A Horse With No Name

...or a baseball bat. Chris

Agreed, but that goes for the Chevy truck and the Ram also. Civic is up, Prius is way up, Accord is up, Camry is up...this could be a very, very good time for the Aura and Malibu. Not to mention the Astra, as we discussed in another thread. Chris

Don't feel too bad, newer product is helping. Focus is doing well, Fusion is doing well, Edge is doing well...it will be some tough sledding for Ford, but I wouldn't put them down for the count yet. Chris

Agree on the Astra. Hopefully the weak dollar won't kill it. But 30,000 won't glut the market, just the reverse. MINI only sells 30,000/40,000 cars here annually and those things hold value forever, it seems like. It would be a huge win for Saturn if they could have a desireable small car with great fuel efficiency and huge resale value. This could be very profitable for both GM and its customers. Chris

Nothing would be better long term for the economy than $5.00 per gallon gas. We need to start conserving NOW. The problem for the dollar would not exist if we hadn't been sending so many overseas. Chris

Oddly enough the 80's-90's Cadillacs seem to have about zero resale around here. We've been doing a lot of remodel work lately, and I am a commercial electrician. We've been scraping a lot of copper wire, and ACE iron and metal where we take our wire scraps a lot of cars here in Columbus. I've seen a lot of very clean Caddy's crushed whole because no one wants them. Recently a very clean 95 came in on a trailer with a tranny slip, car was pristine otherwise. Guy took $400 for the car, handed over the title and they crushed it whole while I was standing there. We work for a customer who also buys and sells Cutlass/Monte Carlo (the real kind, with V8 and RWD) on the side as a business. He can't keep the cars around, and even ratty cars are bringing $1500/$2000 if they run. That customer just crushed 3 caddy's (1991, 1994, 1996) that he had taken in trade/bought off the street because he couldn't sell them/no one wanted them. Also, I thought of Sixty-eight the last time I was at ACE. They were crushing everything in the yard as fast as possible because they are getting new scales next week. Someone dropped off what looked like a very restorable early 1940's Lincoln. God knows why they dropped it off or if it is still there, but I thought of Sixty Eight when I saw that. Sadly enough I also watched what looked like a clean 3rd gen Firebird with very little damage go into the crusher when I was there also. Sorry for the rant, just sad to see these cars go. Chris

Pontiac and Buick still look to be down a good bit for the year. Aveo sales are way up, and Cobalt is holding its own in a weak economy. IMHO GM can't bring better/refreshed new small cars fast enough. Overall not bad for a weak economy. Chris

As a Scion owner I find this Ironic. They sold 130,000 Scions after claiming that they were going to "Scale back" and only sell 150,000 a year. Too bad Toyota won't admit the new xB and the new xD are duds. Also too bad that many people are passing up the Malibu and Fusion for a Camry. Chris

Given everything else they do, nothing much suprises me from Chrysler... Chris

I agree 100 percent with the change in thinking thing. Also agree that living in a 40 story condo would suck ass in a major sort of way. However, a world where everyone commutes long distance in an SUV in un-sustainable. Methinks the answer is somewhere in the middle. But again we've got to start changing our behavior NOW so things don't come crshing down on our heads in the near future. How many people have leased fuel inefficient vehicles that will be really screwed in a major sort of way if gas goes to $4.75 per gallon? Chris

I haven't given up hope as Camino suggests, but I do believe the future of transport will be very, very different than what we think. RWD vehicles with big V8's will go the way of the dinosaur in the next ten-20 years. Bank on it. $200 per barrel plus for oil will be here. When it gets here the trade in Value of your Tahoe will be effectively Zero. We will have other sources of energy, but what we really need/will get are mass transit, a national rail system with decent national passenger service, small cars like the Honda Fit, the Smart Car, etc. This is coming no matter how hard the old school nay-sayers try to deny it. It's nuts that CAFE is not higher RIGHT NOW. We should have made it higher back when Carter was president. Chris

That CR-Z...I want one...now... Chris

Or perhaps even longer. With higher energy prices, good paying jobs going overseas, our national debt, a war in Iraq that won't go away, and our inability to elect anyone other than the worst to the presidency (yeah, that's you W) things may be bad for a long, long time. Chris

I see a permanant sales slide. Chris

Another late 70's Cadillac would do you nicely. Too bad you sold the yellow one... Chris

Can I have my Volt now, Mr. Lutz? Chris

Kia is perhaps the sleaziest car company of all time. Chris

I am there with you... Chris

Again, mindless whining about the HHR from some of the same sources...not mentioning anyone by name...but... Like you pointed out in our other thread the HHR is a budget priced vehicle. We'd all like 10 large in additional interior appointments so we could spend 17k on it and drive a mini BMW. But thqat just ain't gonna happen. Line up a 65 Ford Galaxy, a 65 Fury and a 65 GTO. Many of the same visual design cues exist (Quad stacked headlights canted forward, for one.) the HHR is in some ways more different from its competition than cars of the classical era. It damned sure isn't like the Mazda 3, Caliber, xB, or the Element. Not sure that I can say it is really all that copycat. Interior is in my honest opinion much more nicely laid out than the PT. Loading the rear is much more practical/space efficient, for one. It's late and I am rambling, but it is time to cut the whining and be glad we have this in the gm lineup. It's a nice addition. Chris

Our GMC Safari van was actually bought low milage used from the local Honda dealer (it was an Odysea trade in). I've stayed in touch with the salesman, see him around town once in awhile. He says he's never sold an Element to anyone UNDER 45. Interesting. There are lots of Scion owners over 50... But your right, who cares too much about the age of the owner. What counts is the vehicle, and C and D is much more balanced. I usually don't even read Edmonds. I find Road and Track and C and D to be somewhat useful. Besides, I still like the recognition the Bu, the CTS, and the C6 have gotten from C and D. I think that they were all ten best. Chris

Ditto on alternate fuels and transportation infrastructure... Chris

Believe it or not, the 18 and 20 year olds where I work just love the Lucerne and think its God's own original hot car. I believe that you are possibly an agnostic/atheist like I am, but I think you've found your true "missionary calling." Let's spread the Gospel of Buick...starting with that Ultra. My parents live in NC and you need to picture yourself driving that thing on a sunny May day on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Chris

But let's not rule out flex fuel yet. We have lots of vehicles on the road that can use this technology right now. I think people are getting a little down on biofuels (esp E85) because they have a few teething problems. Developing a Butenol distilling process would take time and adjustment. Also really like the idea of helping farmers every way we can. A world that includes self sustaining and profitable farms beats the hell out of a world filled with 9 billion subdivisions along with the ubiquitous strip malls with Wallmarts. Chris

...and really, if one wanted to buy an asian Utility type vehicle why not just buy a Mazda 3 wagon and be done with it? Much better handling and fuel economy than a cute ute, good looks, well built, well priced... Or just piss off the naysayers and buy a HHR. The HHR is much more user friendly in my honest opinion than any of the cute utes. Chris

...then buy one. Like we told Paolino in another thread, you might as well drive a car you love. Methinks the new Bu might just be worth your love...about 5 years worth at about $450 a month... Chris