Is This My Last Nice Car?

[greyghost04]

Everything I read in the last month about GM and the auto industry world-wide says we are heading to small. A 2008 Camry will be a land yacht in the year 2011 when my lease ends. I wonder. They still sell big cars in Europe. Gas there can be double what we now pay. Granted the taxes go to pay for health care and other services. I remember 1978 (or whatever year it was) during the embargo. Gas prices doubled to .75/gal and and emission controls came to cars. It was the worst time for GM and all the car companies as they tried to cope with both mpg and emission issues for the first time. The cars were terrible. Will there be a high mileage Cadillac? Will it be some terrible econobox?

Truthfully, I'm already used to $4 gas. I think my 20 mpg is just fine. I'm worried though that the market will make this my last nice car.

[Ronster]

the main culprit in this scenario is people who vote for democrats.
rg

[ngiardina]

i think that manufacturers in the 70s were caught off guard when the embargo hit. they had to design things that didnt exist at that point. nowadays, even before rising fuel prices, were engineers working on vast improvements in fuel economy, we just hear so much more about it recently due to the cost of fuel. i dont think ford designed the eco boost v6 in the last six months. the manufacturers will continue to innovate,especially on the luxury brands. btw did u know that direct injection made its debut on the 1953 mercedes benz 300sl?

[carman5200]

i dont think this will happen

[CTSing]

They are working on a prototype econo 4-banger for the CTS right now that may be out in the next couple of years. Turbo AND supercharged for those that need the 350+HP (at least for the prototype). I know this for a fact, second hand.

[Ronster]

suggest you all read "earth in the balance". the author has both an oscar and a nobel prize.
he says the internal combustion engine is the greatest threat to human existence.
then read the claim of a major presidential (currently presumptive) candidate, that we cannot "continue to drive our SUVs".
nuff said?

[greyghost04]

Originally Posted by Ronster

suggest you all read "earth in the balance". the author has both an oscar and a nobel prize.
he says the internal combustion engine is the greatest threat to human existence.
then read the claim of a major presidential (currently presumptive) candidate, that we cannot "continue to drive our SUVs".
nuff said?

Unless it's a politician being driven to his political rally or meeting in his entourage of Suburbans, never at the speed limit either

[Ditka]

"...people who vote for democrats"?

Dude, why you gotta do that? Why you gotta bring politics to the Cadillac CTS board? And especially wrong-headed politics.

Look, these are the facts, none of which are disputable:

1. There is a limited supply of oil on the earth
2. The internal combustion engine requires oil
3. The number of people who want cars is growing rapidly, in this country and especially in China and India.

Now you don't need to be a genius, a republican, or anything else to come to the only logical conclusion: We need to find an alternative.

[Buzz48317]

I think that the American companies will cope with the higher fuel prices and new eco regulations by getting thinner. By this I mean that they will start to use lighter weight compounds to make the cars and as a previous member posted by offering smaller motors that make the same or more HP by turbo/supercharging them. I wouldn't mind a CTS coupe with a carbon fiber roof (other than the fact that a sunroof may be a little hard to install) like the new M3 coupe has. Carbon fiber hoods will save weight as well. The offset in price on the CF parts could be, at least partially, absorbed by the fact that you don't have a 6 cyl engine under the hood.

I also think that you will see the emergence of clean diesel engines in the GM line up. Let's face it, diesel fueled autos outsell gas engines by a large number in Europe. These new 'Bluetech' motors make impressive HP numbers and by virtue of the fact that it's a diesel engine the torque is also very impressive.

So no, I don't think that you have seen the last of the American midline luxury autos...but, they may not be carbon copies of what are on the road today...that's all.

[Ronster]

why is gas currently $4 per gallon in the US? Congress. who runs congress? D.
which political party heeds wrong headed environmental extremism (anthropogenic global warming)? D.
which political party just put thru disastrous speeded-up increases in CAFE standards? D.
the same guy who said we cannot keep driving SUVs also bemoaned the fact that gas prices went up not too much but too quickly. D.
sorry, it was inevitable from the OP.
rg

[Ditka]

"why is gas currently $4 per gallon in the US? Congress. who runs congress? D."

Ronster - why do you think Congress sets gas prices? They don't. You know who sets gas prices? Guys like David O'Reilly. You know who that is? He's the CEO of Chevron. Do you think he's a Democrat?

[ngiardina]

I'll bet the last name of the guys who set gas prices all have "al" in them.

[carterb]

I thought that futures speculators, worldwide demand, and crude oil producers set the gas prices (?) ......

[ngiardina]

Exactly. al-Fahad, al-Jezeera, al-Hussein, al-Obama.......

[Ronster]

latest investigations have not been able to implicate "speculators".
OTOH US demand has dropped the last few weeks and (coincidently?) so has crude oil price and lately gas prices started down too.
it's called "supply and demand". if congress would simply step aside and allow drilling in the U.S., and shale oil extraction in the upper west, our domestic supply would increase. meanwhile congress taxes oil companies to the tune of tens of billions, which comes from where? oh yeah the consumers. we can't drill in alaska, but the largest supplier of oil to the US is canada! what the . . .
o'reilly has been ceo for 8 years, gas prices doubled in the last two years. what took him so long? or should we ask what happened two years ago - oh yeah the dems took over congress. rep. pelosi had a "plan". I think we see the results.
and that guy running for pres. as a D: he has promised to increase taxes on profits from capital investment, think a D congress would go along? and what would that do to U.S. manufacturing . . . especially the auto industry which has to increase fleet average economy to 35mpg in 3 years. sure.
rg