The F-150 is still the biggest seller by a wide margin. Suburbans outsell Prius. Gas prices back down. The gov't mandates how many MPG. Yeah, lets put a four banger in a Dodge Ram and see how they sell. Whatever happened to letting the market decide instead of Big Brother?

The market never decides.

Here is the problem - the market is stupid. They will buy whatever they are told to via that snake oil art of MARKETing.

Now, if the product is bad, the market doesn't care, they will buy it anyway. The market is ignorant of research and improvements. Did you know that Tucker was going to market his car with a bent on safety? The big three couldn't let that happen so they went out of their way to destroy him.

Did you know that the Big Three didn't want to sell their cars with seatbelts because they were concerned the market would think their product was inherently unsafe? Screwed up, ain't it?

The reason "big brother" gets involved is that they DO have the research - the same research that the automakers, at least the American ones, refuse to use.

How long was it before the American automakers started to provide really good brakes?

What about safety crush zones? Mercedes and Volvo pioneered these technologies 50+ years ago... before mandates... and it wasn't until the 1970s that the Big Three decided to follow suit.

Airbags existed, but weren't a big deal because there was no mandate, either from the market or from the government. Aren't airbags a good thing?

Did you know that the Pinto rear-end collision explosion problem could have been avoided for under $10.00 a car? But the smoking gun memo that burned their collective asses indicated that it would be cheaper to pay for litigation. That's messed up and the #1 reason why I won't own a Ford product. They didn't give a shit then, why would they now? Is that endemic to Ford? I donno, but with the hamfisted handling of the Explorer issues, I am not so sure.

I guess what I am saying is that the consumer WILL buy what they want or what they perceive to be safer. The problem is, for example, that the big trucks and SUVs are not really all that much safer... most of them have problems in front end collisions with the front suspension busting through the floor boards and breaking legs (I don't know if this is still an issue, but it was a few years back).

I will put it this way... I am motoring down the road at 75 MPH. I am going to hit something head on, doing the same speed. Either way, I will be hurt, but if I had a choice of my 1992 Corvette (ABS, might scrub off more speed) and airbag, versus a 1962 Corvette... or Cadillac... or anything else of that vintage... I will take my Vette.

Hell, I would take the Prius before any of the old cars. And remember this, physics is one thing, but that Prius has to pass the same crash standards of a Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac STS.

As for future MPG concerns, I see smaller, turbo charged engines. I also see diesels becoming standard on trucks. For the Corvette, how does a twin turbo 4.5 litre V8 sound? With around 450hp, it would be just as stout as the current muscle, without the MPG issues. I would guess that it would hit 35 highway without a problem.

I wish it was as easy as market rules... but when the market is stupid, it really raises me doubts about its competency to make an informed decision... when it doens't have all the information.

First, we kill all the lawyers, er, make that marketing people.

Answer: at the moment, gas is cheap.

Quote:

Thats it! Once gas starts to rise the "Rams" and like will be parked as they were last year.

I grew up as a GM employee offspring. Living in Detroit during the 50's and 60's was exciting as every year a new crop of design and power emerged. The designers were progressive, yet the engineers were still stuck in the 40's. This mentality was evident across the "Big 4".

Now they are in a pickle. Too bad that the unions and their lack of foresight was their demise.