bri719

I think most people in the U.S. have no clue what an X6 is and won't until one comes up and smacks them in the rear, even where I live where every third car on the road seems to be a BMW (or Mercedes). I always thought the X5 was much too square in the rear, but they already fixed that with a redesign. thus I, so far, haven't figured out the need in the U.S. market for an X6 except as a slightly "sport" version of the X5

LOL. i'm sort of the anti-snob but I definitely agree with the gist of what you're saying. if they can (and will) steal a bunch of sales from all over, as well as creating their OWN niche not yet seen in other vehicles, then the Flex will definitely be a success. 100,000? maybe a bit generous in year one, but we saw Edge jump to the forefront of sales so why not? and like others said maybe they know something we don't. I can see a lot of people buying this for many different reasons and/or as alternatives to replace a number of different vehicles. former minivan owners, small to mid SUV owners, Freestyle owners, defunct/aging vehicle (i.e. Pacifica, PT Cruiser) owners, people looking for something not so plasticky or soul-less as an Element but still utilitarian, and finally a people mover that gets much better gas mileage and handles better than a full-sized van or SUV. and then there are those that simply want the latest and greatest new fangled thing on the block and don't care who makes it as long as it feels good and drives solid, and makes people look like Igor referred to above good build quality and reliability with decent gas mileage add more buyers to that group.

a few weeks back I saw for the first time a Camry taxicab. does this mean all Toyotas are now fleet vehicles and their sales are not legit? guess so.

nice spin, too bad it isn't true :reading: you can qualify the Escape sales all you want, saying they have the advantage of the hybrid. but look at it the same way: the new Highlander has a hybrid model and the Edge actually (not virtually) outsells it. thanks very much, drive thru, have a nice day. who cares if there is an (outdated, btw) i4 and V6. you call this an advantage? Ford's Escape drivetrain options are old and not by choice, therefore it's a wash at best. btw, it's not like Honda couldn't do this. saying they only have one engine option is not necessarily a disadvantage - and it's actually by choice. just like how the Edge has one engine available by design.

I think I remember reading this story in the LA Times about 2 weeks ago... I sorta feel bad for the lady because of the money she put in, but not as bad as I do for the guy. it's kinda cool to see someone get something back after that long of looking for it (& hoping). maybe he can give her a token sum of money for all the work she had done on it and taking good care of it all those years. the insurance angle is interesting. I too think the company would want a claim but it's probably not worth their time and effort. they may actually have a policy that if the car isn't found after xxx years it's written off and considered unrecoverable, in which case it's all his. besides, using their bookkeeping it would probably be fully depreciated a long time ago anyway. so I'm sort of doubting they care that much.

yeah, cuz that Denali sure looks light as a feather... ok it's a hybrid, so that's gotta add roughly 500-600 lbs and 5-8 MPG I also don't think the Aussie things look that hot, they're kind of too pointy / retro. not in a good kind of retro... like 80's 90's retro. they'd need some significant rework for people to buy them here not just say "what is THAT" when they see it on the road.

it seems like it's becoming more and more common... SI has access to all their archives online (they may be owned by Time which would explain it). I think the NY Times also does it, at least re-publishing the occassional archived article.

I'd wager a guess it doesn't have the Fusion grille when released in production... just a guess

yeah I think that is what he's saying, particularly the top and outer (door) edges. that flanged thing combined with the squareness and especially the sheer vertical face looks like it's channelling a GM Tahoe or Suburban. this one doesn't bother me that much except for a few minor complaints and the steering wheel looks like it doesn't completely match (and I hate those friggin GM interiors). that picture might be slightly deceptive, but it makes the dash look impossibly tall. but it definitely is square and definitely is a very vertical (sheer/flat) face.

I think the vertical "ribbing" design would never make it on any production vehicle today only because of aerodynamics. one idea is if there were a Vista-style roof (BAMR) and they integrated extra glass over the ribbing, then they could keep it. except glass adds weight and people would inevitably wonder what the hell the ribbing is for if it serves no practical purpose. LOL also with CAFE and whatever the heck other regulations California tries to come up with, not to mention $3.50+ gas, I don't think Ford will be itching to come up with more consumer trucks including variations of the Bronco concept... unless this was based on whatever the new Explorer is built on. seems like the only realistic possibility :reading:

arbitrated? or traded?

whover wrote this hasn't looked at revenue growth anytime recently. and maybe not even factored in the most recent wave of cost cutting. ... and I am a subscriber to the Fool website so I will say most of their stuff is usually right on or very close to the mark. but opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one.

translation: $3.50+ if you're one out of every eight in U.S. that live in California. just had to do the usual conversion for us folk

nothing's worse than the "I got my.. my my my MPG" lip synching ads. and the stupid geeks grinning at us with their Toyos. "real cars for real retards" is what I say

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