Hmm, turbo eh?  Makes me wonder if because of that it would technically fall under the sports car category for insurance purposes.  Hopefully, the range of hybrid cars/trucks available expands in the next few years because it seems quite likely that when I get around to buying my first vehicle on my own that it will be some type of hybrid.

gas prices remain around the $3.00 a gallon range

Ha! 97 pence a litre = approx £4.50 a gallon = $7

I agree hopefully hybrids do take off.  If you want to see something really cool on hybrid engines check out http://www.scuderigroup.com/.  There engine is an air hybrid that helps to solve the efficiency problem combustion engines have had for the last century.

Webs: Their engine is an air hybrid that helps to solve the efficiency problem combustion engines have had for the last century.

Ta, mate. Great video.
See S-Sadie? All is not lost.
Try not to lose sight of the fact the USA is not the centre of the known universe and, you can always come to OZ. We always need more wickered pagans.

Gas is old news. Diesels in europe already get 50-60mpg WITHOUT this silly “Hybrid” technology.

Once the car makes figure out that they need to build Diesel-Electric cars, gas engines will be dust in the wind.

I don’t mean diesel-electric like the cheap jap style hybrid. Think railroad locomotive. Constant speed diesel engine powering an electric generator with AC (Or DC) traction motors at the wheels. Locomotives already get roughly 1mpg. Does not sould like much, but that’s pretty darn impressive pulling 5 MILLION pounds.

Moloch: Gas is old news.

Coupla weeks ago my mate’s bother who has the BMW dealership out this way took us f’ra quick trip in the latest 7 series DEISEL sedan.
Fucking quick is all I can say. It growled whilst sounding nothing like a diesel.

Any truth to the rumor in Arab newspapers that the version of the new Prius to be sold in Israel will run on the blood of Arab Children? Or that the version sold in south Florida will run on Metamucil??

Heh, somehow I doubt both rumors, but of the two the Metamucil one sounds like a great idea.

Toyota Prius then it is, my husband.  When we can afford to get another auto!

Mrs SEB: When we can afford to get another auto!

I grin now, everytime I see this word auto, since seeing the VW ads in a Cherman accent saying “unpimp your auto”.

i wonder when they will start making affordable efficient cars.  oh, and that actually look good.

Care about American workers’ benefits?

Do you care whether American workers recieve enough healthcare coverage? retirement benefits? good working conditions?

Compare Toyota with any American Car Brand.
Don’t buy Toyota.  It’s wholly unAmerican.
Toyota is completely Anti-Worker.

Actually I have compared Toyota with any American car brand. That’s part of why I’m considering a Toyota. The fact that they’re building a new R&D center here in Michigan is another reason. The fact that they’re about to build a new plant in the States (with Michigan among the considerations) is another reason.

Oh Rob, in case you actually care, Honda is building a new plant in Illinois.  The Foreign auto vs. National auto thing is pointless.  The world is flat wake up.

Read my post again.
And, then read this…
http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2004/09/articles/d.html

I’ve read your post, Rob, and I’m aware that Toyota is non-union. You seem to forget that I’m no big fan of unions. If the folks at Toyota feel they’re getting a fair shake without a union to represent them then more power to them. It’s not like they can’t organize later if things change.

Having grown up in Detroit I can say that quite often unions do as much harm as good to a company and its workers. Right now we’re watching Northwest Airlines struggle through bankruptcy and the renegotiation of union contracts. Northwest flight attendants just rejected the latest proposal from Northwest that contained major pay cuts the airline says is necessary for it to stay afloat. Northwest is considering asking a judge to allow them to throw out the old contacts and impose concessions directly on the flight attendants who have threatened to strike if the judge agrees to let it happen. It’s a strike that Northwest probably wouldn’t be able to survive.

To make matters worse, another competing union is trying to convince flight attendants to drop their current union (Professional Flight Attendants Association) and join the Association of Flight Attendants, while yet a third union thinks the flight attendants should keep their current union and merge it with the Transport Workers Union of America.

The upshot is that Northwest is going to get it’s concessions one way or another and it appears the law is on their side. The real question becomes will the union work with Northwest or not and if it refuses to do so and Northwest imposes concessions then will they strike and kill the company? Northwest is also petitioning the court to declare that the workers cannot legally strike.

Yes, the cuts being asked for are huge, but they’re still better than the company going out of business altogether. At the very least if they agree and keep the airline running it buys them some time to find a job someplace else if they’re not happy with the cuts.

So the fact that Toyota isn’t unionized isn’t a problem in my book. If the workers are happy then I don’t see the need. You’ll have to come up with a better reason than that for me to scratch them off my list of consideration.

Wow.

You mean you didn’t hear that, while they asked for pay cuts from their workers, Northwest Airline’s CEO’s recieved....  bonuses!

Hypocrisy reigns supreme, supported by non-Unionized American workers.

Clap-clap-clap

Last year the median pay of Northwest CEOs grew 29.7 percent. That includes a 41.9 percent increase in the median value of their stock options.

http://texis.seattletimes.nwsource.com/nw100/static/ceopay/ceomain2005.html

When workers become *involved*, unions do certainly work.  You forget that i’m for workers’ rights. You should be too.

Want more sources regarding your bad example of NW Airlines?

Hey Rob I saw the article you linked, but where are the sources that Mike Parker used to write his piece.  There is no way to fact check what he wrote without doing some leg work ourself, which is rediculous, the burden should be on him.  I also like how Mr Parker is a member of UAW, so for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, don’t expect an un-biased opinion.

As for Unions, I am for the right of people to unionize, but whether or not a company has a union is not going to sway my opinion of where I shop, since I have close friends that worked in unions where people get paid to sit around and do nothing.  Where my friend’s dad was told to stop working so hard, because they would finish the job ahead of schedule and under budget.

Uh, Rob, you really should spend more time reading your sources before citing them. Take another look at your link.

The article you’re citing is about companies in the Northwest and not about Northwest Airlines. NWA is headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota which is, ironically enough, a Midwestern State.

So, yes, I wold like more sources. Perhaps some that actually pertain to your claim. Try again.

The facts speak for themselves.  A bias doesn’t necessarily distort the facts that the article cited.  Learn to distinguish between the two.

Oh, and just google northwest ceo compensation union

This is too easy sometimes.
Think less with emotions.

I’ll make it American-Easy:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2003/2003-03-27-nwa-bonus.htm
The top two executives of Northwest Airlines got large increases in their compensation in 2002, angering the union leaders the company is lobbying for wage and work rule concessions.

The bulk of the pay for both executives came from options on stock that cannot be sold for years and would require the shares to rise in value in order for Anderson and Steenland to profit. But Northwest in 2002 made that prospect easier by lowering the price the stock would have to reach in order to exercise the options.

--
http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/articles/69?POSTNUKESID=9fd30047eb79fb48debbdd0992b91b65
The fear is that other companies will be more emboldened towards replacing their unionized workers with cheaper labor, now that Northwest has gotten away with it. As one AMFA rep said: “Every company in the United States will go down this same path. It’s the same as when they were able to shed their responsibility for pensions. United has dumped their huge pension obligation on the taxpayers. US Air did it, and GM’s talking about it, now Ford’s talking about it, so if it works for the airlines, why wouldn’t they all jump on board?” Frank, again speaking more direct: “If we fail, you’re going to see a major domino effect in big business all across America. They’re gonna treat their employees the way Northwest has treated us.”

--
http://www.cwa-union.org/exec-compensation/
Excellent tables outlining compensation by some US industries, like the Airlines!

--
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/apr2003/amer-a26.shtml
Meanwhile, Northwest Airlines has tabled its own demands for $6.18 billion in labor savings from its unions through 2009, after posting a first quarter loss of $396 million. Citing the example of American and United, Northwest is also threatening to file bankruptcy, while its two top executives received a combined $2.5 million increase in compensation last year.

--
http://www.citypages.com/databank/26/1272/article13199.asp
The outlook is especially bleak for the mechanics, but Northwest hopes to cut wages and benefits for most of its employees. The airline’s stated goal is to carve $1 billion a year from its payroll. But Northwest probably will not be reducing executive compensation as part of that fight.

In October, Northwest CEO Richard Anderson announced he was stepping down to take the number-three job at UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka. His compensation from 2001 to 2003 at Northwest had totaled $6.5 million. (Three other executives, including Anderson’s successor, Steenland, earned almost as much.) Northwest was poised to continue to lose money, however, while UnitedHealth’s fortunes seem limitless: According to Star Tribune accounts, revenues are expected to reach $45 billion this year and $50 billion next year. Its CEO earned $94.2 million in 2003.

Northwest, by many measures (even those siding with Northwest’s bankruptcy-for-profit-strategy (see my first post) cite the fact of strangely present CEO compensation in the face of… of… bankruptcy.  Why, they even lowered the price at which their CEO’s can sell stocks.

Northwest is a rich, str8-whitemen’s club, so typical in American corps.  They’re raping the American worker.

What’s worse, the American worker (see above posts) is defending their own fiscal rape. Some might argue these workers are getting their just reward.

I know i do.