MpgTips News: December 2008

News is emerging that the big three car manufacturers, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler are in financial difficulty.  It serves the greedy cigar chompers right.  They’ve been ignoring the public for years, building the same old heavy fuel consumption cars.  Partly because they don’t want to spend money on research and development, their attitude is simply to go with what worked for them in the past, also because of pressure from the oil companies to produce vehicles that use plenty of fuel.  Investing money in new technology is not on their agenda, unlike the Japanese manufacturers who are miles ahead in hybrid production and are actively researching other technologies.  That’s why I think that Toyota, Nissan and Honda will soon become the new ‘big three’, Toyota is already a major player in the USA and Canada, with the Camry being the best selling car there for five years running. Here’s a christmas tip from me to them.  Tip: Rule number one in any business: Don’t make products that nobody wants!   I will also tell you what we would like to see mass produced.  1) Pure Electric Cars, 2) Diesel Hybrids, 3) Hydrogen fuel cell cars that run on tap water.  Any chance?, I doubt we’ll see them anytime soon, so we’ll continue to buy the same old rubbish and suffer the poor fuel consumption that appears to be purposely built in.  – Well that’s the end of my December Rant and a Very Merry Christmas from me. – Alan.