regfootball

side airbags and stability control is becoming a necessity in many classes now. Even cars like the Fusion get ripped for not having them standard like the Sonata, which is the new annointed one. Not having ABS standard is a major faux pas. People want keyless entry AND all the safety features standard, and within a year or two it will be the accepted norm. And, obviously, you must not ever have been close to woman. All women, especially ones with children, are huge into auto safety and women affect more car purchase decisions than men. Moms with newborns, safety is like their number one criteria. sadly enough, rear wheels drive and smoky burnouts don't even make the top twenty wants in most people's new cars........but safety is right up there at the top.

thanks

Fisker, they make scissors too. COOL.

ultimately, it simply boils down to that. setting aside the gross abuse of CEO and executive pay. The unions would love to think their pay is intertwined to what execs make. No, its not. The execs will get their pay no matter what. They are ruthless and will find ways to do it with whatever company they can. Its not the job of the union to turn it into a war on execs, it deflects attention from what the union workewr should be paid on a competitive basis. Its not the union's job to use negotiations for their rank and files' jobs as hostage for some sort of lame, amateur class warfare. If we are going to wage warfare of class or whatever on CEO pay, it must occur through public opinion, the media and and all the general sentiment and population. That's the only source of pressure that can affect change, and its mainstream, and not cheesy as it owuld be if the union tried to do it themselves. A union trying to fight that battle is a joke, because all the non-union folks are sitting there watching the tv saying, 'why are all those union people bitching about the executive pay and their own pay? they make assloads more than I do already! How am I supposed to feel for them?' It becomes anti-union angst. People today are too sophisticated to fall for the 'troubled worker' bit. Its so 'early industrial revolution'. In 2005, you have to fuck with people's minds and spoonfeed them info of what you want them to believe in press, marketing, advertising, legal affairs, the courts, schools, you have to wage your wars on cerebral levels with all the soccer moms and testosteroneless makeup wearing men. Threats don't work on the American mind anymore. People are like so, 'whatever', as they sip on their mochas. Example, how else does Toyota sell so many cars? Mental subterfuge. Our tools for fighting wars are the press and internet, mommies during playgroup, college lectures, 'industry experts', and communications reduced down to headlines but with graphic snapshots or video that are emotionally motivating. But not to the point where someone goes, 'they're so clueless'. Listen, if we want to affect a change in the exec pay abuse, let's leave that out of union disputes because it has little relevance there to the general population...let's take it to the court of opinion. Let's creat a one hour show each week on NBC or something and show 4 execs and detail their excessive pay, what they actually do for a living, what they spend it on, how they live. Let's invade these people's private lives and make them spectacles. Let's detail exactly why Bill McGuire making 60 mill a year or whatever drives up the cost of some poverty stricken woman's healthcare. Let's write novels about it in our editorial pages. Let's step up our examinations of these folks financial and tax records. Let's SPRINGERIZE IT. Let's bring em down that way. Not through unions. put these bastards on the spot. if they think they are entitiled to earn that much and go unscathed and not have their rectums examined in the public opinion court.....if they are going to rob the public, then maybe the public should go on the offensive and make these folks exposed in every way, personal and private. If they are good people, then it will show. If they are truly bastards, then it will be a powerful statement of how morally reprehensible some can be. Not all execs are bad. But too many are way overpaid. Let's hold the overpaid to a higher standard and put them under the microscope. You know, in some cases, you'd see how much some of these folks give to charity.

i don't have the link, but i saw a headline that said HHR was on sales pace for 100k units. maybe someone can find it. it was automotive news, i don't have access to that site.

yup the focus and cobalt test the same on front and side impact, without the side airbags.

yup, its got ancient styling too. it absolutely pains me to say it, but the Lexus is the car to have here. fastest, probably looks the best, has a nice interior. it needs awd and a manual tranny, but if you like RWD and auto its fine. I like the CTS and must say I can't wait for the next one. The BMW lacks style, apparently had all sorts of glitches and has a stupid interior.

that 2 door version is wicked. i LOVE it. the 'c pillar' shape looks suspiciously Saaby, or kinda Euro like the outgoing 3 series coupe. Maybe this thing will be a Saab at some point. GM/Saturn needs this thing NOW. NOW THAT would be an awesome Vibe or Torrent.

.oops

maybe. or a year below? Kristi/Kristine? she's NOT one of the head cases. Very nice! I know this, she interned here this summer where i work. All the guys thought she was pretty cool. Of course, many of them thought she was quite fetching too. I only talked to her a couple times but she seemed very nice and NOT messed in the head. YOU should find out who she is and say hi. you can say opus sent you. I should dig back thru my email and see if any other Iowaegian State students interned with us this summer.

he's young, my nickel was on 9:05

Mustang, I forgot you were Iowa State......you know Kristi K? 3rd year?

other segments of the market need GM's resources more right now. They could put a real motor in the G6, for example.

ED? isn't that a term from Viagra ads?

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!

yeah, but now it is such a standard, and the standard work week is 40 hours, that everyone is used to it and anyone who tried to go back to slave labor days, the public wouldn't give them the time of day. Your point is that unions brought great change to the labor world. They did, but it was all a long time ago.

don't waste the time GM.

was that Golden Girls or GOLDEN SHOWER girls? oops. flashbacks to my porn producer days!!!!!!!!! blu, hope it works out, don't fear the sticky situation......!

how much time do we have?

while I feel its mostly fair for folks to always get cost of living increases........the forces in your case might be external that say, 'we can do the same work for cheaper'. When unions organize, they also become bigger 'one stop shops' for the folks looking for cost cutting. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

if you can, clean the wax out of your eardrums and reread anywhere where i said 'razoredge is pond scum' right. I didn't. What I did say is, we all had choices to make at the beginning of our adulthood. While any of our choices don't make us 2nd class citizens, clearly making different choices at that time has consequences for the rest of our lives in terms of earning potential from that point on. I went to college like lots of others. Yet say, a pharmacist will make 50-100% more $$$ than what I make. Does that make me a cretin? No, but perhaps I should have taken it upon myself to maybe make a better decision back then as far as choices for the long haul. There's plenty of information out there to suggest to each and every one of us, 'flipping burgers you will make lots less money over your lifetime than being a middle manager for Proctor and Gamble'. We can use youth and our influences growing up as reasons why we maybe made some different choices, but what I was saying is twofold, you gotta own up to your decisions from the past and two, if the career you're in turns out to not be lucrative, get a new career and stop blaming others for the low pay because there was likely plenty to suggest to you over time to make a decision for yourself to live with it and be happy or get out and make a change. The market changes for no one. you must change for the market. Union stands never seem to reflect some of the realities of the markets they attemtp to serve.

here in the past we've had mug shots of this thing on here.....but here's some newer photos anyways. its like they took my aztek and mated it to a BMW x5....

a cobalt or ion or focus can more than hold its own on the interstates at customary cruising speeds. and, if there's a crosswind, they won't blow off the road, either. that's ok, if anyone in the US is driving a smart, hopefully their insurance rates are adjusted appropriately (i.e. MUCH HIGHER), so when the carnage does occur, we're not all stuck paying for the miscalculation.

great post. I think a 'G4' would differentiate itself nicely with a Stage 2 ecotec, 6 speed manual, distinct charcoal interior and killer seats. 18's...too. Pontiac should make the Ecotec an option on the vibe. i know its had to do being a toyota and all, but a 2.4 ecotec in the vibe would be so much more attractive than the torqueless beeoch in the vibe right now.

Queen says no Pursuit, but its easy enough to just call it a G4......I agree, Pontiac owuld regain those sunfire sales with a G4 or similar.