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Re: Suzuki Diesel 4x4 [gregg_vw]

by Mr_Shiftright on Mon Sep 29 08:51:36 PDT 2008

The TDIs, being so rare, probably don't even factor into the statistics. I think the TDIs are perhaps better (relative to other VWs I mean) because there is no ignition system and less engine management business, two weak areas for a VW product. The gas Jetta often makes the "worst lists" on CR, CU, Forbes, you name it. My friend who is a HUGE used car dealer, won't even have a gas Jetta on his lot, nor Jaguars, nor selected domestic products. If you did a "Google Challenge" bet that the VW brand was better than average for most cars, you'd lose I'm afraid. They most certainly don't make the worst cars, but they struggle to achieve mediocrity it seems.

Re: The Slide continues... [grbeck]

by steve_ on Fri Sep 26 08:37:30 PDT 2008

And anyone who thinks that other countries really liked us prior to the Bush president is kidding himself. The French loved us then and they still love America. Maybe not the so called elite, but American movies, food and other US cultural aspects are huge there. Lance is going to stomp them again however. :) This Forbes commentator thinks the best way to create jobs here is to push foreign automakers to build more cars in the US. Welfare Kings In Cadillacs

More reasons - I'm gonna keep them coming

by larsb on Wed Sep 17 07:32:32 PDT 2008

I'm gonna kepp posting these reasons until all the "oil companies don't want diesel cars here" paranoia is removed from this forum. A Very Good PDF by a couple of industry analysts. This is a 14-page study with stats and analysis of them . At no point is "oil company price gouging" brought up as a possible cause. And: RVers have a say A big part of the reason diesel prices have increased is because in 2006 fuel emission standards kicked in and instead of being 500 parts per million (ppm) sulfur content our legislators are requiring 80 ppm. A barrel of crude oil is now around $110 and out of that barrel we squeeze 7.8 gallons of diesel fuel and 19.4 gallons of gasoline. So why are diesel prices now higher than gasoline prices? “Worldwide demand for diesel fuel and other distillate fuel oils has been increasing steadily, with strong demand in China, Europe and the U.S. putting more pressure on the tight global refining capacity.” nother reason for the price difference is the Federal excise tax which is six cents a gallon higher than on gasoline (thank you Congress). In fact a full 20% of each dollar you pay for fuel is pure tax. Not to be outdone California tacks on another 7.25% tax on top of the Federal excise tax already in place and they still can’t seem to fix their roads. And: A pro-diesel website pipes in One reason why diesel fuel today is higher priced than gasoline is because of the unintended consequences of the 2007 EPA mandated ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel) fuel - and not necessarily because it costs more to produce... Everything changed in October of 2006, when the new U.S. ULSD regulations were implemented. Current U.S. ULSD is regulated to contain no more than 15-parts per million sulfur. In actual practice, U.S. ULSD contains just 7 or 8-ppm, which perhaps not coincidentally allows our ULSD to meet the somewhat stricter 10-ppm sulfur regulations in Europe. So, ULSD produced here in the United States has, for the first time, become acceptable for use in Europe. According to a 2/08 article in Reuters, entitled "ANALYSIS-Exports keep U.S. diesel prices above gasoline", they reported that U.S. diesel fuel is currently being exported in quantity. As reported in a 7/08 article in Forbes online, entitled "ANALYSIS-US oil firms seek drilling access, but exports soar", "U.S exports of diesel fuel in April averaged 387,000 barrels per day, up almost seven-fold from 59,000 barrels a day in the same month a year earlier." The economics of "Supply & Demand" no longer apply to the U.S. diesel fuel market. American truckers could boycott diesel fuel, and it wouldn't necessarily produce lower diesel fuel prices. According to a June 2008 article at MSN, entitled: Why is the U.S. exporting gasoline and diesel?, they report that U.S. oil companies were exporting more than 1.8 million barrels of crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and other refined products per day. The top five buyers of U.S. petroleum products were Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands, Chile and Singapore. This article also indicated that Venezuela owns three CITGO refineries in the United States, and that about 30,000 barrels of refined products per day are being shipped back to Venezuela, where government-subsidized gas/diesel is currently being sold for a whopping $0.19 per gallon. And: The UK obviously understands diesel prices NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. diesel prices are running at an unusual premium to gasoline, a historically odd relationship that may become the norm due to strong growth in global demand for the fuel. The shift may lead domestic oil refiners, which have tended to focus heavily on producing gasoline to meet U.S. motorist demand, to invest in units that can make exportable diesel for the domestic and world market. "I think the economics will draw refiners to higher levels of diesel fuel production over time. The fact that the U.S. imports gasoline and exports diesel is a good indicator that the market is increasingly calling for more diesel and refiners will have to make this investment," said Kevin Lindemar, an analyst with Global Insight. U.S. diesel prices have jumped 84.5 percent in a year to $3.28 a gallon -- compared to the jump in gasoline prices of 78 percent to about $2.97 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The surge in diesel prices follows a move by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandating a cleaner form of the fuel which is more costly to produce and which is also more readily exportable to the European market and other diesel-hungry regions. "You do have areas of the world, like Europe, where the passenger car fleet is heavily weighted to diesel," said Kevin Lindemar, an analyst with Global Insight in Massachusetts. Before the cleaner diesel mandate, much of the diesel produced in the United States fell far short of European fuel specifications, which meant the fuel tended to stay in the United States, keeping stockpiles full and prices low. So in summary, since more U.S.-refined diesel is getting exported, making the diesel that remains even MORE valuable, thus driving up the price.

Re: I will admit !!!!!! [kay14]

by dallasdude1 on Thu Aug 21 18:22:56 PDT 2008

By MARC MCDONALD CEO pay continues to soar into the stratosphere, while wages for the average American worker stagnate. Forbes magazine reports that the CEOs of America's 500 biggest companies received an aggregate 54 percent pay raise last year. As a group, their total compensation totaled $5.1 billion (compared with $3.3 billion in fiscal 2003). Conservatives, no doubt, would argue that under America's free market system, these chief executives "earned" their pay. But did they? Forbes, a publication not exactly considered to be in the progressive camp, seems to think otherwise. The magazine says some CEOs "did so bad they should have paid their shareholders." Take Peter Cartwright of Calpine, a maker of gas-fired power plants. Forbes reports that Calpine's average annual return to shareholders over the past six years has been minus 7 percent. During the same period, Cartwright pocketed an average annual $13 million. America's CEOs are by far the highest paid CEOs of any nation on earth. Which begs a question: why? The U.S. economy isn't exactly stellar at the moment. In fact, an increasing number of commentators warn that America's economy is facing a major crisis. Our exploding fiscal and trade deficits are the highest that any developed nation has ever seen. America's once-vaunted manufacturing base has been hollowed out. And the dollar continues to crumble in value. Exploding CEO pay is a relatively recent phenomenon in U.S. history. For example, in the 1960s, the average CEO earned around 40 times what the rank-and-file workers earned. Today the average CEO makes over 500 times what the average worker earns. And the gap continues to widen, year by year.Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, conservatives are constantly coming up with reasons to justify soaring CEO pay. Here are three of my favorites: CEOs create jobs. They create shareholder value. They have supposedly made the U.S. economy the strongest and most competitive in the world. First of all, let's take a look at jobs. The past few years haven't exactly been a boon to job seekers in the U.S. Fewer and fewer jobs are being created these days. And the jobs that do exist are paying less and offer increasingly meager benefits. And American employees work the longest hours in the industrialized world, as author Juliet Schor pointed out in her book, The Overworked American. Now, consider the issue of "shareholder value." The past few years haven't exactly been stellar for the stock market. But even the CEOs who preside over companies with sinking share value continue to pocket huge compensation packages. Last, but not least: let's take a look at America's "competitiveness" these days. A recurring mantra with America's mainstream and business press is that the U.S. is the most "competitive" economy in the world. A casual look at America's current trade figures, though, explodes this myth. The fact is, America has the largest trade deficits of any First World nation in history. It seems to me that the U.S. has a difficult time these days creating products that other nations want to buy. Meanwhile, Americans line up to buy products from countries like Germany (which exceeds even China as the world's largest exporter) and Japan---despite the fact that average wages in those two countries are now higher than U.S. wage levels. If U.S. corporations are really that "competitive" these days, it seems strange to me that America's CEOs seem to have a tough time making ends meet without corporate welfare. Take Wal-Mart for example. The world's largest corporation (with over $286 billion in annual sales) cost American taxpayers over $1.5 billion in 2004, according to Walmartwatch.com. If you want to get an idea of how out-of-control soaring CEO pay has gotten, it's important to look at the CEO pay of America's automakers. To me, Detroit sums up many of the major problems that America's economy as a whole faces these days. Detroit's CEOs have long pocketed by far the highest compensation levels of any auto executives in the world. This shouldn't really be surprising: American CEOs in general have long raked in vastly higher pay packages than their overseas counterparts. U.S. CEOs make, on average, 22 times what their counterparts make in Japan and 17 times what their counterparts earn in Europe. If pay is somehow tied to performance, then you'd think that America's automakers are the world's most competitive, correct? If so, you'd be wrong. Detroit, in fact, has been steadily losing market share to foreign automakers for the past five decades. And the blame for this can be laid squarely on the shoulders of Detroit's CEOs, who've made one stupid decision after another for decades. One recent example: Detroit's decision to stake everything on gas-guzzling SUVs, while the Japanese were busy perfecting hybrid technology. (Hybrids are currently by far the auto industry's hottest segment). Detroit CEOs have long complained that "it's not their fault" and have offered up one excuse after another as to why America's car companies are losing market share. My favorite excuse of theirs is that foreign automakers' workers earn less than their America counterparts (an excuse that the U.S. mainstream and business media has never bothered to challenge). A quick look at the numbers explodes this lie. The fact is, automaker employees in both Japan and Germany earn higher salaries than U.S. automaker workers do these days. Japan's wages run 30 to 40 percent higher than Detroit's wages. And German automakers workers earn around $49/hour on average versus $39/hour for Detroit's workers. Although U.S. automaker workers earn less than their foreign counterparts, Detroit CEOs make vastly higher pay packages than their counterparts do in Germany or Japan. This vast gulf was vividly demonstrated in 1998 when German automaker Daimler-Benz took over U.S. automaker Chrysler. As it turned out, the CEO of Daimler-Benz, Jurgen Schrempp, was earning a pay package that was less than one-tenth of the pay package of Chrysler CEO Robert Eaton. One might think, given the gigantic pay packages of America's CEOs these days, that being a chief executive is a demanding job. It seems to me that the opposite is true. CEOs seem to do little more these days than bitch and moan and offer up excuses for their companies' declining fortunes. There are always plenty of handy scapegoats around. Unions. Democrats. "Excessive" red tape and regulations. Lower wages overseas. Ad nauseam. It seems to me that, far from having a difficult job, America's CEOs actually have one of the easiest jobs in the world these days. When things aren't going well, simply blame others for your mistakes (shades of the Bush White House here). And, if that doesn't work, simply ask for another round

Re: Is it time for automakers to get the fat out? [nippononly]

by steve_ on Wed Aug 20 16:58:32 PDT 2008

The ironic thing about that article Well, that's Forbes for you. :P I didn't go to the source pages, but I bet Forbes has them spread out one by one so they can sell more ad pages. My old '82 Tercel 4 door sedan came in around 1950 pounds, and it felt pretty peppy for 62 hp.

Re: Is it time for automakers to get the fat out? [nippononly]

by steve_ on Wed Aug 20 14:05:45 PDT 2008

I heard Lovins speak ~20 years ago. He's been pushing conservation a long time. He convinced me buy a lot of caulk and insulation back then, and probably saved me hundreds of dollars. Here's a tie-in: "According to Forbes Autos, the average weight of "light-duty" vehicles rose from 3,221 pounds in 1997 to 4,144 pounds in 2007. Ironically, part of that weight gain comes from safety equipment that has been added over the past 10 years, some of which was federally mandated." In the Trade-Off Between Weight and Fuel Economy, Safety Tech Tips the Scale