"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
Playing the urban warrior in a Hummer was a fairly inexpensive thrill when a gallon of gas cost just over $1. But at $4 a gallon, driving a full-powered Hummer H3 or a big Ford F-150 would cost a typical driver, who drives 15,000 miles a year, almost $4,300 in gas. This is more than 10 percent of the median earnings of full-time workers and about $2,200 more than it would cost to drive the same distance in a Honda Civic.
By May, there were signs that the S.U.V.-era was over. For the first time, Detroit’s Big Three automakers and their trucks were outsold in the United States by fuel-efficient cars made by Asian companies. And monthly sales of Ford’s muscular F-series pickups fell by a third, bumping it five spots from its previous perch as America’s best-selling vehicle, behind the Honda Civic, the Toyota Corolla, the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. It was the first time since December 1992 that a car, not a truck, claimed the top spot in monthly sales.
The F-series pickup has been the nation’s best-selling vehicle, on an annual basis, since 1981. But last month, the Ford Motor Company said that it would slash production of pickups and S.U.V.’s. Its full-size pickup plant in Cuautitlán, Mexico, is expected to be used to produce the Ford Fiesta, a subcompact car, instead.
The original Focus was agile and fun to drive, but the freshening for 2008 has taken away from that, with handling that is less crisp than before. The seating position is high and commanding, controls are clear and logically placed, and cabin access is easy. The ride is firm yet supple but the car is still noisy. Interior quality is lackluster.
Labels: automobile industry, corporatism
One such target is the Winona Interstate Bridge, recently closed for a fortnight owing to corroded gusset plates and now open only to passenger cars, vans and pickup trucks pending completion of emergency repair work.
(Which also figures prominently on the Postal Service's stamp commemorating the 150-year anniversary of Minnesota statehood.)