Reply #38: They along with the rest of corporate America are under the same.....

[nolabels]

Delusions if you ask me. I have been working on diesel trucks for the last 28 years and have seen how industry has become way more efficient with the use of fuels for their transportion while at the same time trying to sell the everyday citizen-consumer the opposite. They profit from producing junk that is inefficient, needs frequent repairs and or replaced often. These folks that produce this stuff have no desire to save anybody any expense (if they can get away with it). Competition is nothing if you have got a captive market(or one that thinks it's captive).

If I ever had to buy another passenger vehicle it would be a Hybrid fuel efficient Toyota.

Hybrid buyers are waiting in the wings
Environmentally conscious line up to buy most fuel-efficient cars

George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Sisters Patricia Ryan (left), and Charleen Koenig, of the... A Look Inside a Hybrid Car. New York Times Graphic Bob Epstein, the founder of Sybase, is an environmentalis... Bob Epstein bought a 2001 Prius and then a 2004 Prius.
(snip)

Fueled in part by growing concerns about gas prices and worldwide oil production, along with increased sensitivity to environmental issues, sales of hybrid automobiles nationwide are on pace to nearly double this year.

Apparently, some folks in the auto industry didn't get that memo. Honda and Toyota are about to get some serious competition for the hybrid dollar, including a number of SUV models, from the likes of Ford, Mercury, Chevrolet, Dodge and even Toyota's Lexus Division.

Up to 30 hybrid models are expected on the market by 2009. With gas prices spiking nationwide, it's not surprising that cars that get more than 60 miles per gallon are getting a second look from once-lukewarm consumers. And nowhere is that interest more acute than in the Bay Area, where the perfect storm of environmentally conscious consumers and sky-high gas prices have made the hybrid a hot commodity.

The mantra at dealerships like Toyota of San Francisco, which leads in hybrid sales among 63 Northern California Toyota dealerships (hybrids now represent 20 to 25 percent of its total sales), is that the technology has crossed into the mainstream of consumer consciousness. "That's why there is such a demand for the car,'' said Russ Mobley, who heads new car sales at the dealership and must tell all those Prius buyers about the three- to four-month wait.
(snip)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/04/21/MNGC468FFU1.DTL

btw, we are still waiting for the competition, i think

Check this excerpt about how corporate transportation industry is doing, if you read the whole article you will notice how the US goverment bends over backwards to help the corporations (and at the same time they saying F.U to Joe Public)

Puget Sound Launches Major Air Pollution Reduction Effort Using Clean Diesel Technologies
(snip)
"Since 1988, diesel engine emissions have been reduced by 90 percent, and by 2007 that reduction will total 98 percent, " said Schaeffer. " The Forum's members are leaders in the development of clean diesel technologies, which include the three-faceted system of cleaner engines, cleaner fuels and advanced emissions catalysts and filters."

Dr. Alan Lloyd, Chairman of California's Air Resources Board, recently predicted these advances will create "the decade of the clean diesel."

"The diesel engine has tremendous value," said Schaeffer, "because the chemical structure of the fuel delivers more power per unit than any other type of fuel, including gasoline or compressed natural gas, and therefore provides superior fuel efficiency."

For example, diesel powers 94 percent of all freight moved in the U.S. and 60 percent of all buses and agricultural equipment and nearly all freight rail transport, and heavy construction machinery, according to a study done by Charles Rivers and Associates. Diesel is also 30-60 percent more fuel-efficient than gasoline, reducing the consumption of petroleum fuels significantly.
(snip)
http://www.dieselforum.org/news/july_10_2001.html