Hot cars in Detroit: Small, electric and sporty

Yahoo/AP ^ | January 16, 2010 | Tom Krisher

[Need4Truth]

DETROIT (AP) -- More than any auto show in recent memory, the new cars rolled out this week out at the Detroit auto show will redefine what we drive in the future.

[Need4Truth]

Sounds a bit presumptuous to me. New product development is a real crap shoot but I wouldn't expect Obamanoids to realize that.

[goldstategop]

I think its the key to freeing America off dependence on imported oil.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[icwhatudo]

I believe it...just like I believed the Saturn Car comercials with that black guy in the lime green silk shirt that told me how smart Saturn car buyers were and how Saturn knows better than anyone how to build cars.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

picture your small automobile getting into an accident with an 18-wheeler. You had better keep your affairs in order.

[MrPiper]

the Detroit auto show will redefine what we drive in the future

No they won't, I decide what I will drive in the future, I've been driving the same F150 for 15 yrs and plan on another 15, Screw them.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Hot cars in Detroit: Small, electric and sporty (for about a hundred yards)

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“Hot” from a new technology and wow-factor point of view.

NOT “Hot” from a consumer demand and profitability POV.

Two very different things, of course.

[SonOfDarkSkies]

New product development is a real crap shoot but I wouldn't expect Obamanoids to realize that.

Oh baloney...auto execs always know exactly which models will find an appreciative market...

[Flavius]

That fad will take care of itself once the sporty meets and suv barreling towards them.

[Victor]

Thank God Ford will continue to produce vehicles that most Americans want....and they are not beholden to Obama and his merry band of socialists.

[Victor]

Thank God Ford will continue to produce vehicles that most Americans want....and they are not beholden to Obama and his merry band of socialists.

[IrishCatholic]

I've seen the Smart car and other street legal golf carts on the road.
Maybe in a big city they might be viable, just like the Segway scooter makes sense for mall security.
But outside in the rest of the country where it rains, snows, and gets windy they are useless.
Wasn't the number one car sold during cash for clunkers the Ford F-150?

No, you want to free America from foreign oil develop the resources here, not lock them away. Coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, all need to be green lighted.

I will never drive such a go cart and I would never risk my family in one.

You want one, go ahead. It's your money but you are in the minority.

[DonaldC]

I’m glad they are finally putting some real engineering talent to these kind of options for consumers myself.

[Victor]

I always thought the Edsel was pretty cool looking.....a nice version of the late fifties theme.

Marketing is everything.

[willyd]

That is not good enough. First they will give you the choice, then the guilt trip, then the ultimatum, then the fine.

[screaminsunshine]

Do any come with bag racks in the rear and ball and tee holder consoles?

[FunkyZero]

Agreed, but the bambamplan is to make sure we don't HAVE other choices.

Next step is to make importing anything that doesn't meet his green standard completely beyond affordable by way of duties.

These guys need to realize the power of nuclear energy and run with it. All the dreaming in the world about solar and wind energy will get us no closer to it actually being affordable or usable.

Ah, yea, and while I am ranting... I wish they would call it something else besides "green". I hate green and I'm damn sick of hearing it.

[bikerman]

But can they pull my 40 ft 5th wheel RV?

[freedumb2003]

The new GM "Bean" -- gets 100 Km per liter of petrol.

[this_ol_patriot]

"But can they pull my 40 ft 5th wheel RV?"

This can-"P4XL-The Ultimate SUV"

[dhs12345]

Yup. What source of energy do they think they’ll be charging their scooter from? Wind, solar?

[DonaldC]

“But can they pull my 40 ft 5th wheel RV?”

Some of the hybrid SUVs might...hehe

I doubt with vehicles based on new technology there can be a one size fits all any more than there is now. I doubt anybody will be pulling that RV with a ford escort either. I figure if we can substantially dent oil usage with something that would work where the most resources is used, commuting to work and around town driving, it would be a great thing. But as pointed out in other threads, obama is not allowing for building up the infrastructure to support these new green cars. I don’t see solar or wind being usable on the macro scale and given what he told the DOE this week and what he has already said about oil and coal, I just don’t see how this is going to work.

[SonOfDarkSkies]

My ex-wife's father bought one...and it was a real lemon.

What I have heard about the Edsel was that it was an expensive car introduced when the country was in recession and it was plagued with shoddy workmanship (probably because in part Edsel was a new division but had to rely on Ford for manufacture and because Edsel's innovations were complex and men on the assembly line were unfamiliar with them).

I remember hearing that some of the first Edsels deliveried to dealers had notes tied onto the steering wheel identifying the parts that were missing.

That said, it was a beautiful automobile.

[Joe 6-pack]

"I figure if we can substantially dent oil usage with something that would work where the most resources is used, commuting to work and around town driving, it would be a great thing. But as pointed out in other threads, obama is not allowing for building up the infrastructure to support these new green cars. I don’t see solar or wind being usable on the macro scale and given what he told the DOE this week and what he has already said about oil and coal, I just don’t see how this is going to work."

The solution is out there, has been tried and used effectively. People just got tired of manure in the streets.

[RandallFlagg]

DANG! Place a few turrets on that thing and it’d be a mobile zombie plowing unit.

[this_ol_patriot]

Saw one on HDTheater this morning, young lass pulling her boat with it. 250 grand but it’s a Freightliner in SUV clothing, awesome piece of work.

[khenrich]

More than any auto show in recent memory, the new cars rolled out this week out at the Detroit auto show will redefine what we drive in the future.

I suspect the market will determine what sells and what doesn't. Obamaoids aren't generally upscale purchasers.

[dalereed]

Detroit can keep them, I won’t drive anything small or electric!

[dalereed]

“I think its the key to freeing America off dependence on imported oil. “

Bullshit!!!!
Drill and use the humdreds of years of oil in California!

[dalereed]

what is POV?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Point of View

[Cobra64]

[dalereed]

Type it out you lazy bastard!!!!!!

[Stentor]

Type it out you lazy bastard!!!!!!

Don't talk to POF that way.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

picture your small automobile getting into an accident with an 18-wheeler. You had better keep your affairs in order.

Actually if you get into an accident with an 18 wheeler and you are not driving a tank you had better have your affairs in order.

Small car or large SUV, an 18 wheeler will crush you.

[cripplecreek]

No they won't, I decide what I will drive in the future, I've been driving the same F150 for 15 yrs and plan on another 15, Screw them.

No kidding. I have two that I can probably keep going for the rest of my life or until the government mandates that I report to the scrapyard with them.

[freekitty]

Nope. I want big cars and muscle cars.

[dalereed]

That alaphabet soup crap is equivalent to 1st degree murder!

[Secret Agent Man]

I won’t be driving them.

[VOA]

“
More than any auto show in recent memory, the new cars rolled out
this week out at the Detroit auto show will redefine what we drive
in the future.
“

And leave millions of drivers worldwide longing for the good old
days of Detroit metal.

And cursing the MBAs and UAW members of Ford, Government Motors
and Chrysler for the moronic and kleptocratic way in which they ruined
a beautiful vision.

[DTogo]

Made by Government Motors or the UAW? No thanks!

[grand wazoo]

Looking back on it, the Edsel was a sweet ride. I realize it was a failure in sales but in a similar vein many great artists weren’t recognized until long after their deaths.

[SonOfDarkSkies]

As an auto nut, I think the auto as an art form is often overlook by many buyers. But for most people, even when they don't think about it, it is the biggest work of art they'll ever buy (not that all models qualify as "good" art).

That said, the Edsel is a real work of art! The ultimate in automotive styling for the late 50's.

[bikerman]

Very nice but is it green,didnt notice any solar panels or extra battery’s. My Dodge Ram hauls it quite nice.I average 14 MPG hauling and 24 without.

[this_ol_patriot]

Very nice but is it green,..

Very not green at all, it's a greenies nightmare, sucks diesel like a New Orleans hooker but then again if you have a quarter mil to spend on that bad boy who cares about fuel costs.

[Victor]

Thanks for the little bit of history- I’m a car nut.....it figures that Edsel was so plagued with production problems.

[wolf78]

picture your small automobile getting into an accident with an 18-wheeler. You had better keep your affairs in order.

As opposed to what? The 18-wheeler has such a great weight advantage that it will always transfer its kinetic energy onto you, even in a Hummer.