Why Ford will fail like GM

Good point, Malorn. The no-car option is more responsible than the Prius-car option. On the rare occasion I drive to work, people congratulate me for buying a Prius. Why don't they say anything the other 364 days of the year when I walk?

Just to clarify, 4 people and their gear fit in one Prius. No need for two.

Yes, the energy costs of manufacture and delivery should be factored into the decision. But if I'm on the west coast, is it possible delivery from Japan (by boat, hundreds of cars at a time) uses less energy than delivery from the east coast? (by truck, a few cars at a time)

 

Wow, malorn, feeling defensive today? This is the classic argument from the owners of the biggest SUV's. The "I know I suck, but you are not so great yourself!" defense.

Yet the Prii just keep on selling. So do the Highlander Hybrids, and the RX400h's, and soon, the Camry Hybrid.

Nate

 

And so do the Expeditions, Excursions, Suburbans, and even the H2. In fact, if you add up the numbers the sales of these gas guzzlers willfar out number all the hybrids put together and then doubled.

The Prius is a wonderful car, but it has it's limitations. Yes, we couldhave bought a second Prius and gotten rid of our big SUV, but for some reason, we prefer to keep the family together in one car. Go figure.

 

Yeah , I am having a crappy day for many reasons. I spent some time with many Prius owners and want-to-bes and the smugness killed me. I think they really believe that driving a Prius was helping the earth.
Hyo-silver, I applaud you for walking to work. That really makes a difference. I am considering moving my offices to a place I can walk to. I don't know if that would be good or bad to have people see me walking to work?

 

Yeah, if your business is cars, I don't know how good it is for your customers to see you walking...

 

Ya know, Doc, it's really easy to get the red eye out of your husky's picture. I could even make 'em blue.

 

Oh, I know. I just like 'em red! I chose this pic on purpose. Helps portray her true nature. Have you seen the movie Snow Dogs? Well, if you have, do you remember the lead dog? Yeah, that's right, Demon...

 

Yeah, I loved that movie.

 

Ok, so 'helping' might not be the right word. Would 'less harmful' be more accurate? Our intentions are good.

Good on ya' for moving your offices within walking distance - or at least for thinking about it. Will it be closer for other employees, too? Are there any considerations you might offer them? Like, locating close to a bike trail or transit? Or giving them transit passes instead of free parking? Just a few ideas off the top of my head.

 

The upside to betting on Trucks/SUVs for profitablility is that the profit margin is big. The down side is that it's a volitile market. Over the long haul it's probably a bad bet. Global demand is expected to increase a bit in 2006 and continue that trend thereafter. It's hard to know what the shape of the cost curve is going to look like in detail but over all it's probably going to trend upwards. Not particularly good for the SUV market. I think that most folks will find ways to not use them when their fuel costs are more than half their mortgage. There will always be a market. Sometimes you need a vehicle that can tow a house. Joe Six Pack just won't have an F350 Superduty dually (sp?) because it's cool.

 

Just a thought: Most people don't have the necessary funds to have three vehicles. So most people when discussing SUVS start with the assumption that people can't have a different car for each "job" that they do, since most people can't afford this. Then the question becomes, do people get a car for their typical load or for their maximum load? I have no problem, as I doubt most people do, when you have an SUV because your typical load needs the space for 5+ people or more stuff than will fit in a Prius. However, getting that SUV because the Prius won't take me and my 6 friends skiing when a person goes skiing only once a year seems ignorant to me (and I think a lot of other people on this board).

I think that many of the people who have an SUV were able to obtain it due to financing and are filling the pinch more than you might expect. Every person that I know and ever mention their SUV complain about how much it costs to fill their tank since the price started going up. When it was under $2 a gallon, they didn't seem to care.

 

Excellent point, Micheal. I for one would like to have a pickup truck in the garage to take care of the heavy duty errands that I have to do from time to time but don't feel that I can afford it. It's not just the additional car payment but the cost of insuring yet another vehicle and having to maintain it. It's great that some people can have several vehicles to choose from when venturing forth in to the world but those of us who can't have to make the best choice possible for that one car.

 

Well, jsut found out the limitations of the Prius. We had to go down to Miami for a family medical emergency. Went to go and pack up the Prius, and... not enough room. Certainly not enough for the return trip where we would be adding another person. We ended up taking the Volvo instead. I love the Prius so far, but it is very limited in it's capabilities. No problems with using it formy daily commuting, but once the new baby shows up, there is no way we can fit two booster seats and a car seat in it...

 

Evan Fusco has posted photos of his three children riding in the back seat of his Prius. One in a rear facing child seat in the middle flanked by two in booster seats.

 

Yes, I'm aware of that, but he has different seats than us. I don;t want to have to replace two perfectly good seats. For this we'll just continue to use the Volvo. It's much safer anyway.

 

Same here; had to take my daughter, son-in-law and grandson along with all their luggage and Christmas presents to the airport for their Florida vacation. NO WAY was this going to fit in our Prius. That's why I've been saying an SUV is very useful and I'm glad we have BOTH a Toyota Prius and an Acura MDX! We drive the Prius almost exclusively when it's just the two of us but use the MDX for the bigger hauls. Each car definitely has its place!