USA TODAY:Gas costs fuel hybrid sales / Detroit spins wheels

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by bookrats, Apr 13, 2005.

  1. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    [font=Courier New:2a6b2014fa]
    "To make matters worse, Detroit is not only lagging in hybrids, it's leading in the kind of gas-guzzling road hogs whose sales are off by more than 20% this year. And to add yet more misery, Detroit can't seem to market what it does have in the way of environmentally friendly cars. In 2003, for instance, Ford came up with a version of its Focus that has virtually no tailpipe emissions. But some two years later, the car is largely unknown to the driving public.

    For these and other reasons, a gloom has descended over Detroit. Both Ford and GM have slashed their earnings estimates for the year. Both have seen their credit ratings cut to one grade above junk, and the companies' stock prices have cratered.

    Detroit's cars are far better than they were in the 1970s. But its recent troubles have an almost deja vu-like quality to them. Detroit may not be making any Pintos these days. But neither can it seem to make a car like the Prius, which generates real passion."
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    Full article
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    One of the most consistently complimentary articles about the Prius (and Toyota) I've seen from the mainstream media (and USA Today is about as mainstream as it gets.)
     
    #1 bookrats, Apr 13, 2005
  2. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Re: USA TODAY:Gas costs fuel hybrid sales / Detroit spins wh

    Jeff:

    Good article.

    Since I'm old enough to remember the *first* OPEC oil price crunch, I sadly shake my head over this mess. It truly is deja vu, and the worst part is that we've danced this dance before with the Big Three.

    Even if a gallon of regular unleaded dropped to 82 cents a gallon tomorrow - a pipe dream to be sure - I'd still like my Prius and still enjoy driving it. I've had my fill of giant SUV's and pickup trucks that are almost impossible to drive in city traffic.

    And have you ever noticed that after a blizzard, usually you see a 4x4 pickup or giant SUV t**s up in a ditch? So much for the myth of the "safer" large vehicle, you can't argue with Physics.

    Jay
     
    #2 jayman, Apr 14, 2005
  3. Prolene

    Prolene New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman\";p=\"81321)</div>
    Wow, imagine the cost for the Prius fillup with that! My last fill would have cost $7.15 US after having driven over 500 miles! Yes!
     
    #3 Prolene, Apr 14, 2005
  4. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    Now, I wonder if GM will pull their advertising from USA Today?
     
    #4 bookrats, Apr 15, 2005
  5. TCD

    TCD Junior Member

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    Howdy,

    Well I'm dating myself but... I remember $.29 a gallon gas (and occasionally under $.20 "gas wars"). Your air and oil checked and your windows cleaned. Chevron had real 130-octane gas.

    When they were finished “servicing your car†they gave you a glass or some other "gift"! This was in CA where you could pump you own and save more...

    I would fill up my Honda 160 Scrambler for less than a dollar...

    Oh What A Feeling!
     
    #5 TCD, Apr 16, 2005
  6. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    weirdo!!

    hehehehe....sorry couldnt resist :)
     
    #6 DaveinOlyWA, Apr 16, 2005
  7. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    Probably, that's been their response to all the bad press so far!
     
    #7 Frank Hudon, Apr 16, 2005
  8. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    I remember that.

    Well, I remember that but not firsthand as a driver, but as a passenger in the back seat. My Dad would always manage to find gas for less than 20¢ a gallon AND we'd get glasses AND green stamps. We had a whole set of the antique car glasses. Balboa and Clairemont Dr had gas stations on each corner. We'd hit the Shell the most. It think that Shell station is the only one that remains.

    The dealerships used to give you stuff too. My parents bought a Ford and we have three ceramic Ford Dog piggy banks that were dealer incentive gifts. It looks like a shaggy Sheepdog standing up with it's paw in a bag with "Ford" on it. There are three, ostensibly for us three kids, but we're all over 40 now and still now banks. My Dad filled them with buffalo nickels and won't empty them and hand them over. I think he considers them our "inheritance".
     
    #8 Godiva, Apr 16, 2005
  9. Kablooie

    Kablooie Member

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    Re: USA TODAY:Gas costs fuel hybrid sales / Detroit spins wh

    When I was 5 years old I ran away from home. On the way I stopped at a Richfield gas station and got a really cool sputnik pipe thing. You blew in the pipe and the sputnik would hover over the bowl.

    I was picked up by the police later that evening and taken home to a house filled with my parent's friends and relatives. They all went crazy when I returned but all I was interested in was showing them the cool sputnik pipe from the gas station.

    Ah, the old days. Our minds were much simpler then.
     
    #9 Kablooie, Apr 16, 2005
  10. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Dave:

    Don't knock it till you try it ...

    Jay
     
    #10 jayman, Apr 16, 2005
  11. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    Well, in my case, I've done all I can to be consistent. :mrgreen:

    (Great story, BTW. I know I ran away from home for an afternoon; my Dad saw where I was hiding, and just let me be. I have wise parents.)
     
    #11 bookrats, Apr 17, 2005
  12. Sufferin' Prius Envy

    Sufferin' Prius Envy Platinum Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TCD\";p=\"81739)</div>
    Yea, that brings back memories of laying down in the back of the Chevy Impala station wagon. We would watch the mechanical number wheels spin slowly while counting the price and gallons being pumped. The meter would ring a bell every time another dime worth was pumped . . . it seemed to take forever between dings!

    It’s a good thing they no longer have the dime tolling bell . . . gas stations would sound like a casino!


    .
     
    #12 Sufferin' Prius Envy, Apr 17, 2005
  13. kidtwist

    kidtwist New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy\";p=\"82183)</div>
    This is off topic, but thinking back to those old gas stations reminds me cross country family road trips and those old Coca Cola machines, the kind that sold them in bottles. Every gas station seemed to have them. You'd put in your ten cents and open a glass door and pull out a bottle of soda of your choice. It always tasted so good that way.

    :p
     
    #13 kidtwist, Apr 18, 2005
  14. Hornhonker

    Hornhonker New Member

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    Re: USA TODAY:Gas costs fuel hybrid sales / Detroit spins wh

    Really getting off topic but I remember the 5 cent draft beer !!
     
    #14 Hornhonker, Apr 20, 2005
  15. Kablooie

    Kablooie Member

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    Re: USA TODAY:Gas costs fuel hybrid sales / Detroit spins wh

    Does anyone else remember when Ceasar's head was on our coins?
     
    #15 Kablooie, Apr 20, 2005
  16. prius04

    prius04 New Member

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    Sid?
     
    #16 prius04, Apr 20, 2005
  17. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    No, the salad. :mrgreen:
     
    #17 bookrats, Apr 20, 2005
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