No you can't have a good-looking economical car. Not yours.

/hotlinked from story

After the CEO of GM said he "expects (US) government intervention to keep gas prices from falling too low", I'm not surprised.

/loves my 40mpg Honda Fit

"We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.

Please remind Ford of this quote when the 60-something-mpg clean diesels from Honda, BMW, VW, Benz, and Hyundai start flying off shelves when they're released in 2010.

BMW has a clean diesel they're bringing to the USA. (pops) It recently beat a prius in a millage test.

The EU Volkswagen Polo gets 70 MPG..also a clean diesel. They will be selling a Jetta version shortly for the USA. Larger car with a bit less milage tho.

submitter: They won't sell it in the U.S. for "business reasons."


TFA: Yet while half of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel, the U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel. Taxes aimed at commercial trucks mean diesel costs anywhere from 40 cents to $1 more per gallon than gasoline. Add to this the success of the Toyota Prius, and you can see why only 3% of cars in the U.S. use diesel. "Americans see hybrids as the darling," says Global Insight auto analyst Philip Gott, "and diesel as old-tech."

Tax those evil businesses! That'll show them!

And Ford is wondering why they are hemorrhaging money...

optikeye: BMW has a clean diesel they're bringing to the USA. (pops) It recently beat a prius in a millage test.

The EU Volkswagen Polo gets 70 MPG..also a clean diesel. They will be selling a Jetta version shortly for the USA. Larger car with a bit less milage tho.

want.

european and australian fords have been better looking and better made than american fords for decades now. why is this?

I like how submitter puts quotes around "business reasons" - as if those have no place in such a decision.

floor9: Please remind Ford of this quote when the 60-something-mpg clean diesels from Honda, BMW, VW, Benz, and Hyundai start flying off shelves when they're released in 2010.

Watching American Car Companies fark up is like watching the Three Stooges slip on that same damn banana peel again and again.

Won't pass safety tests. Blame the nanny state, not Ford.

RobertBruce: Won't pass safety tests. Blame the nanny state, not Ford.

Not true..the clean diesels meet or surpass EPA emissions and safety. (pops)

flucto: I like how submitter puts quotes around "business reasons" - as if those have no place in such a decision.

well, it's quoted because, to the layperson, a good-looking, affordable car that gets 65mpg seems to make a helluva lot of business sense. and since the ford person didn't elaborate as to these "business reasons," it seemed worthwhile quoting the phrase. make sense?

/submitter

Because americans are too stupid to buy diesel.

optikeye: Not true..the clean diesels meet or surpass EPA emissions and safety. (pops)

Correction..only the very smallest of the cars in that link (like the Polo, have problems with California's emission standards. But they can be modified to surpass standards with a slight hit in millage.

Ok, so diesel costs 15-20% more than regular unleaded, but when the diesels get >30% better mileage, its still a net gain. Argh, the state of cars in the US is such bullshiat.

My next car purchase will be a Jetta TDi, if we can ever get another one in the states.

Hey, Ford: This is why American automakers are in the bind they're in now. Morons.

dj4aces: Hey, Ford: This is why American automakers are in the bind they're in now. Morons.

b...b...b...but gas prices dropped a couple of cents! i can has SUV pleez?

Ford is known for great decisions and long term strategies.

What kind of business reasons, you ask?

SERIOUS BUSINESS REASONS.

FlashHarry: european and australian fords have been better looking and better made than american fords for decades now. why is this?

I think it could be because Ford and other American manufacturers still somewhat work under the assumption that they can do like they did with a bunch of cars in the 80's... build crappy cars with crappy parts and sell them for cheap prices (Ford Escort as an example). Europeans also have enacted laws to increase fuel efficiency standards in their countries while the US lawmakers have been catering to big oil who makes better profits off of less efficient vehicles.

As an example of a car released in the US that had various levels of crappier versions, the Ford Contour. The European version was called the Mondeo (I think that's what it was called). They also sold a version under the Mercury name called the Mystique which was the crappiest version of all. The Ford Contour SVT (special vehicle team) used most of the parts from the European Mondeo and came with a hefty price tag. But as you went down from there, they used increasingly cheaper parts to build up the design. People still bought them, but the best of all was the Mondeo.

So... I guess the point here is that Ford and other American companies don't think very much of American buyers and don't care if they sell us crap cars.

That's cool looking?

oh.. okay.

optikeye: Correction..only the very smallest of the cars in that link (like the Polo, have problems with California's emission standards. But they can be modified to surpass standards with a slight hit in millage.

Looks like there will be some mods available to get that mileage back. Wonder if the decrease in emissions will offset the decrease in mileage?

The problem is not that it is diesel. This is the problem (FTFA):

"At prevailing exchange rates, the Fiesta ECOnetic would sell for about $25,700 in the U.S."

No American is going to pay $26k for a Ford Fiesta, no matter what the gas mileage. Especially when a Prius is cheaper, and has more room.

So what's with the current trend of declaring an image is hotlinked? Aren't 99% of them hotlinked anyway?

Anyway, cool car.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: What kind of business reasons, you ask?

ShawnDoc: No American is going to pay $26k for a Ford Fiesta, no matter what the gas mileage.

Bingo.

floor9: "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.

Please remind Ford of this quote when the 60-something-mpg clean diesels from Honda, BMW, VW, Benz, and Hyundai start flying off shelves when they're released in 2010.

you know, we could always lower the taxes on diesel fuel.....

ShawnDoc: The problem is not that it is diesel. This is the problem (FTFA):

"At prevailing exchange rates, the Fiesta ECOnetic would sell for about $25,700 in the U.S."

No American is going to pay $26k for a Ford Fiesta, no matter what the gas mileage. Especially when a Prius is cheaper, and has more room.

that's if they imported the european version. why not make it here and sell it for $18k?

alexanderplatz: So what's with the current trend of declaring an image is hotlinked? Aren't 99% of them hotlinked anyway?

... No. Ideally, you upload it to an image host and use that link. That guarantees it'll stay up for all to see.

If you don't expect the link to go green or anything, hotlinking is quicker, but you also run the risk of having the image removed, or changed by the host (which leads to a legendary thread, followed by legendary bannination.)

Flab: Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: What kind of business reasons, you ask?

ShawnDoc: No American is going to pay $26k for a Ford Fiesta, no matter what the gas mileage.

Bingo.


wrong. a toyota prius costs £17k-£20k in the UK - that's nearly $40,000!

so, please - compare apples to apples, folks.

sub:They won't sell it in the US for "business reasons"

And that is why they fail.

And get bailed out.

"Cool looking?" I don't think that means what you think it means.

El Freak: "Cool looking?" I don't think that means what you think it means.

And there's no way that thing seats 5 adults.

Weaver95: you know, we could always lower the taxes on diesel fuel.....

We could. The argument in favor of higher taxes because "most" diesel-burners are tractor trailers does not (or soon will not) fly very well. Even with diesel running about $1 / gal more than gas, it's hard to argue against the diesel Accord when it gets twice the fuel efficiency of the gas Accord, so there will soon be a swelling of non-commercial diesel use.

But don't worry. Soon we'll hear about why higher fuel taxes are necessary in order to bail out the American auto makers. Poor Ford / GM / Chrysler; there's just no way they could've seen starkly contrasted consumer demand coming. If only these skyrocketing gas prices could've started hitting us five or so years ago; THEN they would've had a fighting chance!

ShawnDoc: And there's no way that thing seats 5 adults.



Easily seats five adults or four large adults.

Remove all Republicans: Weaver95: you know, we could always lower the taxes on diesel fuel.....

That's absurd. We need to increase gas taxes. People are buying more fuel-efficient cars, which means less total gas, which means less government revenue. If we are going to get things like universal healthcare, the government needs every dime it can get.

Go sing The Internationale somewhere else. Have you thought of a name for your group that will run the dictatorship of the proletariat this time around? While "Communist Party" is most accurate, I'm sure there's a more politically correct term nowadays. Perhaps the Party of the Cultural Revolution? Hmm, that's been done too. I know, since you're talking about Socialism on a National scale, maybe something with those two words...

Remove all Republicans: Hey, there is a reason why our infrastructure is collapsing and the US transportation highway fund is dwindling.

Hang on Obama. Are the taxes from fuel going to be used for things like universal healthcare or infrastructure?

Dancin_In_Anson: Remove all Republicans: Hey, there is a reason why our infrastructure is collapsing and the US transportation highway fund is dwindling.

Hang on Obama. Are the taxes from fuel going to be used for things like universal healthcare or infrastructure?

Would you prefer we go to a wholly private owned network of toll roads to handle all traffic? I'm sure that would be loads cheaper and more efficient than paying for communist roads through gas taxes...

KyngNothing: Would you prefer we go to a wholly private owned network of toll roads to handle all traffic?

No...I was just trying to figure out where he thinks the (too low) fuel taxes should go.

Translation: "We are too busy spending a billion dollars a month in negative cash flow to keep the old crap we are selling propped up to invest in what makes commercial sense in the United States. Plus, we know when we run out of money by operating like idiots, the federal government will give us billions more to keep us alive for another decade."

As far as I know, there isn't a gas station anywhere to fill this up. U.S. Diesel is high sulfur. All TDI engines run low or "clean" diesel.

Once again, the U.S. shows the results of continuing to live "in the good old days."

Modern diesels are going to be handy to have around when bio-diesel production scales up.

What difference does it make what they sell in Europe? Europe is a place of rainbows and unicorns, where magic trains pick you up at your front door and whisk you away to wherever you wish to go. They have no need of cars.

not to mention that the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car--Duh!

FlashHarry: flucto: I like how submitter puts quotes around "business reasons" - as if those have no place in such a decision.

well, it's quoted because, to the layperson, a good-looking, affordable car that gets 65mpg seems to make a helluva lot of business sense. and since the ford person didn't elaborate as to these "business reasons," it seemed worthwhile quoting the phrase. make sense?

/submitter


Hmmm...."Americans don't buy diesel cars" and "It will be too damm expensive" isn't enough elaboration?

floor9: "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.

Please remind Ford of this quote when the 60-something-mpg clean diesels from Honda, BMW, VW, Benz, and Hyundai start flying off shelves when they're released in 2010.

I'm having a real hard time trying to see his point of view here. It's one thing to keep your business open but at the expenses of the very people you rely on for your entire business?

remove all republicans

see, now you're thinking. i like the idea, but there simply isn't enough revenue in your plan for the government. actually, what would be a better way of administering the country is to simply have all income of every business, man or child be deferred to the government. then the government can give everyone whatever they need. it's going to be awesome.

Submitter:"Ford actually makes a cool looking car."

FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL

Here's some Ford eye bleach:

FlashHarry: that's if they imported the european version. why not make it here and sell it for $18k?

Because that would lower the build quality and make it shiat, like all the other American Fords?

It looks like a Focus.

Yeah...real cool.

Remove all Republicans: Weaver95: you know, we could always lower the taxes on diesel fuel.....

That's absurd. We need to increase gas taxes. People are buying more fuel-efficient cars, which means less total gas, which means less government revenue. If we are going to get things like universal healthcare, the government needs every dime it can get.

Then I'll just move my money offshore or tie it up somewhere else the gummint can't touch. Do we need to have another Tea Party to get you of that taxation teat?