G. David Felt

I have noticed the buses are almost empty but everyone is sitting with a few seats between them and others. Public Transit still running but everyone is using social distance even on the buses. WOW, yea that is scary, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Dell are still paying their hourly. They are using them to do deep cleans at the buildings and campuses for when people return to the office. I know not all companies can give work from home or sick days, but I wish they could. This bug will I still believe change habits for many people.

I have to disagree as I look at companies and what they pay for rent, power, etc. Once you realize how to reduce costs, increase profits and get the job done by folks who need to be in an office versus working from home. I think it will change some areas big time. I work in an office of 1200. Our 7 floors is $57K a month per floor or $399,000 a month. Plus our normal $75K a month Electric bill. We have a datacenter in our building and support is there 24/7. We could easily go to 1 or 2 floors and save a bundle on money. That kind of savings going to the bottom line will make many Tech companies rethink the need for office space. That then trickles down to local businesses, food services, etc. Once you change the way folks use things, it will affect especially in dense cities how and where people spend money. Folks that live in the suburbs that no longer go into the city will have clear affect on roads, services, etc. I think this will change the world.good or bad, it will change cause of this.

Soccer has now delayed their season for the next 30 days and will decide if like the NBA they cancel the rest of the season or not. Washington state, Social Distance is a requirement now at 6 ft away from people. No large group gatherings, etc., etc...................... Leadership incompetence at it's best in not putting educated leaders in charge of groups rather than idiots. 2020 is going to be a big change across all fronts from work, to social interaction, etc.

Upon seeing that auto, the only thing I can say or do is

Yes $3 billion is still not $6.8 Billion and not enough to be in the top 5 profitable auto companies. That puts them much lower compared to GM. And you were comparing it to GM now you change course and point at FCA. Stop moving the goal posts, how many years have people here told you that. R&D you want to bring up, sure lets use real facts and Statista is recognized as the best out there by the industry. So for 2019, MB spent 8.1 Billion across their complete product portfolio, not just EVs. GM spent only 6.8 billion on their total portfolio for 2019 or $1.3 billion less than MB and had a Net Profit of $9 billion for the year compared to Mercedes-Benz Pre-Net Profit of $7.2 billion per their own web site. This was before reducing it by $4.5 billion for legal / diesel gate with more expense to come in 2020. According to todays exchange rates, their $7.2 billion in pre-net profit ends up being $8.1 billion US or $.9 billion less than GM did which spent $1.3 billion less in R&D and has a selling EV called the BOLT.

WRONG WRONG WRONG, Mercedes-Benz only had a $2.7 Billion net profit in 2019 after charges. https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/record-mercedes-benz-sales-daimler Lets stop trying to compare oranges to apples by adding in all of Daimler. Auto company to auto company GM to Mercedes-Benz, GM wins at $9 Billion to $2.7 Billion. If ya do not like Fox News as a source, then lets go to Daimlers own site for actual real facts: https://annualreport.daimler.com/ar2019/combined-management-report/profitability/net-operating-profit# Even then, you had Daimlers Net Profit for 2019 way off: Even "The Gaurdian" news paper looked at Daimler and reports after charges Mercedes-Benz only had a net profit of $2.7 Billion. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/feb/11/profits-at-mercedes-benz-owner-daimler-slump-by-5bn Dividends have been slashed from $3.25 per share to .90 cents per share for 2019 payout. Sales were flat, Van division is in the dumps and there are additional diesel gate costs to come. Mercedes-Benz only sold 707,000 auto's in china last year far behind GM sales.

News is behind local news and the lawsuit the city filed against King County to stop them from buying the hotel and using it as a Covad19 site. Pretty much I think most of the cases will be handled at hospitals here. Course if the Idiots in DC and the Idiots in China did not delay and hid info from the states that had so much air travel, we could have probably kept it from getting so bad.

Seems no GERMAN BRANDS can be cost effective to own either. @smk4565 Seems your favorite brand is no where to be found in the top 5 most profitable auto companies in 2019. In order from #1: Toyota Motor Corporation with $17.5 Billion Volkswagen with $15.6 Billion General Motors Company with $9.0 Billion Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) with $5.6 Billion Honda Motor Company with $4.8 Billion https://www.investopedia.com/articles/company-insights/091516/most-profitable-auto-companies-2016-tm-gm.asp EVEN WITH A STRIKE, GM WAS MORE PROFITABLE THAN MERCEDES_BENZ

Current info on ATP's and Hyundai seems to beat the heck out of Mercedes-Benz. TO QUOTE: Average transaction prices (ATPs) in January started off 2020 much like they ended 2019: rising. The market saw a 3.5% year-over-year gain in January, to nearly $38,000. The gain was driven mostly by a heavier truck/SUV sales mix, as car share fell to 25% in January, down from 30% in January 2019. Both trucks and SUVs gained, as trucks rose to 19% of the market (up from 17% from January 2019), and SUVs climbed to 52% (up from 48%). Had the sales mix remained steady from a year ago, the year-over-year increase in ATPs would have only been about 1.5%. https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/average-new-vehicle-transaction-prices-up-3-5-year-over-year-in-january/

Yes Washington has it under control and no the Econo lodge hotel did not get bought to be used as a quarantine site. Right now the official state report is 29 dead with 297 infected and almost 1700 under quarantine at their homes awaiting test results. DC does not like the states releasing information to the press, but I am glad the states are not listening to the incompetance in DC. Over all Evergreen Hospital which is in front of the Assisted living for Seniors in their final months of life has done an outstanding job of healing those that could heal, making those in their final days comfortable and having no patient to patient infections or employees sick. Have a solid handle on this. State has banned any and all large gatherings, trade shows are canceled till June or July for in state, pretty much not bad. How is it in your part of the woods?

So tough looking FWD Appliance for your mom?

Chinese have EVs that are in that price range new as does Japan and South Korea. Americans have decided for an entry level price in the EVs they want 300 miles of range. For ICE auto's seems college kids want their parents luxury auto but cannot afford it. Not sure as much as I believe they need to have them that with all the crazy nanny safety devices you can get a 10 to 15K auto built like they do in the asian rim.

Yup, Masters is the new entry point for the Tech Industry it seems now. So glad I am not just starting out my career.

Ford has some cool history they updated to their Corporate home page. History is cool over headlights and taillights with nice old pics. https://corporate.ford.com/articles/history/exterior-lighting-history.html They continue the History theme with a Century of Progress page with pics and links. https://corporate.ford.com/articles/history/century-of-progress.html Ford then goes Modern with covering their new 3D printed locking lug nuts. https://corporate.ford.com/articles/products/3d-printed-locking-wheel-nuts.html Ford is wrapping up their home page of info with w Driving Skills for Life 2020 tour that will help new drivers learn better driving skills. 80 training camps across 18 cities for the year. https://corporate.ford.com/articles/community/ford-driving-skills-for-life-safe-driving-tour.html

GM has updated web page on their new EV modular platform, Ultium Batteries and more. Good info, nice pictures of the tech. https://www.gm.com/our-stories/commitment/ev-battery-modular-technology.html

Good read here on the market: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-street-tumbles-dow-confirms-bear-market-idUSKBN20Y1FR Boeing freezes hiring, draws down on loans due to Max and Coronavirus issues. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-737max-cuts-exclusive/boeing-to-freeze-hiring-as-cash-woes-mount-over-coronavirus-737-max-idUSKBN20Y2LE?il=0

I agree with you on that about CPO's, sadly we seem to have two camps on this, ones that are all about the badge and will buy CPO and those that want new from the start, but really cannot afford it due to the debt load they are carrying from College. Crazy that college students think they have to live the same life parents provided at home growing up or feel they have to go to some private, big name college and get a no demand education at 6 figures. Had some interviews for job openings here in Seattle where the candidates talked up how high and mighty their Masters in European art was and ignored how it would benefit them for the actual job they were applying for. Seems that many young college students with no technical skill, thinks just because it is a masters degree, they are a shoo in for a job. Passed on all candidates as none would really grasp the technical needs of the job we have.

Dow Drops 6.6%, down 20% now and they say we are officially in BEAR territory. https://www.barrons.com/articles/treasury-bonds-sell-off-with-stocks-thats-not-supposed-to-happen-51583946108 https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/the-dow-enters-bear-market-territory-during-wednesday-trading-2020-03-11 Recession anyone? ? Will say this, my 401K investment from each weeks paycheck will buy me lots more now for my far, far, far in the future retirement.

Wish there was as I think this is the market of Fresh out of College that is being ignored right now by the auto industry.

Easy, tight interior room, poor interior layout. Only hard core Tesla fans buy the X and pay the crazy price. Northwest has a vary tall population. You will find most men at 6' or taller and with the Tesla X as to why I never bought is that once I was in the front, you had maybe 2" of space between the back of the front seat and the rear bottom seat pad. No one can sit behind a tall person. Tesla in this regards has made an ERROR in sizing the interior seats for an average 5' 8" tall even though their beloved CEO is 6'2" tall, no one can sit behind him. Plus price along with quality is the other point.

Your showing a very narrow understanding of this country in saying no charging network. Midwest is lacking I agree. East coast is growing and west coast has them all over. I see no problem especially since with the right auto's most people will charge at home. Yet out on a road trip, you can find many level 3 chargers even in remote areas. I have published this before over the last 5 to 10 years: http://westcoastgreenhighway.com/electrichighway.htm States are also making it very clear on the growth of charging networks like this site: https://goelectric.oregon.gov/charge-your-ev Plus we DO NOT need Charging stations like gas stations when you can have charging at so many various places like Malls, work, restaurants, etc. https://www.plugincars.com/ultimate-guide-electric-car-charging-networks-126530.html @Drew Dowdell Has repeatably stated this is a change in thinking and ICE thinking is not the approach you need to take with EVs. In regards to your no chance in hell, NO ONE has seen what this interior is capable of and yet we have seen the interiors of the New Escalade, so clearly there is capability there.

Love tech, Toyota new system for building HD road maps for supercruise like auto driving is impressive. One has to wonder how GM is doing it. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/toyota-self-driving-car-mapping-system-satellite/ Iron Hand is the cool new tech GM is using to reduce repetitive hand injuries on the assembly line. Very cool tech read. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/gm-ironhand-robotic-grip/

Who says no one will buy a $200,000 Cadillac sedan? You sound like SMK making assumptions where there is no proof yet.

More Tesla News - Seems Tesla is looking at Central USA for building their CyberTruck and Semi. https://electrek.co/2020/03/10/tesla-build-cybertruck-central-usa-possibly-texas/ Even with Covad19 virus, Tesla is moving forward with expansion to meet demand and add Semi truck and cybertruck building to the Shanghai plant on top of added battery production capacity along with all power plant production and more. https://electrek.co/2020/03/11/tesla-gigafactory-shanghai-drone-video-massive-new-building/#more-125964 Seems that Motorcycle companies are getting into the electric bike business where they are reasonable in price, averaging $1,688 per bike. They can go 20 mph on throttle alone or 25 mph with pedal assist. Have to say, they are pretty cool bikes. https://electrek.co/2020/03/11/csc-ft750-electric-bicycle-review-csc-motorcycles/ First Mustang Mach e review https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-mustang-mach-e-awd-suv-electric-ev-ridealong/ Have to say after reading this, I am more excited to see one in person and test drive it. I am really liking the looks of this EV! Seems 6 out of 10 buyers for the first year are conquest buyers from other EVs.

Seems some think the Covad19 virus will slow down the release and change to EVs. https://electrek.co/2020/03/10/coronavirus-threatens-momentum-for-electric-vehicles/