Ford Sweeps Car and Truck of the Year

[DollaBill]

MKZ is a POS.....just won one of the worst cars built awards.

really? dam. looks good. oh well. sick deals on them right now

[Tommy Gun]

Umm...did you realize that first of all, the Federal Reserve is the only quasi-government agency that has always been profitable? And more importantly, all of the FRB profits already go to the US Treasury?

Yes I realize the Federal Reserve Bank is privately owned; however it operates under guidelines set forth by the US Treasury. And not all of the profits go to the US Treasury. The central bank announced Tuesday it logged a record profit of $52.1 billion. Of that total, a record $46.1 billion gets turned over to the Treasury Department.

[MarylandMark]

I'd rather them go out of business and melt their entire factory down to be sold for scrap metal to fund the retirees vs screwing them; they put in their dues regardless how cushy the contract may have been. I have a phuckin thief!

[JupiterSunsation]

really? dam. looks good. oh well. sick deals on them right now

Don't feel bad, my wife had a GL Mercedes SUV that was 70K new, 2 years/49K miles later couldn't get 35K on a trade. It also made the clunker list!

[Tommy Gun]

Hate to cut and paste but read this and tell me the UAW doesn't have anything to do with the problems with our carmakers, or other industires for that matter...

Behind Closed Doors, Unions Win, You Lose

Yesterday, President Barack Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and nine other lawmakers met face-to-face for seven hours to resolve differences between the House and Senate health care bills. At the same time these talks were going on, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger met with other Obama administration officials in a separate room in the White House. This all comes after these same labor leaders met personally with Speaker Pelosi yesterday, and after they met face-to-face with President Obama in the White House on Monday. Despite then-candidate Barack Obama's explicit promises to the American people, absolutely none of these meetings were open to the public or televised on C-SPAN. In fact, Politico reports: "Those involved in the talks sought to keep details of their progress under wraps."

And just what deals were Big Labor, the leftist majorities in Congress and the Obama administration making behind closed doors? How to pay for President Obama's likely $1 trillion health care plan without raising taxes on one of the President's most loyal constituencies: labor unions. Specifically, Big Labor reportedly has struck a deal with health care negotiators to exempt union members from the 40% excise tax on high-priced health insurance premiums. By some estimates, the tax would hit one in four union members. Now Big Labor will get all of the big government health care spending they always wanted, but they will not have to pay for it.

And Obamacare's Big Labor handouts don't end there. The legislation also sets aside $5 billion to subsidize the costs of employer health benefits for early retirees. As Heritage fellow James Sherk notes, few nonunion employers, of course, pay pension and health benefits for workers to retire at 55. And then there's the small business exemption from the employer mandate for businesses with less than 50 employees. At first this applied to all small businesses, but after aggressive lobbying by Big Labor, non-unionized construction businesses were unexempted. Big Labor lobbyists explicitly admitted they wanted to use Obamacare's job-killing employer mandates as a competitive advantage to drive non-unionized firms out of business.

So where does the White House and Congress propose to regain the revenue lost from exempting unions from the health care excise tax? The people who fund job creation: investors. The Obama administration wants to apply the Medicare payroll tax not just to wages but to capital gains, and for the first time ever, to dividends and other forms of investment income. This tax will hit seniors the hardest since many of them live off their dividend and interest income, in addition to their pension and Social Security checks. But it also hurts us all since high taxes on capital gains, dividends, interest and business income increase the cost of capital, thus depressing investment at the very time the economy needs new investment to grow and create jobs.

Big Labor's high wages and inflexible work rules have already bankrupted our nation's once proud automobile industry. Across the country, their early retirement and exorbitant pensions are bankrupting states. The health insurance excise tax was once the signature health care spending cost cutter of Obama's entire health care plan. Now it has been gutted at the altar of Big Labor power. The big loser in all of these cases is you, the American taxpayer.

[sledge]

Yes I realize the Federal Reserve Bank is privately owned; however it operates under guidelines set forth by the US Treasury. And not all of the profits go to the US Treasury. The central bank announced Tuesday it logged a record profit of $52.1 billion. Of that total, a record $46.1 billion gets turned over to the Treasury Department.

"Privately owned" is a misnomer applied these days more as propaganda than what most understand as private ownership. Banks "subscribe" to "shares" because that's required as part of being a "nationally chartered" or "state member chartered" bank.

The Federal Reserve Banks issue shares of stock to member banks. However, owning Federal Reserve Bank stock is quite different from owning stock in a private company. The Federal Reserve Banks are not operated for profit, and ownership of a certain amount of stock is, by law, a condition of membership in the system. The stock may not be sold or traded or pledged as security for a loan; dividends are, by law, limited to 6 percent per year.

The dividends paid to member banks are considered partial compensation for the lack of interest paid on member banks' required reserves held at the Federal Reserve. By law, banks in the United States must maintain fractional reserves, most of which are kept on account at the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve does not pay interest on these funds. (The Federal Reserve now has authority to pay interest on these funds granted by Congress in the EESA of 2008.)

So yeah, they pay "dividends" to member banks, they pay a little interest nowadays, and they keep a little slush fund. Point is, our little investments are profitable and cash flow positive...at least for now.

[sledge]

Hate to cut and paste but read this and tell me the UAW doesn't have anything to do with the problems with our carmakers, or other industires for that matter...

Now labor unions....that's a whole 'nuther ball of wax as far as I'm concerned. Not withstanding the fine UAW and other union members on this board, their union leadership are the termites of the labor pool. Nothing but greed and malice come from those people. I wonder how many union members realize just how much their "leadership" earn.

[MacGyver]

My next truck will be a Chevy

[VtSteve]

As many should have noticed by now, the auto industry isn't anywhere close to their marketing soundbites.

The Fusions are made in Mexico, along with the Milan and the MKZ. Interestingly enough, they all started with the Mazda 6 platform. Regardless, I like them, very good solid cars.

I've been in two different Malibus, one for a week. After being impressed with the nice looking lines, I was appalled with the interior design. There's only so many times I want to lift my leg over the narrow slot called a door opening. Nice ride, good handling, I'll take the Fusion's layout anyday. Just like a well-designed boat cockpit.

So are we patriotic by buying a Mexican-made car with a Japanese engine, a Canadian built car that loses money and losses come back to the US, or a good car made by real Americans in the United States by a company that actually makes money?

Maybe the better decision is to send the loser companies to Mexico for good, and they can take the losses.

[JupiterSunsation]

As many should have noticed by now, the auto industry isn't anywhere close to their marketing soundbites.

The Fusions are made in Mexico, along with the Milan and the MKZ. Interestingly enough, they all started with the Mazda 6 platform. Regardless, I like them, very good solid cars.

I've been in two different Malibus, one for a week. After being impressed with the nice looking lines, I was appalled with the interior design. There's only so many times I want to lift my leg over the narrow slot called a door opening. Nice ride, good handling, I'll take the Fusion's layout anyday. Just like a well-designed boat cockpit.

So are we patriotic by buying a Mexican-made car with a Japanese engine, a Canadian built car that loses money and losses come back to the US, or a good car made by real Americans in the United States by a company that actually makes money?

Maybe the better decision is to send the loser companies to Mexico for good, and they can take the losses.

I personally would pass on buying "Mexican" made but my mom bought a 09 Honda CRV (made in Mexico), all Dodge diesels are made there as well as a lot of the Chevy/GMC 1500 crew cabs and most of Volkswagens are made there (Some GTI's/R32's are still made in Wolfsburg/Slovakia).

[RLJ676]

As many should have noticed by now, the auto industry isn't anywhere close to their marketing soundbites.

The Fusions are made in Mexico, along with the Milan and the MKZ. Interestingly enough, they all started with the Mazda 6 platform. Regardless, I like them, very good solid cars.

I've been in two different Malibus, one for a week. After being impressed with the nice looking lines, I was appalled with the interior design. There's only so many times I want to lift my leg over the narrow slot called a door opening. Nice ride, good handling, I'll take the Fusion's layout anyday. Just like a well-designed boat cockpit.

So are we patriotic by buying a Mexican-made car with a Japanese engine, a Canadian built car that loses money and losses come back to the US, or a good car made by real Americans in the United States by a company that actually makes money?

Maybe the better decision is to send the loser companies to Mexico for good, and they can take the losses.

I'm sorry, but this is just a bad attempt at rationalizing a foreign car. GM produces like 16% of their vehicles in Mex/Canada (and sells a bunch there as well). Toyota imports 50% of their vehicles. Further, labor cost is 10% of the total cost of a car. When you know more about the supply chain you realize the numbers on the window claiming NA content are also worthless. An American car is one where overheads are here in the US, and the profits too (when they exist, which is 95 out of 100 years pretty much).

It's fairly insulting to see how the transplants have duped people into thinking it's better for this country to buy their cars. They really have to be having a laugh over there. Makes me sick to see toyanda commercials talking about "built in the US".

If you want to buy any car you want, go for it if you really like it better but the claim it's "American" or better for this country is absurd.

[Tommy Gun]

Porsche - There is no substitute.

[VtSteve]

I'm sorry, but this is just a bad attempt at rationalizing a foreign car. GM produces like 16% of their vehicles in Mex/Canada (and sells a bunch there as well). Toyota imports 50% of their vehicles. Further, labor cost is 10% of the total cost of a car. When you know more about the supply chain you realize the numbers on the window claiming NA content are also worthless. An American car is one where overheads are here in the US, and the profits too (when they exist, which is 95 out of 100 years pretty much).

It's fairly insulting to see how the transplants have duped people into thinking it's better for this country to buy their cars. They really have to be having a laugh over there. Makes me sick to see toyanda commercials talking about "built in the US".

If you want to buy any car you want, go for it if you really like it better but the claim it's "American" or better for this country is absurd.

The gap in Domestic Content has narrowed so much now, GM will be leading the charge against it. I think they'd be going far further if not for their predicament. I think the American made accounted for a lot of GM sales the last two decades, while shrinking. They have some good stuff finally, but we were told to be patriotic and buy the crap they made for two decades. That left a mark.

If not for foreign competition, goodness knows what kind of crap they'd be producing.

It's a numbers game. They have people crying that assembly workers don't amount for much of the end product, all the while complaining and whining about the cost of assembly is killing them.

Toyota makes many Corollas here, Matrix, Camry, Avalon, Tundra and Tacoma. I believe they still import the Prius, but not for long. Honda has a huge domestic record, both in manufacture and content. Back in 2006 or 2007, foreign-owned companies accounted for more than half of the parts suppliers themselves. GM was big on outsourcing parts, ask Delco.

[RLJ676]

The gap in Domestic Content has narrowed so much now, GM will be leading the charge against it. I think they'd be going far further if not for their predicament. I think the American made accounted for a lot of GM sales the last two decades, while shrinking. They have some good stuff finally, but we were told to be patriotic and buy the crap they made for two decades. That left a mark.

If not for foreign competition, goodness knows what kind of crap they'd be producing.

It's a numbers game. They have people crying that assembly workers don't amount for much of the end product, all the while complaining and whining about the cost of assembly is killing them.

Toyota makes many Corollas here, Matrix, Camry, Avalon, Tundra and Tacoma. I believe they still import the Prius, but not for long. Honda has a huge domestic record, both in manufacture and content. Back in 2006 or 2007, foreign-owned companies accounted for more than half of the parts suppliers themselves. GM was big on outsourcing parts, ask Delco.

I'll just preface this by saying I know "a little" about how the auto industry's supply chain works.

Agreed competition drives the industry, to the betterment of all consumers. Unfortunately, this competition also drove some big problems when they don't have legacy burdens, or a few thousand dollar currency advantage to pad profits or "dump" products....

Correct, Toyota makes many models here, but they import half of their vehicles still. Best yet, the cars they build here are supplied by Koritsu suppliers (Japanese suppliers they own a good part of). This means the suppliers profits all go back to Japan/the OEM. Best yet, the tier I may be located here but all of the actual value in the tier II/III's etc from all over the world. Makes the number on the window useless.

Not saying if you're saying GM leads in outsourcing or using domestic? GM has approximately around 70% US content, and well over that NAFTA content. GM's point is not to outsource parts, it is to get competitive pricing/quality wherever it comes from (can't afford to over pay on anything with labor/currency competition). GM does lead in American content overall (99.9% sure, can't recall where to get the stat for reference).

What's funny is, when dealing with Koreans, Germans...etc, they assume that the goal of Americans is to source American suppliers, because it most definitely is there's (whether a written rule or not). They all have nationalistic pride and want to support their country, they don't understand how someone couldn't. This is first hand experience.

[RLJ676]

Porsche - There is no substitute.

Porsche - there is no substitute in overcharging you for a mediocre performing antiquated ass heavy wreck in waiting.

[MacGyver]

Tesla Motors

[Ratickle]

It's fairly insulting to see how the transplants have duped people into thinking it's better for this country to buy their cars. They really have to be having a laugh over there. Makes me sick to see toyanda commercials talking about "built in the US".

Exactly...

[Wobble]

Tesla Motors

The Chassis is built by Lotus which is a British Manufacturer owned by a Malaysian company

[MacGyver]

The Chassis is built by Lotus which is a British Manufacturer owned by a Malaysian company

Oh well

[Tommy Gun]

Porsche - there is no substitute in overcharging you for a mediocre performing antiquated ass heavy wreck in waiting.

Congratuations; ignorance is bliss. Porsche races and wins endurance races. Their racing record speaks for itself. Domestic vehicle service intervals (including oil changes) on a Cayenne for example are 20,000 miles. I have 92,000 miles on my 2006S; replaced a water pump; beyond that never been in service other than scheduled maintenance. AWD is a beast in the snow and it has a 6,000lb towing capacity; all while handling like a sports car.

24 hours Le Mans: By far the most successful marque in the history of the race is Porsche, who have taken 16 overall victories, including seven in a row from 1981 to 1987.

24 Hours Daytona: Porsche has the most overall victories of any manufacturer with 21, scored by various models, including the road based 911, 935 and 996. Porsche also won a record 11 consecutive races from 1977-1987 and won 18 out of 23 races from 1968-1991.

Why does this matter? "No one feels as committed to motor sport as Porsche. We build racing cars and are involved in racing and motor sport not just for image reasons, but because of the technical challenge it presents, so that we can learn from it for our series produced vehicles. Nearly every Porsche series model started life as a racing car."