WJR Auto Report: Toyota's Hybrid Quandary

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Tideland Prius, Jun 23, 2005.

  1. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    No manufacturer has been more aggressive in bringing hybrids to market than Toyota. So you can imagine my surprise when I read the results of an interview with the Japanese automaker's new chief of research and development. According to Kazuo Okamato, hybrid technology just doesn't make sense for American motorists. Actually make that dollars and cents. Okamato told the Financial Times that "when you just use the argument of fuel efficiency," the technology is "not justified." In other words, you can't save enough money on gas to pay off the higher price for a hybrid vehicle. That's not to say Okamato is writing off the technology. A hybrid's biggest appeal, he suggests, is to those who want to do their part to save the environment, something you can't always work into an economic equation. That's the sort of logic that has confounded many of Toyota's competitors, including General Motors. But the long waiting list for Toyota's hybrids suggests American buyers are clearly motivated by more than just economics.

    Listen to the report
     
  2. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    WJR... seems to me that is the station that i used to listen to the Tigers lose game after game after game.

    hmmm...another anti Prius slant from the motor city.

    ya... ok... whatever

    GO PISTONS!!
     
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    hehe. There's a thread on Toyota Nation on today's game. The first 6 posts were for the Pistons!
     
  4. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    Pistons up by 5 points 4 mins into the 3rd quarter!!

    GOOO PISTONS!!
     
  5. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    <sigh> Can't believe they blew the 3rd quarter
     
  6. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    they blew the entire 2nd half... other than the first few of the 3rd quarter (which btw, they scored nearly 40% of their points for the ENTIRE 2nd half) their offense was non-existant.

    plus, they played normal basketball...iow, turnovers. they still set a record for least turnovers in a 7 game series by a long shot but had double the turnovers of the previous 3 games combined. 5 24 second violations??!! that is insane.

    oh well...next year. one bright side.... now everyone in Seattle is saying the Sonics were 2nd best since they lost to SA in a tough series...i like the Sonics, but i think Detroit could take them easy
     
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I didn't like how hmm.. Hamilton was it? took that shot in the crucial last min of play. It was the 3 pointer that got blocked. They didn't need a 3 just yet like the commentators said.
     
  8. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    that was Billups who took the shot, but by then, it was obvious that Hamilton the other guard just wasnt going to be able to do it for them.

    what killed Detroit was foul trouble. they had a 9 point lead, then Rasheed Wallace and their #1 forward off the bench Antonio McDyess both got into foul trouble, had to sit out the rest of the 3rd quarter and beginning of the 4th. so Detroit went with a 3 guard, small forward lineup. that is what killed them.
     
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    yes. early foul trouble. <sigh> good game though!
     
  10. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    yes an excellent game and the Pistons still did what few have done and that was to beat San antonio in san antonio.

    SA had the best home record in the NBA this year having lost only 4 home games all year i believe