Comments on: Toyota Unveils New Prius Boasting 50 MPG

Automaker Hopes To Keep Prius The Top-Selling Hybrid On Market

[fauxnewscom]

They may boast 50mpg. Let''s see how the EPA rates it. The Jetta diesel boasted pretty high, but the sticker (on the one I saw) said 40mpg highway. My 85 Jetta diesel got up to 55mpg and my 80 Rabbit diesel got over 50mpg.

[jsd330]

My wife bought a toyota corrola built in ohio.

posted by ibzjem

you are totally wrong on two things. (1) there is no toyota plant in ohio. The only Japenese carmaker with a plant in ohio is honda. (2) the ranger is not a mazda, The ranger was built befor mazda entered the small truck market. Ford owns about 25% of mazda, they have a plant in Michigan called allied motors which is a joint partnership between ford and mazda.

[jxknowles]

I hope GM, Ford and Chrysler can pull their heads out of their backends fast enough to compete.

GM is now running these ridiculous ads with Howie Long (is there anyone with less credibility?) to shame men into buying a more macho pickup. Why not just f#rt away the bailout money instead of paying that fool?

Toyota again demonstrates why it''s on the right track. Count me among the faithful Toyota owners.

[legacyabq]

Don''t knock the Chevy VOLT until you''ve checked it out..

It actually looks pretty nice!

Aesthetically and technology-wise....

[daffy64]

Let''''s say the Toyota and GM both launch an electric car in 2010. Who would you purchase from?

--

Toyota.

[serf_1]

Posted by ibzjem at 01:12 PM

I''m neither for or against Unions. As you said the money is coming back into our country, but at what cost? Other countries will eventually own us as we sell off our country piece by piece. Our sovereignty as a nation is at stake because of debt. I believe the whole global economy concept is fundamentally flawed. Manufacturing creates wealth. We can not simply be a services society selling goods and services to each other. Corporations are driving our country off a cliff and greed is at the wheel.

[ibzjem]

Posted by Serf_1 at 12:58 PM : Jan 13, 2009

Ah maybe so. I''ve heard that argument before, but those companies ARE investing in America. Those profits are coming back here in many ways from land purchases and business developments (which leads to taxes being paid), loans, etc. The US and Japanese economy are well connected as are others.

It sounds like you might be speaking from a Union perspective. I''m fairly neutral on Unionized labor. I see good things and bad things about it. One doesn''t HAVE to be in a union to be employed. I''d bet most of the employees of Honda are grateful for their jobs too.

[serf_1]

Posted by ibzjem at 11:53 AM

Part of what you say is correct, but even though those cars are built in America by Americans the profit still goes to another country. We are becoming cheap labor for other countries as our money loses value, and as this continues the USA will reach rock bottom.

[ibzjem]

Buy American...save jobs....be strong!!!

Posted by mahumphries at 11:45 AM : Jan 13, 2009

My wife bought a Toyota Corolla, built in OHIO by Americans sold by Americans and serviced by Americans. Honda builds cars in Ohio, KY, etc and so to others. A friend bought a Dodge Stealth several years ago built in Japan because it''s really a Mitsubishi. Ford Mustang has over 50% of its parts imported. The Ford Ranger is really a Mazda. The idea of an all American car is nonsense. What would you tell those Americans building/selling/servicing "foreign" cars?

[ibzjem]

The premis that Hybrids and electric cars are "Green" is debatable. The batteries in hybrids are a bittch to dispose of. Electrics need to be charged with electricity generated from power plants, which are not "Green" for the most part.
Posted by mnelsonix at 10:53 AM : Jan 13, 2009

Yes it is debatable.
1. The batteries are recyclable and industries are gearing up for second uses and recycling of those batteries once spent by cars. the Prius has been manufactured lately to allow partial replacement of its battery pack. There is an abundance of Lithium for battery manufacturing and if we put half of the money spent on hydrogen cell research (a continually dangling carrot) into battery research we could solve these battery concerns and make better batteries for longer range cars.

2. Research has shown that charging cars would produce a fraction of the emissions (even from coal powered plants) than gasoline/oil does. Right now we have the capacity to support charging about 70% of the country''s cars. As we build the infrastructure to run electric cars we can improve upon that.

There are NO arguments not to produce electric cars. The BIG car and the BIG Oil companies have been trying to squash this research and technology for years.

[mahumphries]

Buy American...save jobs....be strong!!!

[ibzjem]

Let''''s say the Toyota and GM both launch an electric car in 2010. Who would you purchase from?

Posted by brianp55 at 11:30 AM : Jan 13, 2009

Toyota 100 times over! The prius is now less than $25000 and that Volt thing (what ever it is and when ever it comes out if at all) is supposed to be $40000. Plus the track record speaks for itself.

[ken1dall]

Give me a Mustang GT any day.

[brianp55]

Let''s say the Toyota and GM both launch an electric car in 2010. Who would you purchase from?

[mnelsonix]

The premis that Hybrids and electric cars are "Green" is debatable. The batteries in hybrids are a bittch to dispose of. Electrics need to be charged with electricity generated from power plants, which are not "Green" for the most part.

It''s a nobel effort to use technology to clean up our earth, but technology is the root of the problem. I guess time will tell if technology is a solution to a technology caused problem.

[ibzjem]

Maybe if we had a tax on imports the USA companies wouldn''''t be asking for a bailout and they COULD build it.

Posted by repo_man_08 at 07:47 PM : Jan 12, 2009

Seriously, that''s a ridiculous idea. Why not instead force people to pay higher sales tax and property tax on their Hummers, Escalades, and Tahoes and such. Make anything that gets less than 25 mpg a luxury car and charge luxury taxes. Then there will be incentive to build better cars by the Big 3. I thought capitalism was based on competition, not forcing out competition so locals can reign.

[mnelsonix]

Don''''t you just love globalization?
Posted by whitemale08 at 10:27 AM
________
Nice job bro...and none of the usual partisan bickering. I don''t see an "Export Economy" per say, American workers just won''t work that hard.

[ibzjem]

Be nice if they could make it look good. The Prius is uglier than 8 days of rain...

Posted by mortal3 at 04:28 PM : Jan 12, 2009

Nothing, I mean NOTHING, is as ugly as that stupid Pontiac Aztec SUV p.o.s.!!!!

[whitemale08]

All part of the transformation from a post-industrial-service-sector-debt-based economy to an even worse economy called ''export-driven'' economy.

This is the last stage for a country like the United States to come in under the fold of ''globalization''.

With the illegal Federal Reserve destroying the currency and Reagan-Friedmanites promoting ''union busting'' and ''low-wages'', soon our labor force will be ''competitive''.

With no one abe to retire because we''ve replaced pension funds with PONZI-light 401k programs, you now will have serfs both young and old working for next-to-nothing like in Asia and Africa.

With that sunny new prospect for a now dead financial system here in the states, Wall Street/City of London will shift focus on a budding middle-class in China so our new ''export driven'' economy can fuel China''s growth.

Don''t you just love globalization?

[ddaryl1]

..... Bush said, eight years ago, we could import 20% less foreign oil by drilling here. He was right but Democrats said no. In eight years Spineless Democrats have never even authored an energy bill, let alone try to get one passed. They have only Bittchedd at Bush. The only solution useless Democrats have ever come up with is live on a Communist Commune, smoke dope, have sexxx with everything and Drive a Segway. And now, the Godd and Messiah O%u2019Bama is backing away from every (used car salesman) promise he ever made to the Intellectual Elitist, America Hating Democrats who voted for him.

Posted by demslie2u2
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Maybe... just maybe republicans would have actually won this election and not lost most of the their senatew and congress seats IF they had actually done something for ther Ameircan people.

You can hate democrats all you want but the people who voted for them were plenty sick and tired of the stupidity we recieved from conservative sothern white folk.

Democrats have been willing to do alot with energy, unfortunately unless its fossil fuels or nuclear republicans want nothing to do with it. Most Ameircans want solar, wind, NG and biofuel options, something republicans have toruble committing to at the levles in which we must commit...