That’s a fair point.

BUT...

People are making the financial decision on what they can afford now - the variable that will bite them later that people are needlessly fretting about is gas prices - which don’t change the amount of your car payment. So they’re not going to get into huge cash flow problems like they did in…

Look at the breakdowns and distributions by powertrain options. It is EASY to break 23 mpg in an Escape. If you haven’t driven one for any length of time, you have no real experience in it. I can EASILY keep up with traffic and get 26 mpg combined out of the 1.5L. Same exact driving habits in a compact sedan like a…

My grandmother never got better than 14 mpg out of her Fusion. I get 24-26 city out of the exact same vehicle since I bought it from her.  Driving distances and habits  matter.

“It’s time for me to buy a new car. I mean, my current car is mostly great, but I’ve had it 10+ years and if I don’t buy a new one now, I have to keep it another 10 years so that I don’t interrupt our cycle of “only one car payment at a time.””

STUPID approach. Sorry, but true.

I understand not wanting multiple…

You make great points about the false ideas of what CUVs give people - though I know plenty of elderly people that truly find them much easier to get in and out of. My grandmother complained years ago that a modern sedan would be too high compared to her crown vic, but after she got one, she loved the higher seat…

Um, I did. The fact is that shifting resources to build more expeditions and navigators (not F-150s, as those are a different plant altogether) doesn’t mean that Escapes aren’t dramatically outselling Expeditions and Navigators. Its still a ~6:1 ratio in terms of US sales there. While large SUVs have gained *some*…

Your desire to say that somehow CUVs don’t meet their EPA tests while compact sedans do belies all truth. In reality, either one can meet its EPA target without trouble if you don’t drive like an idiot.

Hell, I’ve managed to get 34 mpg hwy out of a rented 2010 Escape rated at 28 mpg hwy. I set the cruise at 70 and left…

You’re driving like an idiot if you get that low in an Escape.  It’s trivial to hit 26 mpg in combined driving in one without driving like Grandma.  

BIG difference now:

In 2008, people were paying $4 per gallon to put gas into their 15 mpg 2003 Ford Explorer 2WD and were clamoring to find something like 23 mpg 2008 Ford Fusion or a 29 mpg Toyota Corolla. At 12k miles per year, the switch in 2008 would have saved them $90 - $130 per month or so in fuel costs.

Today,…

Analysts are full of it.

Years ago when I worked at Ford, they’d hit a string of something like 40+ consecutive quarters of beating analyst estimates for profits. Every single time the stock price went down after they announced earnings. Then on CNBC one of these analysts was asked why the stock price dropped after…

And keep in mind, with platform sharing, this can be easier than a lot of people think.

For example, the Escape rides on the Focus platform.  We’ll now have an available shift at the Louisville plant, so a relatively minor retooling there should allow them to produce Focuses easily.

And keep in mind, with platform sharing, this can be easier than a lot of people think.

For example, the Escape rides on the Focus platform.  We’ll now have an available shift at the Louisville plant, so a relatively minor retooling there should allow them to produce Focuses easily.

Again, you’re making bad assumptions. CO2 emissions per mile for a Prius are higher than you claim. Upstream emissions are higher than you claim. You’re not horribly far off, but you’re effectively rounding down to turn ~220 grams per mile to “always under 200".

Now lets turn to what you did for the Tesla. The WORST…

I’m in the heart of the midwest. We’re at 40% of our generation from coal and dropping fast. You’re making poor assumptions. You’re also understating Prius CO2 impacts. One gallon of E10 puts out about 18.9 lbs of C02 - or 171 grams per mile. That isn’t counting any of the upstreams - which you are dramatically…

Twice the CO2 for the Model 3?  How do you figure that?

BTW, how is 50 mpg combined that impressive?  The Camry LE hybrid is rated at 52 mpg.  This SHOULD be closer to 55 mpg combined.

It’ll be interesting to see how this stacks up against the new Honda Insight.  Toyota has their work cut out for them.

So Cheeto Benito has come up with a plan to “get back at GM” that will do nothing of the sort.

Did he not even think that these plants in the US made CARS that wouldn’t be subject to the tax? All this move would do would be squash some imports which would boost GM’s profitability. But it wouldn’t change the fact that…

Meh, I’ve known plenty of people who have had significant issues with their corollas, and honestly quite a few who have had serious problems with their Priuses... they aren’t nearly as bulletproof as they want you to believe.

Call me crazy, but I think the current gen looks much better on the exterior...