Clearly not as good as any half ton pickup but it can still do truck things. I'd say its more of a ute than anything though.

Completely agree with everything you said except for the last bit. I would argue fuel efficiency mandates of any sort aren't necessary as market demand will dictate what fuel economy consumers desire.

My point is, its quite fast for a truck and that in my opinion (albeit as an owner) its a pretty fun and practical vehicle.

haha thanks. Surprisingly, I get tons of compliments when I the SSR. My other car gets more looks but is a tad more polarizing (is that possible) and thus gets less compliments.

Thats silly fast compared to my other cars. And it really can't be compared to a miata since its trunk is probably 15 times as large and has a power folding hard top.

No offense taken. Well- 400 horse V8, manual transmission, hardtop convertible, and enormous waterproof locking bed. It is the PERFECT road trip vehicle and I love the way it looks. It gets a ton of compliments on the road as well.

Agreed-

I usually take it to the welding supply place to get new gas tanks. Also take it to home depot depending on what I'm buying. It's not meant for hauling though. I've taken the metal bed cover off before and put mopeds in the back. Its a really good road trip car because you have the biggest locked trunk ever.

I don't know there's a lot of pot steel, toxic plastics, and faulty airbags in China (although the Japanese have had problems with these as well), I could make a longer list. Bottom line is China is not known for the safety or quality of their products and no matter what you tell safety nuts, you won't be able to…

Thought of that as well. Very true.

I really like mine. It packs a punch with the 390 HP LS2 and a 6 speed manual.

False. It was a pretty damn good SUV-

It was an is a good hot-rod once they put the LS2 in it.

I find it particularly ironic that Volvo- the company best known for safety - will be the first to do this. Aside from luxury shoppers, I think volvo customers are the least likely to tolerate a chinese car.

awesome 80!

very good point

Funny I wrote my thesis on US vs. Japanese industrial policy in the auto industry and touched on CAFE as an example of terrible U.S. regulation that burdened domestic industry while fostering the adoption of imported vehicles.

One big issue with Aluminum is cost. Sure it's been used on all the things you listed, I don't doubt the physical properties of the material. But Ram will have an extra $1,000 plus dollars of margin built into every truck they sell.

Yup well said and very true. I think its the biggest force shaping product development and R&D at the OEMs right now.

Couldn't agree more. I think its good for Chrysler to continue to push themselves to be a full line OEM that is competitive in all segments. That's one easy way to gain marketshare for sure.