Roadrunner

This looks exactly like a Transit to me, any difference?: http://www.cabdirect.com/vehicles/journey/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/business...1&ref=media Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, planned to announce on Wednesday that it had acquired Consumerist.com, a popular blog formerly owned by Gawker Media. Consumerist is one of several sites Gawker has sold this year, including the political gossip blog Wonkette and the travel site Gridskipper. The blog offers consumer tips, like how to return products and how to confound a telemarketer, and covers shopper complaints, like excessive retail markups. It will become part of a new division of Consumers Union, and the current editors will remain. No plans are under way to change the coverage or to begin charging for the site. “We don’t want to acquire the Consumerist and then squelch it in some way,” said Kevin McKean, vice president and editorial director of Consumers Union. ....... Interesting tidbit: Average age of CR's readership is 60, and the average age of its website visitors is 50. Ho ho.

Way off mark here in some respects. There are many papers that are union, too -- such as The Seattle Times company network of papers. It also has been shown in many many studies that most media members are lefty, meaning they aren't following the Republican rank and file - indeed they often detest it. I could hear you out on what the modern newsreporter feels about union workers making bigger bucks than them, though, when reporters work on intellectual creations whereas the auto plant builder is doing (intensive) manual labor. It's the old brain vs. brawn / nerd vs. jock argument. (Depending on who they are and whether they aren't just phoning it in [cough, cough, competitor paper of mine] ). Anyhow, I'm interested in hearing your additional thoughts on this.

I read that one too and it was a topic of conversation at my office. If WaMu was going to get any empathy, that article just blew it. Stick a fork in the WaMu brand, it's done and the legacy is set.

Perhaps it was a "thank you and goodnight" ad ;-) ( as in, they won't be back )

You're not driving it in enough twisties then.

I swear they should make a Taurus 500 as the premium of the premiums within that model range. It could supplant Mercury in fact. What if they just took all the Mercuries and made them high-level Fords? Different designs, like what it used to be like.

Wasn't the Fusion name a concept car from Europe before it became its own model? I swear of this.

I can see or hear where you're coming from, but where else would you go if the whole ship sank, as you state you want it to?

If you look at most people's signatures, you can figure pretty quickly what they drive. Pix come up from time to time.

That was a great, entertaining writeup.

Would you disagree that Christmas is a Christian holiday involving some aspect of Christ ?

With that rendering, the big grille looks out of place. Hmmm.... The rear looks great though with those square taillights. Weren't we just saying a few days ago that the taillights would be more Audi-esque instead of square? The square taillights do wonders for it.

Niiiice. I wouldn't have tinted them, but I don't like tinting in general.

What say you to Ferrari's contract to receive $80 million more than other competitors? The arrangement was made in 2003 when Ferrari was at a point of going to a breakaway series, Bernie admitted. Ferrari's getting a whole lot of loot. Red Star, I remember those days when Michael dominated everything. It was crap, but you have to admit he had skill. Mika Hakkinen did too. (Spa '99. One great example. Then again Imola/Monza '99 - one great example of Mika crying.) Damon was alright. Jacques was something, but overrated. HH Frentzen never got the shot he should have, but he never seemed up to snuff at Williams in '98. Anyhow - I lost interest in F1 around 2002 when Ferrari were all over the place. Somehow around 2003 things turned around when Williams and McLaren started to rise to the challenge. Kimi is awesome. Massa is surprising. Lewis ain't true-blooded British. 'Nuff said. Good riddance Trulli -- let's see Kobayashi do something. Good riddance Piquet too.

I agree. I see this as a Subaru challenger than anything else. Does it have AWD?

I'm surprised nobody saw the Speed Racer Mach 5 resemblance: Not the same front, but it sure looked like the same back end.

Something that piqued my interest in the thread about having CEOs resign was the subdiscussion on Mullally pitching Ford. Now, according to someone who saw him interviewed, he is direct and to the point. I could see an angle of him showing the average business-minded consumer why Ford didn't take the buyout and at the same time introduce the 2010 Fusion, Taurus, and new-ish Focus. (Mustang should have its own advertising). His whole pitch could be to encourage people to put Ford on their list, albeit we've had Jill Wagner trying that for Mercury for years now. Remember, people liked the Five Hundred only after they gave it a test drive -- and those were the people who never gave it a shot before. (Many never did). The backfire threat would be if Ford came crawling for money a year later. Plus, he won't be silly like Dr. Z. Oh Dr. Z...

Then again, if they made the nose more blunt like as seen in this older spy shot (link below), then that would improve things much more. http://photos.leftlanenews.com/photos/imag....jpg&w=1024

It looks like Buick is turning Japanese, it's turning Japanese, I really think so... (cue solo) Seriously, this doesn't look like a GM car. The Malibu looks like a GM car. This, this looks like a Hyundai wannabe, which... doesn't seem right at all. Maybe a Toyota wannabe, to keep the nationalities in tune. It's better than the current LaCrosse -- that one looked like crap from year 2 -- but I still would say the Lucerne is much better. I just can't see this working well for the Buick nameplate. Pontiac, maybe. Buick? Maybe I've pigeonholed it too much but it just doesn't look "GM" and Buick always screamed "middle of the road GM" to me. How will it drive is the real question, because if its sport tuned, then they might be able to turn Buick around with all the tech gear inside and the exterior. Think like what they tried with the Pontiac Bonneville and Oldsmobile Aurora (albeit the second generation Aurora was a monstrosity).

I don't think killing Saturn is the right move. Killing Pontiac and making it a sub-line somewhere might, though.

The Cherokee was around as far back as 1984 and the Wagoneer was not that far back before it. Ford epitomized the SUV trend, though, because of two things: 1) the Explorer became the highest profile SUV -- when you thought 'SUV' you thought 'Explorer' and knew you had a rugged, great four door and 2) Ford was first to jump into mass-marketing the "huge SUV": the Excursion. Greenies pooped their pants with that one and pointed fingers until the Hummer came about. Thank you Hummer. Ford was the top dog in SUV sales when it really mattered. Remember that before the Explorer there was the Bronco II, and the S-10 Blazer. Both became outdoorsy vehicles but neither of those were at the forefront of when the SUV craze became huge. Jeep's Cherokee and Grand Cherokee were at best #2 when the big SUV craze was in style. I even remember the Durango having a niche right before the big oil bubble burst.

I worry because this appears to be a prime opportunity to boost the Ford brand up, when in fact it is not. I agree with you that Mullally is on the right track, but I'm hoping he keeps things going in this direction instead of the alluring top dog spot.

Here's why-- Let me take you back to 1955-ish. Schlitz saw Budweiser sinking because of a labor strike. Schlitz went gung-ho to become the #1 brewer in America and, well, that one failed big time. Ford is in a decently strong position. They better keep it steady and not try to go for #1 yet. How could Ford screw up? By going to overcapacity or running rampant, like Schlitz did. Ford can triumph over GM in theory, but going for the big guns seems folly. Does Mullally feel like a lucky punk or will he keep the Blue Oval on the right pace by building things better and more desirable?

Looks like a Buick. Fix this one fast, Mullally.