European Lessons for American Automakers

Great idea. Let the big three go under. The Japanese, Koreans, Germans etal will buy them upand make the cars American want and need not the cars the industry says we need. Who needs a Ford F150 or a freakin Hummer Comeon guys.

mini Cooper is nice, but over priced. should be about 10k if we can afford to buy small cars.

Can someone please make a car that runs on something other then gas?!?!?!?

Yeah, I can see carpenters converting to the Smart Car to go out and earn their keep. A 2x4 is bigger than that thing.

Deep - Hang in there. My son is fixing to graduate from highschool and wants to major in Biological engineering (I think that is what it is.) He wants to create alternative fuel sources. He started out wanting to design cars and still loves to do that but he realized that this country has a need for alternative fuel sources and tht is what he is going to study.

new - carpenters can still get their Ford F150's if necessary. It always crack me up to see these cute little girls hoping out of the drivers seat of the big ole trucks that you know have not seen a bit of dirt in their lives.

Do you know Europe has cars you'll never see here that run on compressed air and even water? Check out Brasscheck tv.com. You have to see this!

Jenny Rome GA - So, it is ok for the big 3 to go under because we don't need F150 or anything like that, but it is ok for contractors to still get F150's. It is ok for the US led automotive technology to go compeletly bust, but you kid wants to specialize in this area and invent a better performing car?

Big cars are still needed here, and so are the car companies. The people that want the big 3 to fail have no idea how much is reliant on the car industry and all of manufacturing.

BTW, I am in Atlanta and drive a big Dodge Ram Truck, perhaps you have seen me as one of those cute girls hopping out of a truck. Guess what, my husband is a contractor, and I also like to be able to buy thing for my house with my big truck. To each their own, but don't pretend like something like a smart car is the only answer.

I'm retired, but I remember the daily freeway commute in San Diego, about 50 million cars with 1 person in them going to a parking lot somewhere. Those are the people that need a "Smart Car", for the daily family errands or weekends there's still a place for SUV's. I don't see why there must be an "either or" solution. A heck of a lot of trucks are NEEDED by people that use them.

America is not Europe. We have different needs. For one thing, the US is much larger with lots of space between cities. The whole of Europe would fit in the Northeast. Small cars are ok for around town, but could a family with children want to drive to grandmas house a 1000 miles away in a Minicooper? Diversification is the key in investments and transportation.

With almost 80% of U.S. residents living in urban areas, it's easy to forget the 60 million of us living in "the sticks."

In my county of 997 square miles, there are about 2400 people and about 800 miles of roads. Less than 100 of those miles are paved. Small, light vehicles do not do well on gravel, sand and caliche roads.

Before deciding no one should be driving a heavy vehicle, SUV or pickup, remember there are people who do not live in the same environment you do.

Small cars are impractical in a lot of areas of the US. Out in the high desert in LA, they get Santa Ana wind gusts that can blow these little cars straight off the road. I saw it happen to a Scion. Not to say high profile SUVs are safer, but I'm perfectly happy in my midsized sedan. Gas prices would have to be 20 bucks a gallon to get me into one of those itty bitty European subcompacts.

The fear about the mini car is on the high way. I did test drive one and it seems like the 18 wheeler was going to blow it away when one drove pass me.

The light weight of this mini car is a concern in FLOrida especially during hurricane season when you have wind as intense as 75-120 miles/hr

I still remember (with shock and horror) the bush message (keep buying keep driving the suv's) to keep our economoy strong--short term thinking--all I could think in my 55mpg hondac civic 1992 was when is gas going to cost more than 1.25 a gallon--okay so we have had a taste of 4+ a gallon --when do we mandate efficiency into our lives? OR is it too late already guzzle guzzle..

americans still don't get it

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