Well I don't know about electric cars and subcompacts etc. Not my forte nor do I ever really want to own one. But overall American cars have terrible styling. If you compare the average Ford or Chevy car to an Acura, Honda, Infiniti, Toyota etc. they can't hold a candle to the styling and sophistication. I think that's a big problem in America. I think a majority of Americans, especially middle class America has no taste. Europe and other countries are light years ahead of America when it comes to styling and sophistication in their cars. American cars save for trucks and some SUV's are just plain ugly and cheaply made.

Personally I drive a Toyota FJ cruiser lifted with big tires etc. I test drove several jeeps. I was particularly interested in the 4 door Jeep. It drove terribly and lacked horsepower. A Jeep is a Jeep and you buy one usually for its off road capabilities. However, the Toyota FJ is very capable compared to the Jeep Unlimited, has 40+ more HP, and rides much more comfortably even on 35inch tires than the Jeep. Plus the interior was much slicker than the Jeep. Just an all around much better package. I've owned Toyotas, Hondas, etc.

My personal opinion is that somewhere higher up on the CEO food chain is a recipe for self fulfilling disaster. There has to be a reason behind it, I mean I would like to believe that the CEOs running these companies are intelligent. I was a marketing exec for several years before retiring and I know for a fact the amount of energy that goes into market research and Ignorance isnt enough of a reason for why the American Automotive Industry is light years behind.

Maybe they designed it to fail, the NWO designed it to fail, so that we would be internationally dependent. And that America would lose all its self substainability.

I'd say that a good part of the problem is that we're making cars instead of working to build a public transportation infrastructure. We can no longer afford the luxury of personal transportation all the time. We need to start spending our fuel more responsibly. It's not going to last forever.

I don't think the problem is union workers. I think the problem is that American car manufacturers come from a history of having endless resources to waste - a vast supply of metal, endless petroleum, and so on. Even though we're starting to realize that such resources are limited, this realization hasn't yet fully penetrated the mentality of some manufacturers.

About the only glimmer of light here is that those companies that refuse to change with the times, will eventually fail. Even that's a mixed blessing, though, since they'll likely take our economy down even farther than it's already gone. But there is a sort of Darwinism among companies that weeds out the ones that cannot or will not change.

They need to poach some European designers is what they need to do ffs.. American cars define "fugly". I would not take an American car if it were given to me because my gag reflex would kick in every time I looked at the sad monstrosity. Ford, GM execs need to go to a VW dealer and spend a few days there so they can get a clue of how it's done.

Actually, I don't think that there is any current problem with US car manufacturers. The problem is the bad reputation that they created for themselves in the 1970's/80's/90's building rubbish cars that they arrogantly assumed patriotic Americans would buy in favor of imports (they were wrong as heck, weren't they?). They are building much better cars these days.

Of my family's 4 cars, 3 are domestic.

My son's Ford Focus (inherited from me) is fantastic...it is one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned.

My daughter's Ford F250 Superduty Diesel reliably hauls the horse trailer and performs whatever is asked of it.

My English wife has put almost 200,000 miles on her 2000 Chrysler Concorde and refers to it as "Old Reliable", much to the astonishment of others who expected the transmission to give out 150,000 miles ago.

I used to drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee and loved it. When SUV's became the norm and common, boring family fare (like minivans) I dumped it for a Dodge Stealth (Japanese, I know)...then the Focus...then finally a new Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Just because. I deserved it. Sorry...remember that the other 3 family cars are American!

Point being, there's nothing wrong with American cars these days...they just have a bad rep from past decades of churning out crap. If a European who was a dedicated BMW driver back home can love a 9 year old Chrysler, I think that speaks volumes about the quality of current American production. Think Mustang, Charger, Malibu, Corvette...forget about electric or hybrids...America once again makes great cars.

Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

PS: There is no such thing as a Japanese or Korean luxury car. Doesn't exist. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

american tech is pathetic and useless and american tech was made by european scientists who immigrated to USA

Originally posted by RR98

PS: There is no such thing as a Japanese or Korean luxury car. Doesn't exist. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

Toyota Century. Nissan President.

If you want to drive the Toyota, you'll have to come to Japan or stop by your local Japanese embassy. If you want to drive the Nissan, consult your local Yakuza boss. they're quite fond of them.

(Although to be frank, I can't see why you'd want to drive one. Being driven is the way to go. )

Originally posted by charlyv

It seems obvious enough to me that the electric technology will be the standard power train in the future. I am so miffed that we have nothing concrete to sell to our own population. Its sickening.

Don't worry too much of electric technology or rather worry because it's still mostly a hype... Just ask where most of the electricity used to recharge your electric cars come from? Oil? lol?

Originally posted by ahnggk

Originally posted by charlyv

It seems obvious enough to me that the electric technology will be the standard power train in the future. I am so miffed that we have nothing concrete to sell to our own population. Its sickening.

Don't worry too much of electric technology or rather worry because it's still mostly a hype... Just ask where most of the electricity used to recharge your electric cars come from? Oil? lol?

Coal mainly - but - yes, it pollutes and its getting used up fast. So it is a total lie.

The worst part of the lie is how inefficient the whole process is - the electricity needs to created by generators that are not efficient - then its transferred by cables, losing some energy, then batteries are charged losing more energy - then its transferred into a force - more inefficieny.

With oil - it burns in the engine producing force - its so much more efficient. By the time electric energy is turned into force in an electric car your burning 5 times as much energy as oil would.

So its not just hype - its an incredibly stupid lie - how they make people fall for it is beyond me.

EDIT: I have posted before regarding water burning engines, and I think that technology is sound.

Water is polar - meaning its molecules have a north and south end, and aligns itself to an electric or magnetic field. By placing water in a strong field and using high frequency switching, you could either produce cheap steam - or separate the water completely into hydrogen and oxygen.

The reason it is cheap is simple - a field doesn't lose energy from its actions on objects within it. For example - a magnet will stick to your fridge forever - it doesn't 'run down' like a battery. The magnets body itself, and the fridge are both acted on by the field - but the field isn't depleted.

Same with agitating water - it only costs energy to make the field at whatever strength - it doesnt matter how much water you heat, or separate - only the field strength costs energy, and you dont need a strong field, its the rate of switching that supplies the agitiation - and switching takes very little energy.

[edit on 26-10-2009 by Amagnon]

Originally posted by Amagnon

The worst part of the lie is how inefficient the whole process is - the electricity needs to created by generators that are not efficient - then its transferred by cables, losing some energy, then batteries are charged losing more energy - then its transferred into a force - more inefficieny.

With oil - it burns in the engine producing force - its so much more efficient. By the time electric energy is turned into force in an electric car your burning 5 times as much energy as oil would.

So its not just hype - its an incredibly stupid lie - how they make people fall for it is beyond me.

Nice that you mentioned it. As an engineer though, I won't be so certain because actually, a large low-grade oil/coal-burning power plant is significantly more energy efficient than gasoline-burning engine of a car...

So much that it might make an electric car more efficient in the end despite all the losses in the conversion, etc... But I still wouldn't be so certain about that as well... I have not seen or heard of any such comparisons (maybe because it would reveal the 'ugly' side of electric cars??)... So until I do, I will remain suspicious of electric cars