Mary Anne

Automakers: Bailout Arguments, Pro and Con

Allears just hit the proverbial nail on the head!

On Nov 20 01:45 AM By all Means wrote:

> JP
> won't happen until the government gets its head out of its behind
> and fixes fuel prices at a minimum 3.50 to 4.00 That is the threshold
> where the public really gets behind buying a green or a smaller car.
> Without this its pointless as people wont buy. Lets get real here.
> The Toyota prius sold like crazy in the run up to 4.00 fuel. then
> it stalled or flatlined in sales voulume in july/august. And the
> total impact of the Prius nationwide was only 2% of the market. They
> had volume issues at first but they adjusted for it by early summer.
> The bottom line is that americans talk a good line about wanting
> hybrids but the reality is less than 2% of the cars sold in the USA
> last year were Prius hybrids. And thats at 4 dollars.
>
> So wheres the disconnect? Are the green huggers screaming louder
> than everyone else on the web making it look like everyone just has
> to have one now. Or is everyone just chanting a good line but wouldn't
> be caught dead in one even at 4.00 fuel. Maybe it takes 5 or 6 or
> 7 or 9 like most of the EU for people stop talking a good line and
> get real about it. When the public's ready to get real the automakers
> will get real.