You know what bites me hard

Or maybe it just plain makes financial sense...

USATODAY.com - Bush plan gives huge tax break to buyers of big SUVs

 

So, this attitude, then?

 

even being in a room with magazines that have 'scratch & sneeze' strips in them.


.

 

So Hummer makes a Hybrid too???

 

you know the reason why the incentive was given to SUVs right?

actually, that article is almost 8 years old. totally irrelevant to today because technology has changed so much. Hybrids were not really on people's radar in 2003.

 

Ummm... Obesity? Stupidity? Irrationality? Vanity? I do not know, you tell me.

Actually, the tax break helped started a huge trend. Think Hummers and Suburbans and other GM behemoths. We're still paying for it today with our tax dollars. So I'd say the article is quite relevant, if not prescient...

Remember the Gulf oil spill of 2010?

 

If you are tryin to save the auto industry, then you provide incentives on the most profitable vehicles. The bigger the suv, the bigger the profit, meaning a more solid bottom line. I would much prefer that to a government take-over.

 

Right. Look what good that did for Hummer and GM.

Oh and btw, back in 2003 the auto industry didn't even need to be saved.

 

The problem is that Detroit and Americans tend to think small=cheap when it comes to cars and trucks. I'd be surprised if BMW wasn't making as much or almost as much on a fully-loaded Mini than GM does on a Tahoe. BMW 1s and 3s aren't big but I suspect they make plenty on them. Ford's Fiesta is going in the right direction, but you still can't get its msrp to more than 2/3 of a Mini.

 

I'm not defending the auto company's and the union's bad decisions. I'm still of the opinion that they all should have filed bankruptcy from the beginning instead of all these billions in bailouts. But, I would have to say that yes, they were in trouble back then. They've been in trouble for years. The biggest car company in the world doesn't find itself in trouble overnight.

 

I would agree with this mostly. But the reality is that GM won't make as much profit on a small car as BMW will. Maybe one day they will, but until you are ready to pay $50K for a Cobalt SS......

 

The official reason for the SUV tax incentives was to stimulate the economy. Keep in mind, however, 2003 was also the year we invaded Iraq.

 

Hind sight is always 20/20. Had GM truly been forward thinking about their own future existence, and given more weight to Dr. Hubbert's Peak oil theory (no longer theory ... now known to be fact) back in the 1970's, they'd be in an entirely different position ... which by the way, now makes GM owned by us, the U.S. citizen. In stead GM was only looking at the yearly and quarterly profits and bonuses, unlike most Japanese car makers. To ME ... that what bites hard. Old GM exec's walked - millions in their pockets, and in their heir's pockets. Too bad we can't raid them ... the way they did the U.S. public.

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The only thing worse then mentioning the name Bush, is the name Chaney. Neither rates any higher then the low life criminals convicted of heinous crimes. They both deserve to be in prison.

 

oh lord, is this going to turn into a bush/iraq thread?

 

It's Cheney.

 

dick. that's what bites me hard.