http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070424/japan_toyota_gm.html?.v=7 "TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp. became the world's top auto seller in the first three months of the year, passing rival General Motors Corp. for the first time, the Japanese automaker said Tuesday...."
Before this really gets started, most of us acknowledge "the better team won" after a football game. GM and Toyota have been competing since the 1970's - only recently Toyota has decided to go for the top postion. They did it on a level playing field.
Maybe making bigger and less fuel efficient SUVs wasn't the best strategy in the long run... Hurry up! Whip up some fake hybrids!
actually to have done this with what is generally regarded as a totally committed and contented work force is a much more valuable metric... that is something gm lost many many many years ago
It's all down hill for them now. Maybe we ought to have a serious "funeral" procession for GM ... like what was done for the EV1 ... folks being somber for the demise of a company that pissed away a lead utilizing poor quality, and a disregard for what their customers really wanted.
IMO, Toyota is #1 because the quality and reliablitity are far superior to ANY so called American car company. I say so called because in know the Dodge Ram Truck we sold was made in Mexico and the car made with the most US parts and labor is the Toyota Camry. We bought our 1st Toyota in 1980 and I am on #4 with the Prius. We have also bought several new Dodge's, Chevy's and Fords over the years. To me, it doesn't matter how good the warranty is if you have to take the car back to the dealer every month for repairs. Toyota set out to build a better quality and value car for the money than GM. Now the numbers show their hard work.
"While the challenges of the U.S. economy continue to put pressure on the automotive industry there, we saw nearly 20 percent growth in the Latin America, Africa and Middle East, and 6 percent growth in the Asia Pacific region," John Middlebrook, GM vice president of global sales, said in a statement. Yeah, that's because in those markets Gm sells cars that people want to buy. In America Toyota makes cars the people want to buy, so people are buying Toyotas. In Brazil, arguably Latin America's largest market, Chevrolet's largest engine is a 3.0 V6, used only on the top of the line luxury vehicle, most others have a 4 cylinder power plant, and there are some very economical cars in its line up. What economical car does GM have on its line up in the US? The Cobalt doesn't come close.
I was getting 40 mpg on a Focus... but both are poorly built and only in the US would pass for a compact. The Geo Metro was a true compact, GM is trying to bring the Daewoo Matiz to the the US but it hasn't passed crash standards yet... The Matiz is already sold as the Chevy Spark in a few markets.
Where is that information located? According to the EPA Green Vehicle Guide the Cobalt only gets 24/33mpg for the 2.2L. This still puts it behind models like the Kia Rio, Civic, Fit, Focus, Yaris, Mini-Cooper etc. Be careful you are not using 2007- EPA ratings for the Cobalt and 2008 EPA ratings for other cars. *edit* Just saw your other thread on the Cobalt. So it's a brand new mid-year upgrade? That is kind cool.
