OPINION: Obama Does A Great Thing With New Fuel Economy Standards. But USA Car Companies And Workers Will Become The Sacrificial Lambs.

I think 001 is spot on here. This will be another death blow to GM and Chrysler. I can see Ford importing more of their small Euro offerings to the States to meet this ruling, but even then they will struggle since Americans have historically wanted F-150's and not Fiestas.

I think it is sad that the government is deciding what types of cars the public will be driving instead of the consumer voting with their checkbooks.

If the government didn't inform the public of the dangers of cigarettes, millions more people (than the millions that already are) would be dying of cigarette caused cancer. Why shouldn't the government have influence on what people buy? Americans should start trusting (as hard as that is after Bush) their government in making the right decisions.

Lithium Ion is hardly ready for prime time.

Two points:
[1] Sacrificial lambs? I think not. Years of mismanagement and unwillingness to broaden their portfolios to include desirable, fuel efficient vehicles in their lineups has been slow suicide for the US automakers. They've been slowly sacrificing themselves for years.

[2] HSCenterconsole says "it is sad that the government is deciding what types of cars the public will be driving". The role of (competent) government is, in part, to assure national economic security for the long term. Our entire corporate mantra has been promoting maximum quarterly profits at the expense of long-term sustained growth. (This is true for not just the auto industry, the financial industries as well). Sometimes, the role of the government is to step in and create regulations that will be beneficial in the long-run.

Leaving all decisions in the hands of the free market is simply not the solution to every problem. Can you imagine what the state of our air and water would be if we left concern for the environment completely in the hands of corporate America?

He built his whole campaign on helping American workers and promised to add MILLIONS of high paying jobs.

Do you think this will ADD American jobs?

Where's the beef?

001

I think sometimes you have to use common sense...in a crisis you manage differently.

He would be just as cool in my eyes if he said we'll do this as soon as we get everything humming again and we have TIME and resources.

001

Obama campained promising to work towards energy independence, and millions of green jobs.

and everything he's done so far has been spot on to do just that.

A one day tick does not make a company.

When I was at MP3.com we were over $100 per share and a year later at 3.

And are they up because sales are growing or are these quick speculators day trading?

001

whatever dumbass agent 001. listen, America has been doing things your way for the last 30 years. and guess what? that has gotten us nowhere fast.

so sit back and watch smart people fix this thing. you and detroit and american workers will be thanking Obama a decade from now when the world will have hit peak oil and the prices will go crazy.

Didn't know smart people resorted to name calling.

IMO, the hypocrisy and shortsightedness of the pure "free market" ideology is to blame for much of the woes befalling our US car corporations. The "Free market" often does a great job at satisfying many consumer demands and maintain reasonable prices, but all too often does tremendous damage to the environment, our national security, and long-term business prospects. because most of corporate America (notable our banks and auto industry) only looks to short-term profits and resulting huge executive salaries and bonuses, there is little incentive to look ahead and plan for rainy days because management can always just run away from the disaster to their mansions in the Caymans.

Rules, standards, and laws must be enforced, and business WILL adapt. Or- they will die. We already see American ingenuity adapting as we speak- just look at Tesla and Fisker. The "Free market" and government must both exist in careful balance and not necessarily be fixed in cement a to their percentages. Some times call for more freedom, some times call for more government. GM and Chrysler will have to change and become smaller- but I agree with the government in keeping them in business right now- their are national security concerns why we need them, as there are reasons for many people and cities who depend on this industry. All in my own opinion, of course.

In my opinion they are dancing in the aisles at Honda, Toyota and Hyundai thanks to this initiative.

THEY will reap ALL the benefits, not the 3 (We have deleted the word BIG because now in our eyes they are just the 3).

001

I think the big 3 will finally wake up and start competing with honda, toyota etc after this initiative, because they are forced to.

if we did not do this, honda and toyota would run away with the fuel efficient car market, and by the middle of next decade when the world will hit peak oil, detroit would be going bankrupt again.

Well I just can't golly gosh darn wait to drive a soccer mommy Toyota Prius shitbox or a Honda Insight bibically awfuller P.O.S. Got to love progress...I am glad I just bought a new 2009 Jeep wrangler Rubicon with Navi to Drive over top of all the future Prius's then hide away in the woods in shame for all of mankind is now ruined with slow awefull cars no one wants!

If people want/can afford to drive gas guzzlers, they should be allowed to. Wha's next from the nanny state, make Ferraris illegal?

Time to buy that CL55!

Frankly, Obama has just brought the US into the same line as what has been enacted in China / Europe. Does it mean teh end of big muscle, hell no ! but do expect companies that make fast cars to be either very small (like Ferrari / Lotus etc.) as they are too small to come under the rules or big corporate giants like VW / Toyota / GM etc.

Incase every body was moaning about GM, Ford etc this will really help them as in the US they can make the same models they export and will compete with them imports on a fairer standing.

As the market growth of cars shifts more to Asia, (China has been the biggest market for the last two months) , rules for car manufacturers has to be to make good world wide cars if they need long term survival.

Does that stop you from buying a V8 .. hell no. it probably stops a company from sellign v8 that has 1970's tech and sloppy engineering that makes it dog compared to a lighter more nimble v8.
case to point : the Challenger Hemi v8 vs BMW v8 vs IS-F v8

001, missed the point a bit with the 10 ten selling cars. The reason there are not many fuel effecient cars on the list is that not that many people want to drive them. All auto manufacturers make small fuel effecient cars. Every person in America has the opportunity to buy one if they wish. Some people do, that's great more power to them. But at some point people are going to have to stand up and say "I don't want to drive a crappy little tin can!!!". We are standing by while tree-huggers and the government are taking away any choice we have in purchasing a vehicle. If this passes there will be no more Corvettes, Mustangs, F150's, and Malibu's there will only be tiny micro-cars. That is great if you wish to drive one of those, but I don't and won't. I guess I will be buying used cars for the rest of my life.

I second your opinion!

* Ford F-Series: 32,728
* Toyota Camry: 25,783
* Chevy Silverado: 23,508
* Honda Accord: 22,722
* Toyota Corolla: 22,257
* Honda Civic: 20,645
* Nissan Altima: 19,521
* Dodge Ram: 19,328
* Chevy Malibu: 14,772
* Honda CR-V: 12,959

Am i missing something?

I said no AMERICAN small fuel efficient cars on the list.

Only the Malibu is there and all the Malibu has done was take away sales of Impala's.

001

i think what this initiative is all about is forcing auto manufacturers to make big cars, like the F150, that are fuel efficient. the technology is there. there is no reason we need to drive only tin cans if we want to cut down on oil consumption

after this initiative, I guarantee you they'll have an F150 a decade from now that will get better mileage than the Prius today

That's funny, since todays average mileage is the same as it was 20 yrs ago!

A couple things.

1. The american car companies have plenty of fuel efficient vehicles, look at any of the numerous hybrid vehicles they have brought to the market. Most of them are at or almost at or surpass the 2016 goals.

2. The average for trucks is doable, and large progresses have already been made to whip those vehicles into shape. Heck with the new legislation the trucks in 2016 will have an open playing field since Toyota trucks have abysmal fuel economies. (assuming Toyota doesn't fix this)

If anything, I would say that the German companies are in a greater danger. Since have invested so heavily into "clean" diesel. But with this latest bunch of legislation the emissions standards have become even stricter. The cleaner you make your diesel engine the more power it takes to clean/finish combustion, the worse fuel economy it will get. That and most German cars are notoriously heavy due to their luxury appeal. If they can't shed the pounds and focus on micro cars (which don't sell well so far) they will lose the entire North American market.

Yes Ford, GM and probably Chrysler will be around for a long time, yes they will have to drastically downsize, but one has to realize, everyone is in danger in today's market place.

How exactly does a 6 year plan impact the inevitable of today?

There will be another election before 2016 and a Republican will be nominated and then this will be reversed.

Yay for our next republican President/Savior

2009 Aveo mpg = 30.5 mpg combined
1989 Geo Metro XFi = 46 mpg combined, 51 hwy

Change regulations every two years and force Americans to buy cars they don't want.

That's what we're doing here!

001

I agree 100%. The world is always changing, and it has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. Even 20 years.

But these old people like agent 001 keep living in the 1950's and keep doing the same things they did in the 1950's because they think it is the only way to do things.

Memo to you old people: you're out of touch with reality. you have nothing progressive to offer, no solutions for the problems we are facing.

So just move to florida and shut the hell up.

Two unrelated additional thoughts:
The whole bail-out thing smells of propping up buggy whip manufacturers, not to mention the steady march to socialism here, now that it seems GM assets will be sold to a government owned entity. Neither of these is good for the economy long-term.
Second, how will these mpg numbers be achieved? with cleverly engineered, lighter weight vehicles utilizing costly alloys to achieve the paradoxical attributes of lighter weight while retaining strength and crashworthiness...or will we all be forced into cars that are merely smaller and lighter (tinnier) and inherently less safe? -- a reasonable question in light of the recent headlines rediscovering basic physics about how sadly such vehicles fare in head on collisions with larger vehicles.

I love Obama. It feels so good to have a progressive, smart president.

Finally things will change, really change. If we had done this 30 years ago Detroit would not be in the shit hole it is now in.

Listen here "Grasshopper"! You sound like a traditional drone! I suggest that you get educated and read the number on book in America called "Liberty and Tyranny"! Put this information in you pipe and smoke it! If you are fortunate you might have a shift in perception! If not! Then please move to Russia where all you drone's belong! And I am not talking about a flying drone! Look it up - get educated

HAHAHA what?? how bout you stop being a mindless drone that just support the big oil.

Russia??? Russia would love it if we all drove Hummers.

Tyranny? If you wanna know what that is, look at the Bush years and the authoritarian capitalism and the dictatorship of the oil companies.

You're an idiot.

Hate to break this to you bud but the Dems were in power then too...Remember Jimmy Carter.

Now THERE was a President! ;)

001

then? when?? late 1970's?? so we're ignoring a generation now and going back to the days of carter? reagan, clinton and both bushes did nothing for energy independence. NOTHING.

I don't care about this whole republican vs. democrat B.S. All I care about is a government that gets stuff done and moves us in the right direction. And that is Obama right now. Noone else comes even close. Republicans are the most pathetic bunch of losers i've ever seen. They have nothing to offer to the american people. nothing. just that old stupid failed ideology about tax cuts for rich people and nothing for energy independence, nothing for health care etc.

People like you who are stuck in this blind ideology (an ideology that has failed miserably) are really stupid in my opinion.

Can't wait until this college dummy actually starts paying taxes.

My Ford stock went up 2.4% this morning. And GM was up 7.7%. Yeah, these news are really "cripling" for the U.S. autocompanies.

People like dick cheney and agent 009 need to go away. The 1950's are over. The sooner you learn that, the better we'll all be off.

Why don't you get out of my country? Go back where you belong! Go visit your socialistic but buddies! This country will not be taken over by outsiders like you. Now leave my country now!

Ford Motor Company supports Obama and what he is doing. Henry Ford loves this. Ford will have an electric Focus that gets 100 miles on a charge and probably costs under $30 k on the market by 2012.

A drone is all you will ever be! Visit - themarklevineshow.com and get educated! Marxis lover!

haha I'm a marxist now?? so when government told car companies to put seat belts in all the cars, that was marxism also??? what's next? i'll be a terrorist, a fascist and my birth certificate will not be valid.

I stopped paying attention to brainless drones like yourself a loooong time ago. so you might as well not even bother.

ps. i think you should move to russia. they don't care about the middle class, don't care about pollution, they love torture and illegal wars, and they are authoritarian capitalists just like you.

you're stupid

Vintagereplicar, you need to take your lips off Uncle Sam's tailpipe for a second and realize what this means is economic promise for future generations. With or without government intervention, the domestic market was doomed. And the only people holding the big 3 back from creating a big ass warthog-esque SUVs that run on alternative fuels are the big 3 themselves.

Btw, only fossils use political labels as argument tactics.

Sure they will...where you shoveling this from?

001

Are Euro 5 diesels allowed under the new rules?
If so, Chrysler is now positioned to sell the 2008 Best European Small Diesel and its brothers here.
They can also build them here in the states, too.
GM built the Geo Metro in North America (Canada).

That's odd. Everything I read contradicts that.
What model year Grande Punto are you talking about?
The current FIAT models are rated quite high in safety and quality.
I was thinking about the 500 and larger FIATs.
The 500 was the smallest car ever to win the Euro NCAP five-star crash safety rating.
You can look up the 500 and Panda

....and ah...do these new rules also apply to the presidential ride? If this administration has it's way we'll all be driving little crap box cars that your either have to plug-in, hand-crank or pedal down the road!!

GM beats Toyota growth in China with what? smaller more fuel efficient cars. Lets not confuse the odd mix of regulation, safety standards, and the American buyer with the inability of US automakers to have success. Could GM and Ford bring cars in from overseas that meet this program, sure. But after reengineering to meet our byzantine laws and incurring those costs, we don't buy them. BTW - how much bigger does a Camary need to get before its not considered small and fuel efficient?

"Toyota's China sales in the first quarter of 2009 fell 17% from a year earlier to 125,743 vehicles, even as the total Chinese market, fueled by rising demand for small cars, grew 4% to 2.7 million vehicles. GM's sales gained 17% to 363,317 vehicles, including commercial microminivans made by SAIC GM Wuling Automobile Co., in which GM holds a minority stake."

"GM on Tuesday said its China sales rose an even-faster 50% in April. Toyota is expected to report April sales for China early next week.

The root of Toyota's China problem is a slow response to increasing demand outside China's biggest cities for small, affordable cars -- an unexpected lapse by a company known for its fuel-efficient vehicles and generally seen as adept at grasping changes in customer desires.

Chinese consumers have been snapping up such cars, especially after the government in January announced stimulus measures that cut sales taxes on cars with engines of 1.6 liters or smaller and offered rebates for rural residents buying new cars."

Not stuck.

They shouldn't have spent a DIME and let them sink or swim on their own.

The bailout was the dumbest idea on the planet and you know it so why isn't ANYONE taking the new administration to take on this?

001

On that best seller list, Im shocked not to see the cop car impala on the list. Guess local agencies are having to drive older vehicles longer to save money in this economy. Good thing the malibu sales well. I bet if it wasnt for GM's tarnished image, it would be much higher on the list. Its a nice ride.

100tnega - You don't want to be a drone your whole life do you? You need to get educated! Do yourself a favor and go buy the book "Liberty and Tyranny". This will give you the education that you long for grasshopper! This is the number one book in America for a good reason! Author - Mark Levin www.marklevinshow.com

yeah, we don't support you because we're not educated. you and Bush are the smartest people alive. I'm 25 and I have a masters degree in Architecture, but I guess I'm not educated until I read some book writen by some right wing clown.

The difference between you and smart people (us) is that you listen to one side that is driven by blind ideology, while we listen to everyone and then make a common sense judgement.

Mark Levin? LLOOLL. I'm sure Sarah Palin will also have a #1 book. And Bush was elected president twice. While after 30 years of Reaganomics the entire world wide capitalist economy is on the brink of collapse.

The only thing that proves is that there are a lot of brainless drones in USA.

The Dems deregulated the banking industry Dum Dum.

2009 Aveo mpg = 30.5 mpg combined
1989 Geo Metro XFi = 46 mpg combined, 51 hwy



— 63mopar
---------------

That's disgusting. These rethuglicans and the oil companies that own them have been robbing us blind for decades. plus a trillion dollars for a shady war in a country that happens to have a lot of oil?

small government my ass.

I thought I told you to get out of my country drone! Again - you need to do your homework! If you do the math, you will find out that our government makes out financially better than any other company, entity etc. People always blame the oil companies and the stats show like I said that the oil companies actually make very little! Our government wants you to believe other wise! And I guess it worked! Read the book "Liberty and Tyranny" It will give you a full explanation! You can buy this book even back in your country that came from! Go back!

are you on drugs??? oil companies make very little??? Exxon was posting record quarterly profit after record quarterly profit towards the end of the bush years. and that's record profit for any company in history, not just exxon.

your country??? LMAO your country is the bible belt- the uneducated bible humping racist strong hold. You have lost this country. You do not represent this country.

Conservatism= DEAD. Reaganomics RIP: 1981-2009

This is our country. Move to North Korea if you love torture and hate taxes so much, dickhead

I come to auto-car blogs to get away from petty political agendas, clearly 001 has been drinking Limbaughs fruit juice. I'm not an Obama apologist thinking the guy is perfect, but c'mon!

AMERICAN CAR COMPANIES ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE OF HUBRIS, GREED AND PLAIN LAZINESS!

i'm only 36, but remember the 70's gas shortage, well? what was Detroits answer? the Cimmaron?
please they made the same mistakes again 25 years later.
what is the definition of insanity? doing the same thing over again and expecting different results.

Detroit fought against efficiency and this is what they get,

p.s. i have never owned a foreign auto, if i had the money a CTS-V would be mine!

1997 STS
1964 Olds Jetstar 1
1964 Buick LeSabre

How naive you are! Think you can separate an auto blog without thinking that this is not part of the whole program! Wow! How ignorant!

Tell me how this HELPS American car companies how many high paying jobs in the USA will be created by this initiative and I will shut my mouth.

Fox News nothin', it's common sense from a person who KNOWS the auto business.

001

making car models that get over 30 mpg is one thing.

making a SINGLE 30mpg car that people ACTUALLY WANT TO BUY is another.

so where is ANY gm 30 mpg car on the sales charts? meanwhile, BOTH the corolla and civic are on the list, PLUS the camry and accord, whose v6 models do NOT get 30 mpg.

GM can offer all the crap they want. but nobody's biting. maybe they need to make BETTER korean imports?

And don't get me wrong AutoSpies.com faithful...I think 35 MPG is GREAT and all those who fight for the free market system should remember its made the sheiks in the middle east the richest people in the world and I HATE that.

Just don't promise the poor people in Detroit making cars that things will be better for them and that you will be creating high paying jobs for them. THAT'S A BALD FACE LIE.

Tell them the truth.

You're all gonna take it in the butt and we'll never lead in the auto biz again because we gotta get off the oil NOW!

Find a job in another state in another biz or you're going to starve, it's NEVER coming back.

That's the reality.

001

ok ok, so keep buying Benz's, Bimmers, Porsches and everything will aok 001?

As long as they are the ones that have a good mileage ranking for your DAILY driver.

You want a supercar for your side car you use once in a while ok.

That seems responsible to me.

001

Never said Obama was to blame just that this initiative won't help them.

If you've read my opinions I have been very consistent.

The reason for their dilemma is 30 years of bad executive decision, employee apathy and too many people surrounding the biz that drank the kool-aid.

But the only way for them to get up off their knees are less regulations and erasure of taxes, not the reverse.

001

I don't mean regulations to prevent money being stolen, I mean EPA regulations, employment taxes, investment taxes, etc.

001

And tax incentives to sell their existing inventory for people who buy them

Like the ones described in this article

http://www.autospies.com/news/Will-Joe-The-Plumber-Lose-His-SUV-Deduction-Under-McCain-Or-Obama-36643/

001

Like I said, they should have let nature take its course.

The bailout was a lot of money wasted and they KNEW it was going to fail but Obama OWED organized labor.

What a waste of your money and my money.

001

Only for a period of time until all the inventory has been sold, cash is in their coffers and then enact the plan b for more efficient vehicles.

001

Not saying I'm against the vision, but this is not the time.

When they're back on their feet, THEN go forward.

001

I guess you just don't get it and you are living in the dream world President Obama is in right now.

There is not enough time or money in the world for the American car companies to accomplish this and be profitable and healthy.

IT TAKES YEARS AND HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS...And the the cars you build HAVE to be GREAT!

001

The end of the UAW is near and I can't wait!

I said for a SHORT period of time to get out of crisis.

Delete the current inventory FAST with incentives, cash comes in to keep them alive, crisis averted, begin plan b of building more fuel efficient cars people want.

Is that hard to understand?

You have to put out the fire FIRST, then you re-build.

001

They can't survive through it.

So what good is even starting it.

The reason you DO something is to ACCOMPLISH the goal.

This just deep sixes them.

So you'll have your new standards and no American auto industry.

Nice!

Start learn Mandarin Chinese...you're gonna NEED it!

001

The Advertisment on the Chevy Malibu banner on your site 001 says that the Malibu gets 33 MPG highway already, and that is the better than Accord, Camry, and Sonata currently. I fail to understand how the American auto industry we be damaged in the next 7 years when they have a vehical platform that currently is near the planned goal of 35 mpg today, not to mention how much further the Volt technology will be improved in the same amount of time.

No one on earth has ever gotten 33pmg on a Malibu.

Well, maybe the 'Downhill' Malibu with the engine set to off.

In the real world in my tests a Malibu gets about 18 city 23 highway driving conservatively.

So tired of BS EPA numbers being flaunted...Such lies.

001

And WHO is going to spend 35-40k on an electric Volt?

Certainly not enough to justify the expense or to make it a top selling car.

The real question is WHAT cars will they make that become top 10 sellers?

They need 5 of the top 10 to get healthy again.

001

I have so much to say about this, there is not enough time or space here to do it. Anyway, no one is getting the real point here: Who is going to buy these magic new super efficient tiny econo-box's? Remember, at $4 a gal, Prius and Civic Hybrids were flying off the lots. As soon as prices dropped below $3 a gallon, Hybird sales fell apart. The number one selling vehicle is STILL the ford F-150 truck! Would a small Chevy Aveo based truck that gets 35 wonderful mpg on the road be able to carry the load of working ranch, much less a large family? And do it as reliably as a true full size truck? NO WAY. Also, OBAMAthink says: “consumers will save approx $2800 over 3 years" due to this wonderful efficiency. Bull dung. The truth is, since urbanized Americans MAY actually buy some of these small wonders, and as actual oil/ gas usage continues to decline here in the US (as it is right now) The Oil Companies will simply continue to cut back capacity, as well as close refineries, in order to maintain the needed reserves-to-demand ratio that will allow them to keep raising the price of fuel higher and higher. Then add the much higher insurance premiums these little wonder cars will incur because, as we were shown just this year by the IIHS in the wonderful You Tube videos where small cars were crashed head on into their larger siblings and were basically decimated, smaller vehicles are less safe than larger ones. Millions of which will still be on the road. (My daughter pays almost $400 every 6 months more for her new 09 Fit than she would have if she had purchased an Accord because of this "safety gap" and higher repair costs). Combine these and what you have is that cars will simply be a lot more expensive. Wiping out any of the potential consumer savings. The only benefit of these new rulings will be a small reduction in how much oil we use and reduced amount of pollutants going into the air. Maybe. As I see it, many more people will simply opt to keep what they are driving now or opt for a used, larger car/SUV as there next purchase. It is, without a doubt the fault of the car companies that they are in the positions they are now. BUT, we are a BIG Country. Although the auto companies could have done a better job at steering our tastes towards more efficient vehicles. (As I believe they should have) The other side of that coin is, we the consumers are at fault as well for every time they built a bigger, badder SUV or Truck, we forked over whatever they charged and jumped in with both feet. Look at the early success of Hummer and vehicles like the Expedition. If we had not bought them as fast as they could be built, the companies would have stopped building them. If the Govt had forced gas costs higher (in small, graduated climbs over a long, but steady period of time) then our 'tastes' would have slowly changed with the higher cost to fuel the monsters and the companies would have responded to this and built what we were willing to buy. Look at Europe.

Cafe standards have never worked and they will not work now.

Holy crap all you Obama is the savior of mankind types you get back to me when bread is 10 bucks a loaf and gas is 10 bucks a gallon(7 being tax).Some of you guys are in for a massive reality check.If you live in the state of IL.you know just what kind of politico comes out of Chicago.God will raise taxes on fuel to finish off any cars that may be fun.

doesn't change the FACT that the aveo is a disgrace to ALL small cars. a corolla is a LEXUS in comparison, and IT gets better mileage.

the yaris is more comparable, and gets FAR better mileage. while also looking far more classy.

> But in my opinion there is a HUGE flaw in this plan that will having [sic] devastating results on the American car business and American jobs.

Help me understand something: Are American car manufacturers indifferent to fuel economy, or are they just not as good as foreign makers?

Each car maker creates a product they *believe* will sell. Some makers are better than others in anticipating consumer's desires and needs. It seems the US has had decades to make a "better" car, and they've had their collective asses kicked by foreigners. Even foreign companies like Honda, making cars on US soil, with US labor, in US factories. They still seem to be doing something "better".

US makers have had literally decades to pull their socks up. The 1970's cheap Asian cars and "Energy Crisis" appears not to have awoken them.

Fat, Lazy, and Complacent are the faces of US car makers. "Made In Japan" used to be the label of crappiness. Now, Sony and Toyota are leaders. Even the Koreans have come an incredibly long way since the Hyndai Pony's debut.

C'mon guys. Show the world what "Yankee Ingenuity" is all about!!!

the old "made in japan" rep of the 1950s has been replaced by the GM "Mark of Excresense" in the '70s, '80s, '90s...........

Ford may get me back at some point we will see.