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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Think4Yourself who wrote (40165)	3/14/2005 8:38:36 AM
From: John Carragher	Respond to of 206338

'Right now trucks and SUV's are what people want' i think suv sales are slowing , at least those with poor mileage... folks will not pay the big cost to fill a tank of gas if they think this is the new average price. look for better mileage suv's trucks cars. demand will shift, and congress to get energy bill through may have some mandate to get better gas mileage on detroit. ps it hurts to fill my bmw 540i i already had to pay a lux tax on it years ago! However, it is fun to drive. oops

To: Think4Yourself who wrote (40165)	3/14/2005 3:29:40 PM
From: energyplay	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206338

Hi JQP - The much faster design cycle is impressive. I had heard that Chrysler had put a design center in the middle of a pilot plant, so new parts and proceedures could be tested immediately. That's really good news. I am very aware that I live in rich subset, but Detroit (and the Europeans) make a way disproportionet profits from that subset. One Cadillac Escalade will have more profit than X number of Chevy Luminas. My SWAG is if we excluded all Cadillacs, Chevy Covettes, and truck frame SUVs (Chevy Suburban / GMC Yukon), everything else would just break even. Even though that would include light and heavy pickup trucks, the Buick LeSaber /Park Avenue. If the US Dollar goes a little lower, maybe domestic makers can keep prices up a little bit and make money on their mainstream cars. Otherwise, the Federal Government will need to find a way to pick up some of the pension and health care burden on the automakers, especially if the government raises mileage standards. Right now, Wall Street sees the Big 3 as boxed into a trap - high pensions, a US Dollar that is still too strong, lingering affects of a reputation of poor reliability, and aggresive, well funded competition, especially from Japan and now Korea. I think the the Big will get out of this box. >But there is a push to have very accelerated fuel economy standards, deliberately pushing smaller, lighter "ECO-friendly" vehicles. Meaning Detroit would be pushed to build what the Sierra CLub wants, instead of waht people want to buy.