.

I agree. And I understand what you wrote about no mandate needed. EVs will turn that tipping point in due time. Shortly. And like you said, Chinese EVs will be the ones to do it. I included that tidbit ONLY because most Americans STILL cant get off the oil addiction they have. GM has mentioned that they are going along with the 2035 timeline. But since Trump has alienated America from its allies, GM will try to delay 2035. Like Dodge though, V8s and turbocharged lawn mower sized engines in CUVs will only get you so much. The rest of the world is strumming along with the 2035-2040 timeline regardless what the Chinese automotive industry is doing. I used 2035 as a visual as that is only 9 years away... Dodge announcing the Durango only gets V8 offerings and is ditching the 6 cylinder offerings, and some Americans declare a win for the internal combustion engine...missing the real problems for the American automotive industry. Like you said, but with my angle, 2035 is a short 9 years away to stress a point. What you said about no mandate needed as EVs will tip the point probably before 2035. But in America, your folk lack critical thinking skills and do not realize what you said, thinking that a Hellcat powered 15 year old SUV is a saviour for the internal combustion engine and everything else is misinformation.

As it shouldn't. 2 terms. No more. Yup. Your constitution and your legislative, executive and judicial branches as defined by your constitution are all rock solid. He hasnt, nor does he now and he wont in the future try to over power it in any way shape or form. Yup. 2 terms. Without any incident or issue. Wont cry any fowl. Wont cling unto power. Will not abuse his powers. Will not do anything but concede. If you say so and hopefully the people defending the constitution in all facets of everybody will also uphold the constitution...

$68,300 for the start for the Stingray. My inclination would be to get a 2-3 yr old one as a CPO.. with the optional Z51 suspension, a base Stingray convertible would be fine for me as I approach 60. But I wouldn't be getting jorts or other 'Corvette guy' accoutrements.

The point is that going forward, Ford EVs: 1. This is a new way of assembling vehicles. The new production line is now a production tree with three branches that converge into one. 2. Ford has cut a lot of weight out of the platform. 4,000 fewer feet of wiring harness, 25% less fastener. Lower weight will mean more range with less battery. 3. LFP cells that are built in the US without cobalt or nickle. 4. Faster production, while overall production time will drop 15%, the assembly process will drop 40%. Ford will use some of that savings to in-source some component production. 5. 52,000 sq/ft expansion of Louisville facility. 6. Ford claims lower total cost to own than buying a 3-year old Model-Y. (I'd like to read the fine print on this one) 7. The way the components are assembled is now significantly more ergonomic, less twisting and bending for assembly workers. There was an audible gasp from someone in the crowd of assembly workers at the press event when the presenter said "You will never need to put a dash cluster through a door opening ever again". 8. The platform will allow many kinds of body styles including crossovers, sedans, and sport cars. The debut vehicle will arrive in 2027 as a mid-size truck. Something that Tesla did with #1, #2 , and #4 on that list a decade ago. Something that GM is doing with #8 on that list with the Ultium platform as it was once called. Something that Ford should have done from the very beginning when they came out with the Mach-E. Tesla and SandY Monroe were tooting that for the Model 3. I guess FoMoCo had to get the Mach-E out as fast as possible then though. Dont get me wrong, I fully agree with your post 100%. I was about to say better late than never, but I think with this Presidential administration, Ford will probably not survive Trump's presidency. Nor Stellantis in the US. And Im very iffy if GM survives too if the current tariff situation on Canadian steel and aluminium stays on. Sad to say.

The American political system does not need a phoquen revolution. Nor does it need a change in how people vote as how @Drew Dowdell stated in the Ford EV thread. The US needs to get their educational system back to world standards again. And not just to world standards, but the US needs to be on TOP of the world in education. And they need to do this NOW. Kinda hard when Trump defunded the education department... That is step 1. But before step 1 happens, American folk need to start having EMPATHY towards other people...MAINLY OTHER FELLOW AMERICANS. And to stop being so phoquen nosy on other people's business... But even before THAT happens, American people have to stop relying on what the phoquen church is preaching. It is quite ironic that the so called christians (no capital c as I do not think that denomination of the church that rules the bible belt are truly christians...) have devil thoughts and actions. And even BEFORE that happens, Americans need to stop being racist, sexist and all kinds of other 'ists' like narcissists, individual-ists... But that will never happen. I once thought the world of America, Americans and the American dream. Now...I am disgusted with what I see and hear about my neighbors to the south. The US has turned into one phoquen ugly society. Trump is not the reason for all this yuck, Trump is just the guy that has been able to take advantage of the ugliness that has become the American people.

GM CEO at the end of the video was not forthright about the eventual rise in prices by not wanting to link it to the tariffs. Donald J. Trump threatens not to raise the prices for the consumers to eat it and to definitely not blame the tariffs. He warned Walmart for that 2-3 months ago. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-walmart-prices-tariffs-response/ https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-warns-walmart-eat-tariffs-instead-raising-prices By GM not admitting that prices will rise BECAUSE of tariffs is PURE COWARDICE!!! You gotta stand up... Everybody gotta stand up. Businesses and civilians alike. But a GM CEO makes plenty of money, he/she dont care what a particular political leader does or does not do... It is the little guy that pays the price. The video talks about many OEMs having theor profits slashed by a significant amount. I was shocked with Toyota's loss of profits as well as GM's. I want to surprised with Ford's results. But lets keep in mind those are figures for Q2. By year's end, lots of panick for those same CEOs not wanting to fight back the tariffs loud, proud and publicly... The sales prices WILL go up regardless if CEOs want to admit reasons are tariffs. These CEOs better hope that American citizens have deep pockets and are capable of absorbing yet another price hike on yet another product. And for how long can these deep pockets of these very very rich average American Joes last? But I keep on hearing that average Americans do not monies for groceries. And wasnt Biden fired from his Presidency because the price of eggs were sky high even BEFORE the tariffs and Donald J. Trump himself? Ah yes...yes... I kinda remember something like that...

Right now, states and even cities can institute Ranked Choice voting, but it might only be for certain elections. Zohran won the primary for NYC mayor partially because of RCV. But that's only NYC. State level elections are the traditional sort, you pick between two parties or you throw away your vote on a 3rd party. In the general election in NYC in the fall, voters are going to get to choose between 4 candidates, the current Mayor Adams (running as an independent this time), former governor Cuomo (was running for the democratic nomination, lost to Zohran, now running as an independent), Zorhan Mamdami who won the RCV democratic primary, and a no-name republican nutjob who will lose. My position is that all elections, whether for president or dog-catcher, need to be ranked choice and every race should have a box for "none of the above". If I interpreted your question wrong and you don't understand how RCV works, Balletopedia has an explainer and video on ranked choice voting.

We could do it with one simple change to the constitution, all other changes would flow from that. We need an amendment for ranked choice voting required in every election, even dog-catcher. Also the elimination of the primary elections. This will do several things. 1. It will stop extremist from both sides getting elected unless a true majority of the voters want it. The primary system is the primary cause of the extremism we've been seeing. Only the lunatics can make it through their party's primaries and the sane, sober "boring" people don't get soundbites or traction. 2. It opens up the door for 3rd parties to make a real go of it. Ranked choice, even in just the general election, would likely have changed the outcome of 2016 and 2024. Once the sane people are back in charge, we could look at things like breaking up monopolies/oligarchies and retiring the Electoral College.

This is Ranger sized. Purely a guess, but I'm thinking we'll see the debut of the truck by April. The Model T moment is the reinvention of the production line. A 40% reduction in build time is huge. Why? People are switching to Equinox EVs en masse and it isn't even that great. A base 'Nox EV is $33.6k before incentives and it's the best selling non-Tesla. Prologue is higher and sells great too. The "Ranchero" EV truck would be the only one in the segment at that price. The Scout and the Rivian are more than double. It's going to be a RAV-4 sized interior with a lockable bed and frunk, at a price lower than a RAV-4. There will be waiting lists for the first few years.

Not by 2029 but I am not sure that this isn't a giant Hail Mary by Ford. That being said, my current ranger is pushing 118,000 trouble free miles on the odometer, it has been to like 25 or 30 states and hauled everything imaginable. Its done everything I have asked of it with efficiency and grace and amazingly, is probably one of my favorite ever vehicles. Would Love, love, love to see Ford succeed with this. It might win my cynical a$$ back into a Ford Dealership to buy another Ford product, my political feelings about things non withstanding. America is a dying empire and this is reflected in the vehicles it produces. just like the 50's and 60's were a time of growth, and THAT was reflected in the vehicles we built then. Without getting political, we have been moving away from the rule of law, working together,working towards the future, and moving forward for a few decades now. Its not just one orange man, its the system. Oddly enough the Ranger is popular in South America, I could see buying another one if I become an expat elsewhere.

The economy is cooked. I ate breakfast at a place that's normally packed Sunday morning, three other people eating. The economic downturn is going to be brutal.

Wine in Portland does not seem to have a similar decline. What I am most sad about is that Micro breweries seem to be in decline also. yes, i said that I don't buy many of their products any more, but it also seems small independent breweries went from brewing just good independent beer to brewing stranger and stranger stuff to be original and get attention.

Interesting read, though they talk about 1 million mile batteries, they do not state which ones actually. These EV batteries now last 1 million miles – Morning Overview

Sad that due to Idiot47 and the incompetent administration we currently have, we will loose out on the benefits of entry level EVs from Kia that offer awesome range, performance and interior space. Kia’s Smallest EV Could Become One Of Its Most Thrilling Performance Models The EV2 GT model looks real cool and could be a blast, sadly Canada and Mexico will get it before us due to the incompetent administration we currently have.

Lets be honest in setting the blame where it belongs, IDIOT47 and the 1% crowd that is only more than happy to do illegal pay offs to get billion dollar deals done. Example is the Paramount deal! We are in the Decade of Criminal Pay to Play mode! Paramount Merger Approved After $16 Million Trump Settlement

I can attest to people not wanting to drink what their parents drink as I love my local Washington State wines and yet my son would rather drink Japanese Wiskey or Bullet Bourbon than drink wine with me. The largest growth among Gen Z has been with Soju, Korean liquor. That has exploded even in the U.S. in sales. Amazing how many drink it mixed with Korean Beer for a Soju Bomb. Soju is #1 and White Claw is #2 world wide. Top 10 best-selling spirit brands in the world | Business Chief North America Who knew white claw also sold flavored Vodka, but Soju is so strong. The biggest-selling spirits in the world - The Spirits Business Top 20 Best-Selling Alcoholic Drinks Worldwide

Interesting BBC story on Kentucky Bourbon from Boom to Bust. Spot on. How Kentucky bourbon went from boom to bust

https://www.moneydigest.com/1825884/why-walmart-stores-closing-2025/ https://www.thestreet.com/retail/walmart-cvs-panera-and-more-quietly-close-more-stores Daniel Kline Aug 3, 2025 9:08 AM EDT Reviewed by Celine Provini These retailers have quietly closed stores in 2025 While some closures get more attention than others, these have flown under the radar. In most cases that's by design, as companies don't want the negative local publicity that comes from closing until the shutdown process has already begun. Walmart Locations closed in July-August 2025 in Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania. Often cited for underperformance, crime, or changing local demand. CVS Still executing previously announced plan (900 stores over 3 years). Panera Bread Some franchisees are closing low-volume locations quietly. Rite Aid Bankruptcy-related closures, but many new rounds still being added. Entire company is being shut down. Family Dollar / Dollar Tree 1,000+ closures expected by the end of 2025. Walgreens Continued "store footprint optimization" through mid-2025. Macy’s Closing 66 stores, with 150 total closures expected by 2026. Maybe 154 store closures were in 2016 and Walmart may have completed those by 2024, Walmart is closing an additional 11. But...that is not the issue here. The issue is that OTHER retailers are closing as well. And its a significant amount. I guess Gen Zers are to blame for this as well? At the end of the day, it does NOT matter if Gen Zers are not drinking whiskey. At the end of the day, Trump's tariffs are killing the US economy ALL AROUND. Turn a blind eye to it, tell me Im posting misinformation or that Im gullible to not believe what the Kentucky bourbon industry is telling us, call me anything you want...tariffs were called no good for the economy. And tariffs are reeling the benefits as we speak right now. What are those benefits? You guys have a brain. Believe what you wanna believe. God bless America!!! Just hope he forgives you for turning a blind eye to all those Epstein and Trump victims...

As I sees it, Ford, even though in Europe, Ford is considered to be more or less a Euro company, will have a hard time selling its cars there. Trump has tried to hurt Europe with tariffs and Europeans will boycott Ford with that. Its not as if European car makers do not exist. GM is not even in the European car market. China? Forget about how the Chinese population favours their own car makers, GM and Ford as of now, 2025, are BEHIND in EV tech. Im not sure about quality and reliability, but in tech, way behind. GM and Ford will never sell EVs to be profitable in China. Those days when GM made money hands over fists in China are loooooong gone. Ford entered that market way to late. Stellantis is European. China has flooded the world with affordable EVs. People in South America, unless these people are drug lord cartel people, Hummer EVs are not bread and butter for GM. In South America, Chinese EVs will rule the roost. If they are not already. Which leaves Stellantis, Ford and GM strictly a North American market to sell to. Tariffs are making the bread and butter vehicles out of reach for the average American to buy, so I do not see Ford and GM selling tons of cars in our market either. Many Americans are upside down on their car loans at least 4 cars in. Meaning, their car loans have been rolled unto their new car purchase 4 new cars ago... The economy will bust soon. How soon? Will it be 2029 soon? Yeah! Quite possible!!! Remember, the world has largely agreed to go gasoline free for pedestrian vehicles by the earliest 2035. 2040? GM has pleaded by 2035. It does not matter if Trump rescinds this in the US. THE WORLD has decided that in THEIR countries, a whole bunch of them, will cease the sale of new EVs by 2035. 2040? Just around the corner... Like you said...Hellcat powered anything wont do shyte even in the US...

And you really believe that he will relinquish his office in 2028? But you did ask me a question. GM profit down 35% in Q2 of 2025. Net profit so far in Q2 is 1.9 billion from 47 billion revenue. https://gmauthority.com/blog/2025/07/gm-q2-2025-earnings-revenue-income-profit/#:~:text=GM Q2 2025 earnings are,1.8 percent drop in revenue. And tariffs havent really been activated fully. And Trump keeps on redacting and modifying because his admin actually does know the damage being done. But GM is really hurtin' not even a full year into Trump's presidency JUST as the Ultium EV collection has been taking off for GM. GM needs ALL their profits to engineer Ultium 2.0 and to better combat a possible Chinese onslaught in North America and of course all over the world. There are Chinese EVs in the Mexican market. Not yet in Canada as our politicians are keeping hope alive as to still salvage a partnership with the US. But that hope is diminishing. Canada has gone elsewhere for economic partnerships and the last bastion of a US/Canada partnership IS in the automotive industry. And the ONLY reason why Canada hasnt jumped ship in that industry just yet is because we do not fully trust China. But its truly sad to be putting not trusting the US in the same breath as not trusting China... So yeah...GM is on shaky ground for 2029. Bankrupt in 2029? Not quite but not far off if current trends are keeping the line. The Trump regime has become an autocracy. Not a dictatorship. There is a difference. One that the civilians have allowed and not by force. I wonder what WILL happen in 2028? You think the constitution will be honoured? In many areas it hasnt...

Thank you for acknowledging the obvious... But you did ask me a question for me to address. Gen Z. 1997-2012 2024 (because problems started last last year...)- 21 (drinking age) = 2003 2018 would be the first year Gen Zers drank whiskey as they came of age to drink. 6 years of Gen Zers drinking but as soon Ticky Tocky told Gen Zers to drink more healthily, than ALL of Gen Z stopped drinking whiskey simultaneously causing all this mess. 6-7 years worth of Gen Zers drinking and THAT is the cause for bankruptcy. Have the Boomers completely stopped drinking whiskey too? What about Gen Xers? I dunno how popular whiskey was with Gen X, but I do know that Gen X drank a lot when we were in our 20s. And from the Kentucky area only as the one from Tennessee aint really complainin' loudly about Gen Z being a problem. But he did complain about Canada dropping his brand from ALL Canadian liquor stores. He did laugh and say that Canadian sales do not account much anyway. But I didnt hear him complain about Gen Z at all in the beginning of this mess... So Gen Zers targeted Kentucky bourbon area distilleries only... When this first happened, NO article mentioned Gen Z about a possible problem... https://abcnews.go.com/Business/kentucky-bourbon-industry-caught-middle-global-tariff-war/story?id=119675707 https://globalnews.ca/news/11068673/donald-trump-tariffs-us-alcohol-canada/ https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2025/03/07/canada-spirits-rep-tariffs https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/food/spirits/bourbon/2025/02/03/canadas-decision-to-stop-buying-us-alcohol-will-hurt-kentucky-bourbon/78177222007/ https://theconversation.com/u-s-tariff-threat-how-it-will-impact-different-products-and-industries-248824 https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-kentucky-bourbon-trump-canada-europe-11bbb928bcacccb6ba35c31522783e14 Me thinks American journalism is trying to soften the blow about how shytty Trump really is and trying to lay blame elsewhere. Yeah. Hard NO to the excuse that Gen Z is causing a 9 billion dollar industry to go bust all of a sudden when its the world actually BOYCOTTING American whiskey BECAUSE of Trump's needless and useless tariff war. https://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article307948565.html This articles states that Jack Daniels erased a decades worth of growth. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jack-daniels-parent-sees-weight-loss-drugs-cannabis-hurting-liquor-sales-bce7beea This article blames weight loss drugs, cannabis and Gen Z. Yeah...coincidentally all those factors stopped a decades long growth JUST to end it on tic tok fads of last year. NOT because Tennessee is a Red State, and that the world has targeted to boycott Red State products. THIS is my opinion of course. You cant really blame me for being skeptical... Cheers with Canadian Club this time around Elbows Up!!!

Yeah, it's a mixed bag that the tariffs are putting a nail in the coffin for the smaller distilleries.

The mid-size claim is larger than a compact Maverick though. We will see what actually come out, but a larger vehicle for Maverick money is enticing. Did you miss the whole "a whole new way to assemble a vehicle" part? That literally was what made the Model T so well known, a new way to assemble a vehicle. You genuinely believe all three will be bankrupt by 2029?

Its about time?!

They said during the press conference that it was going to be ultra-high speed charging. Whether that matches them to Hyundai/Kia or beyond, I don't know.... but LFP batteries are those batteries in China that can do 1000kw charging.

I find this exciting as Ford needs something that works and is more reliable than their ICE product line with so many recalls. I wish they had expanded on the architecture. No info on if it is 400V or 800V or can handle both. Lots of details still to come I guess. If they keep is slow go in charging, I do not see it doing as well. Tesla is still ove 400V tech and one would have thought they would have upgraded the Y when they did their refresh for faster charging. Kia is fast to charge to 80% than Tesla. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

There's so much to digest with this: 1. This is a new way of assembling vehicles. The new production line is now a production tree with three branches that converge into one. 2. Ford has cut a lot of weight out of the platform. 4,000 fewer feet of wiring harness, 25% less fastener. Lower weight will mean more range with less battery. 3. LFP cells that are built in the US without cobalt or nickle. 4. Faster production, while overall production time will drop 15%, the assembly process will drop 40%. Ford will use some of that savings to in-source some component production. 5. 52,000 sq/ft expansion of Louisville facility. 6. Ford claims lower total cost to own than buying a 3-year old Model-Y. (I'd like to read the fine print on this one) 7. The way the components are assembled is now significantly more ergonomic, less twisting and bending for assembly workers. There was an audible gasp from someone in the crowd of assembly workers at the press event when the presenter said "You will never need to put a dash cluster through a door opening ever again". 8. The platform will allow many kinds of body styles including crossovers, sedans, and sport cars. The debut vehicle will arrive in 2027 as a mid-size truck.