By the Numbers - October 2009: Green is Growing Edition

By the Numbers - October 2009: Green is Growing Edition

Hyundai, Kia and Subaru all report +40% increase in sales

If you've been paying attention to recent editions of By the Numbers, you'll have noticed that the amount of green on our chart below is growing. Month after month, more and more brands and manufacturers are managing to produce sales numbers that exceed the same month last year.

For October 2009, the list is topped by three familiar players: Hyundai (+49%), Kia (+45%) and Subaru (+41%). The South Koreans and this lone Japanese brand have bucked the trend all year, and now that other brands are beginning to sell relatively well, they are distancing themselves from the pack even further.

Their success shouldn't overshadow the rest of the industry, though, which includes many players surprisingly high on our chart. All four "Core" brands of General Motors (Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC) posted positive numbers, and GM as a whole, which still counts sales from "non-Core" brands like Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn, managed to post a 4.1% gain in sales. Likewise, the Ford brand (+3.6%) and Ford Motor Company (+3%) both reported sales gains versus October of last year. The rest of the big Japanese manufacturers, meanwhile, were close behind but didn't quite manage to earn a green cell this month, while the Chrysler Group LLC landed farthest off the mark with a drop of 30.4%.

Have industry sales turned the corner? Are we headed into a bright future of 14+ million sales per year and green cells for every automaker? Hardly, though it's increasingly clear that new product, being competitive in key segments, and creative marketing and incentives are the best recipe for climbing out of the red.

Brand	Volume %	10/09	10/08	DSR*%	DSR 10/09	DSR 10/08
Hyundai	48.92	31,005	20,820	43.60	1,107	771
Kia	45.26	22,490	15,483	40.07	803	573
Subaru	40.66	18,169	12,917	35.64	649	478
Cadillac	21.60	11,602	9,541	17.26	414	353
Mercedes-Benz	21.32	18,193	14,996	16.99	650	555
GMC	20.44	25,423	21,109	16.14	908	782
Lexus	19.77	19,502	16,283	15.49	697	603
Volvo	19.37	4,437	3,717	15.11	158	138
Buick	18.46	9,053	7,642	14.23	323	283
Porsche	15.07	1,642	1,427	10.96	59	53
Chevrolet	8.50	116,436	107,313	4.63	4,158	3,975
Nissan	7.69	53,664	49,833	3.84	1,917	1,846
Volkswagen	7.23	17,037	15,889	3.40	608	588
Ford	3.57	119,072	114,969	-0.13	4,253	4,258
Honda	-0.01	75,751	75,756	-3.58	2,705	2,806
Mercury	-1.14	6,676	6,753	-4.67	238	250
Audi	-1.14	7,358	7,443	-4.67	263	276
Toyota	-2.32	132,663	135,818	-5.81	4,738	5,030
Acura	-3.53	9,751	10,108	-6.98	348	374
Lincoln	-8.97	6,735	7,399	-12.23	241	274
Infiniti	-9.29	6,451	7,112	-12.53	230	263
Pontiac	-18.45	10,646	13,054	-21.36	380	483
BMW	-18.61	16,443	20,203	-21.52	587	748
Mini	-20.79	4,176	5,272	-23.62	149	195
Dodge	-22.21	26,265	33,763	-24.99	938	1250
Chrysler	-35.61	12,815	19,903	-37.91	458	737
Jeep	-36.80	13,500	21,360	-39.05	482	791
Mitsubishi	-48.34	3,867	7,486	-50.19	138	277
Suzuki	-49.89	1,745	3,482	-51.67	62	129
Saturn	-57.79	3,623	8,583	-59.30	129	318
Smart	-70.44	661	2,236	-71.49	24	83
Saab	-74.03	513	1,975	-74.95	18	73
Hummer	-77.56	307	1,368	-78.36	11	51
Mazda	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
COMPANIES
General Motors	4.11	177,603	170,585	0.40	6,343	6,318
Ford Motor Company	3.07	136,920	132,838	-0.61	4,890	4,920
Nissan NA	0.28	60,115	59,945	-3.30	2,147	2,220
Toyota Mo Co	0.04	152,165	152,101	-3.53	5,434	5,633
American Honda	-0.42	85,502	85,864	-3.98	3,054	3,180
BMW Group	-19.06	20,619	25,475	-21.95	736	944
Chrysler Group LLC	-30.39	65,803	94,530	-32.88	2,350	3,501

*Brands and companies are both displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 28 selling days in October 2009 and 27 selling days in October 2008, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in the average daily sales rate (DSR) for each brand/company.

By the Numbers - October 2009: Green is Growing Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

from WRC - Autoblog by John Neff

By The Numbers - September 2009: Post C4C, We're All Alright Edition

by John Neff

autoblog

by the numbers

Here it is, the first full month of sales after the government's popular Cash for Clunkers has ended. The expected result - that auto sales would plummet once the feds stopped handing out free money in exchange for clunkers - didn't exactly happen. Nine brands posted positive sales in September versus the same period in 2008 with another three posting single-digit losses.

Of course, there were automakers that dropped right back into the cellar, including General Motors (-44.98 percent) and Chrysler LLC (-42.06 percent). General Motors, however, is in the process of shrinking, shedding brands and dealers left and right, so its sub-par performance will be par for the course for a while. Chrysler LLC, however, apparently just can't compete with its dated products.

The Koreans have once again remained remarkably popular, with Hyundai sales up an incredible 27.24 percent and Kia enjoying a 24.39-percent rise. Subaru, which can usually be found on the sales podium along with the Koreans, fell back a bit but still managed a 0.70 percent increase. Ford, meanwhile, continues to out play its cross town rivals and delivered a decent -5.08 percent drop for the entire company and -4.06 percent fall for the Ford brand itself. The Blue Oval's September sales performance even bests its competition from Japan with Toyota (-12.65 percent), Honda (-20.07 percent) and Nissan (-7.0 percent) all down more.

Check out how the rest of the industry performed in the chart below.

NOTE: Audi not yet reported.

Brands and companies are both displayed in descending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 25 selling days in September 2009 and 24 selling days in September 2008, so the change in monthly sales volume will be different than the change in the average daily sales rate for each brand/company.

Brand	Volume %	9/09	9/08	DSR*%	DSR 9/09	DSR 9/08
Hyundai	27.24	31,511	24,765	22.15	1,260	1,032
Kia	24.39	21,623	17,383	19.42	865	724
Volvo	16.33	4,716	4,054	11.68	189	169
Lexus	11.80	17,939	16,045	7.33	718	669
Mini	9.73	4,128	3,762	5.34	165	157
Porsche	8.44	1,581	1,458	4.10	63	61
BMW	2.06	15,047	14,744	-2.03	602	614
Volkswagen	1.46	17,358	17,109	-2.60	694	713
Subaru	0.70	14,593	14,491	-3.32	584	604
Ford	-4.06	98,516	102,685	-7.90	3,941	4,279
Nissan	-5.80	48,783	51,786	-9.57	1,951	2,158
Cadillac	-8.79	11,339	12,432	-12.44	454	518
Mercedes-Benz	-9.55	16,985	18,779	-13.17	679	782
Mazda	-11.97	14,234	16,169	-15.49	569	674
Infiniti	-15.03	6,610	7,779	-18.43	264	324
Toyota	-15.71	108,076	128,215	-19.08	4,323	5,342
Mercury	-15.98	5,443	6,478	-19.34	218	270
Honda	-19.23	69,970	86,629	-22.46	2,799	3,610
Jeep	-19.34	17,287	21,431	-22.56	691	893
Lincoln	-21.01	5,980	7,571	-24.17	239	315
Acura	-27.39	7,259	9,997	-30.29	290	417
Buick	-33.04	9,455	14,121	-35.72	378	588
Mitsubishi	-36.13	4,712	7,378	-38.69	188	307
Chevrolet	-40.66	102,538	172,803	-43.04	4,102	7,200
Dodge	-42.68	35,864	62,572	-44.98	1,435	2,607
Pontiac	-52.50	11,079	23,324	-54.40	443	972
GMC	-52.96	18,359	39,029	-54.84	734	1,626
Smart	-54.22	814	1,778	-56.05	33	74
Suzuki	-54.42	1,861	4,083	-56.24	74	170
Chrysler	-61.25	9,046	23,346	-62.80	362	973
Saab	-72.58	484	1,765	-73.67	19	74
Hummer	-81.46	426	2,298	-82.20	17	96
Saturn	-83.85	2,993	18,528	-84.49	120	772
COMPANIES
BMW Group	3.62	19,175	18,506	-0.53	767	771
Ford Motor Company	-5.08	114,655	120,788	-8.87	4,586	5,033
Nissan North America	-7.00	55,393	59,565	-10.72	2,216	2,482
Toyota Mo Co	-12.65	126,015	144,260	-16.14	5,041	6,011
Honda America	-20.07	77,229	96,626	-23.27	3,089	4,026
Chrysler Group LLC	-42.06	62,197	107,349	-44.38	2,488	4,473
General Motors	-44.89	156,673	284,300	-47.10	6,267	11,846

os 50 mais vendidos no brazil

1) Gol – 29312
2) Palio – 20770
3) Mille – 16284
4) Corsa Sedan – 15601
5) Fox – 13757
6) Celta – 12915
7) Siena – 10582
8) Voyage – 8832
9) Fiesta – 8483
10) Strada – 8087
11) Ka – 7706
12) Prisma – 7144
13) Civic – 6293
14) Sandero – 5263
15) Fit – 5169
16) Corolla – 5089
17) Fiesta Sedan – 4770
18) S10 – 3721
19) Palio Weekend – 3647
20) EcoSport – 3583
21) C3 – 3568
22) Corsa – 3410
23) 207 – 3406
24) Astra – 3274
25) Montana – 3263
26) Idea – 3207
27) Meriva – 2972
28) Hilux – 2969
29) Logan – 2814
30) Saveiro – 2734
31) Tucson – 2553
32) 207 Passion – 2501
33) Punto – 2447
34) SpaceFox – 2381
35) Vectra – 2358
36) Kombi – 2199
37) Polo Sedan – 2018
38) Golf – 1965
39) Polo – 1878
40) L200 – 1684
41) Focus – 1364
42) Vectra GT – 1335
43) Linea – 1323
44) Captiva – 1222
45) C4 Hatch – 1195
46) CR-V – 1136
47) Stilo – 1030
48) Pajero TR4 – 1000
49) C4 Pallas – 961
50) Azera – 938

By the Numbers - June 2009: Bankruptcy a Bad Idea Edition

FoMoCo falls only 11%, Chrysler Group drops 42%

from WRC - Autoblog by John Neff

Want more proof that Ford Motor Company made the right move in avoiding bankruptcy, unlike General Motors and the Chrysler Group, its cross-town rivals? Sales figures for the month of June 2009 show that Ford sharply lessened its sales slide with a fall of just 10.85 percent versus the same month last year. Compare that with drops of 33.6 and 41.85 percent for GM and Chrysler respectively. It appears that Ford has remained on track during these tumultuous times, and its improved performance last month could signal the beginning of a turnaround for which it may be ideally suited to take full advantage. We're sure the guys and gals at Ford are smiling today, even if the Camaro did outsell the Mustang for the first time in 15 years.

Subaru has again managed to post impressive numbers, with June 2009 sales up 3.4 percent by volume compared to last year. Volvo even posted a slight gain thanks in large part to the introduction of the all-new XC60.

Check out the rest of the numbers below. Brands and Companies are both displayed in ascending order according to their percentage change in volume sales. There were 25 selling days in June 2009 compared to 24 selling days in June 2008, so the change in average daily sales can be found in the right three columns.

Brand	Volume %	June 2009	June 2008	DSR* %	DSR 6/09	DSR 6/08
Subaru	3.40	18,620	18,007	-0.73	745	750
Volvo	0.59	7,042	7,001	-3.44	282	292
Kia	-5.11	26,845	28,292	-8.91	1,074	1,179
Ford	-8.26	133,684	145,715	-11.93	5,347	6,071
Audi	-8.28	7,524	8,203	-11.95	301	342
Buick	-10.69	8,601	9,631	-14.27	344	401
Pontiac	-16.41	23,740	28,402	-19.76	950	1,183
Lexus	-16.68	16,874	20,253	-20.02	675	844
Volkswagen	-18.02	19,027	23,208	-21.29	761	967
BMW	-20.05	16,744	20,944	-23.25	670	873
Mini	-21.22	4,105	5,211	-24.38	164	217
Nissan	-21.86	51,994	66,543	-24.99	2,080	2,773
Mercedes	-22.58	15,155	19,576	-25.68	606	816
Hyundai	-24.16	37,943	50,033	-27.20	1,518	2,085
Lincoln	-26.56	7,137	9,718	-29.50	285	405
Honda	-29.17	92,140	130,083	-32.00	3,686	5,420
Infiniti	-32.25	6,304	9,305	-34.96	252	388
Chevy	-33.30	106,712	159,998	-35.97	4,268	6,667
Acura	-33.53	8,280	12,456	-36.18	331	519
Toyota	-33.65	114,780	172,981	-36.30	4,591	7,208
GMC	-35.96	19,668	30,713	-38.52	787	1,280
Mercury	-37.10	7,332	11,657	-39.62	293	486
Jeep	-37.66	16,608	26,642	-40.16	664	1,110
Dodge	-40.43	37,936	63,687	-42.82	1,517	2,654
Cadillac	-40.90	8,473	14,337	-43.27	339	597
Mitsubishi	-41.79	4,362	7,494	-44.12	174	312
Mazda	-42.24	13,729	23,771	-44.55	549	990
Hummer	-47.97	1,078	2,072	-50.05	43	86
Chrysler	-49.30	13,753	27,128	-51.33	550	1,130
Smart	-56.15	1,116	2,545	-57.90	45	106
Saab	-58.39	779	1,872	-60.05	31	78
Saturn	-60.24	7,520	18,912	-61.83	301	788
Porsche	-65.96	902	2,650	-67.32	36	110
Suzuki	-78.04	2,149	9,784	-78.91	86	408
COMPANIES
Ford Mo Co	-10.85	155,195	174,091	-14.42	6,208	7,254
BMW Group	-20.29	20,849	26,155	-23.48	834	1,090
Nissan NA	-23.14	58,298	75,848	-26.21	2,332	3,160
Honda America	-29.55	100,420	142,539	-32.37	4,017	5,939
Toyota Mo Co	-31.87	131,654	193,234	-34.59	5,266	8,051
General Motors	-33.60	176,571	265,937	-36.26	7,063	11,081
Chrysler Group	-41.85	68,297	117,457	-44.18	2,732	4,894

By the Numbers - May 2009: GM and Ford Surprise Edition

from WRC - Autoblog by John Neff

We weren't expecting this, especially from General Motors, which was forced to sell cars and trucks last month amidst rumors of impending bankruptcy (something that came to fruition as soon as the month was over). Despite this, GM posted a decrease in sales volume of only 29.55%. Sure, GM's sales decreased last month compared to May 2008, but they decreased at a far slower rate than its major Japanese competitors: Toyota (-40.72%), Honda (-41.46%) and Nissan (-33.10%). Plus, check out the chart below and you'll notice that GM's top four performing brands - Chevy (-23.74%), Cadillac (-39.86%), GMC (-22.13%) and Buick (-16.98%) - are the same ones that will be transferred over to New GM after it emerges from bankruptcy, which is certainly a good sign.

Ford Motor Company performed best of the mutli-brand manufacturers with a sales slide of only -24.25%. The Blue Oval was helped by new product offerings like the redesigned 2010 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ, as well as an unexpectedly strong sales performance by Lincoln, which was the only brand this month that recorded a sales increase (credit the new MKS and a 103.3% increase in Town Car sales).

The rest of last month's sales results are below, all ordered by the most number of vehicles sold by volume to the least.

.	Brand	Volume	May-09	May-08	DSR*	DSR 5/09	DSR 5/08
.	Ford	-25.47%	137,167	184,042	-22.60%	5,276	6,816
.	Toyota	-41.22%	135,661	230,813	-38.96%	5,218	8,549
.	Chevrolet	-23.74%	127,510	167,202	-20.81%	4,904	6,193
.	Honda	-41.95%	88,875	153,104	-39.72%	3,418	5,671
.	Nissan	-32.58%	60,933	90,379	-29.99%	2,344	3,347
.	Dodge	-48.34%	41,399	80,130	-46.35%	1,592	2,968
.	Hyundai	-20.42%	36,937	46,415	-17.36%	1,421	1,719
.	Kia	-16.06%	26,060	31,047	-12.83%	1,002	1,150
.	GMC	-22.13%	23,926	30,724	-19.13%	920	1,138
.	Jeep	-39.67%	21,624	35,841	-37.35%	832	1,327
.	Volkswagen	-12.43%	19,568	22,346	-9.06%	753	828
.	BMW	-27.82%	18,383	25,469	-25.05%	707	943
.	Subaru	-5.05%	17,505	18,436	-1.40%	673	683
.	Lexus	-36.37%	16,922	26,593	-33.92%	651	985
.	Mazda	-40.12%	16,718	27,921	-37.82%	643	1,034
.	Chrysler	-51.22%	15,987	32,776	-49.35%	615	1,214
.	Mercedes-Benz	-38.18%	15,134	24,480	-35.80%	582	907
.	Pontiac	-52.34%	13,329	27,966	-50.51%	513	1,036
.	Mercury	-24.81%	10,221	13,593	-21.91%	393	503
.	Acura	-36.42%	9,469	14,893	-33.97%	364	552
.	Buick	-16.98%	9,160	11,033	-13.78%	352	409
.	Lincoln	2.40%	8,566	8,365	6.34%	329	310
.	Saturn	-55.54%	8,046	18,099	-53.83%	309	670
.	Cadillac	-39.86%	8,027	13,348	-37.55%	309	494
.	Audi	-12.08%	7,503	8,534	8.70%	289	316
.	Infiniti	-38.10%	6,496	10,495	-35.72%	250	389
.	Volvo	-22.95%	5,577	7,238	-19.98%	215	268
.	Volvo	-22.95%	5,577	7,238	-19.98%	215	268
.	Mini	-26.96%	4,610	6,312	-24.16%	177	234
.	Mitsubishi	-58.27%	4,352	10,430	-56.67%	167	386
.	Suzuki	-75.06%	2,585	10,364	-74.10%	99	384
.	Porsche	-29.22%	1,979	2,796	-26.50%	76	104
.	Hummer	-40.64%	1,094	1,843	-38.36%	42	68
.	Saab	-63.55%	783	2,148	-62.15%	30	80
.
.	COMPANIES
.	General Motors	-29.55%	191,875	272,363	-26.84%	7,380	10,088
.	Ford Mo Co	-24.25%	161,531	213,238	-21.33%	6,213	7,898
.	Toyota Mo Co	-40.72%	152,583	257,406	-38.44%	5,869	9,534
.	Honda America	-41.46%	98,344	167,997	-39.21%	3,782	6,222
.	Chrysler Group	-46.88%	79,010	148,747	-44.84%	3,039	5,509
.	Nissan NA	-33.10%	67,489	100,874	-30.52%	2,596	3,736
.	BMW Group	-27.65%	22,993	31,781	-24.87%	884	1,177
.
.	*The daily selling rate (DSR) is calculated with 26 days for May 2009 and 27 for May 2008.

Goodbye, GM ...by Michael Moore

from Michael Moore - Mike's Message

Monday, June 1st, 2009
GOODBYE, GM ...BY MICHAEL MOORE

I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled.

As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind?

It is with sad irony that the company which invented "planned obsolescence" -- the decision to build cars that would fall apart after a few years so that the customer would then have to buy a new one -- has now made itself obsolete. It refused to build automobiles that the public wanted, cars that got great gas mileage, were as safe as they could be, and were exceedingly comfortable to drive. Oh -- and that wouldn't start falling apart after two years. GM stubbornly fought environmental and safety regulations. Its executives arrogantly ignored the "inferior" Japanese and German cars, cars which would become the gold standard for automobile buyers. And it was hell-bent on punishing its unionized workforce, lopping off thousands of workers for no good reason other than to "improve" the short-term bottom line of the corporation. Beginning in the 1980s, when GM was posting record profits, it moved countless jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, thus destroying the lives of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans. The glaring stupidity of this policy was that, when they eliminated the income of so many middle class families, who did they think was going to be able to afford to buy their cars? History will record this blunder in the same way it now writes about the French building the Maginot Line or how the Romans cluelessly poisoned their own water system with lethal lead in its pipes.

So here we are at the deathbed of General Motors. The company's body not yet cold, and I find myself filled with -- dare I say it -- joy. It is not the joy of revenge against a corporation that ruined my hometown and brought misery, divorce, alcoholism, homelessness, physical and mental debilitation, and drug addiction to the people I grew up with. Nor do I, obviously, claim any joy in knowing that 21,000 more GM workers will be told that they, too, are without a job.

But you and I and the rest of America now own a car company! I know, I know -- who on earth wants to run a car company? Who among us wants $50 billion of our tax dollars thrown down the rat hole of still trying to save GM? Let's be clear about this: The only way to save GM is to kill GM. Saving our precious industrial infrastructure, though, is another matter and must be a top priority. If we allow the shutting down and tearing down of our auto plants, we will sorely wish we still had them when we realize that those factories could have built the alternative energy systems we now desperately need. And when we realize that the best way to transport ourselves is on light rail and bullet trains and cleaner buses, how will we do this if we've allowed our industrial capacity and its skilled workforce to disappear?

Thus, as GM is "reorganized" by the federal government and the bankruptcy court, here is the plan I am asking President Obama to implement for the good of the workers, the GM communities, and the nation as a whole. Twenty years ago when I made "Roger and Me," I tried to warn people about what was ahead for General Motors. Had the power structure and the punditocracy listened, maybe much of this could have been avoided. Based on my track record, I request an honest and sincere consideration of the following suggestions:

1. Just as President Roosevelt did after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the President must tell the nation that we are at war and we must immediately convert our auto factories to factories that build mass transit vehicles and alternative energy devices. Within months in Flint in 1942, GM halted all car production and immediately used the assembly lines to build planes, tanks and machine guns. The conversion took no time at all. Everyone pitched in. The fascists were defeated.

We are now in a different kind of war -- a war that we have conducted against the ecosystem and has been conducted by our very own corporate leaders. This current war has two fronts. One is headquartered in Detroit. The products built in the factories of GM, Ford and Chrysler are some of the greatest weapons of mass destruction responsible for global warming and the melting of our polar icecaps. The things we call "cars" may have been fun to drive, but they are like a million daggers into the heart of Mother Nature. To continue to build them would only lead to the ruin of our species and much of the planet.

The other front in this war is being waged by the oil companies against you and me. They are committed to fleecing us whenever they can, and they have been reckless stewards of the finite amount of oil that is located under the surface of the earth. They know they are sucking it bone dry. And like the lumber tycoons of the early 20th century who didn't give a damn about future generations as they tore down every forest they could get their hands on, these oil barons are not telling the public what they know to be true -- that there are only a few more decades of useable oil on this planet. And as the end days of oil approach us, get ready for some very desperate people willing to kill and be killed just to get their hands on a gallon can of gasoline.

President Obama, now that he has taken control of GM, needs to convert the factories to new and needed uses immediately.

2. Don't put another $30 billion into the coffers of GM to build cars. Instead, use that money to keep the current workforce -- and most of those who have been laid off -- employed so that they can build the new modes of 21st century transportation. Let them start the conversion work now.

3. Announce that we will have bullet trains criss-crossing this country in the next five years. Japan is celebrating the 45th anniversary of its first bullet train this year. Now they have dozens of them. Average speed: 165 mph. Average time a train is late: under 30 seconds. They have had these high speed trains for nearly five decades -- and we don't even have one! The fact that the technology already exists for us to go from New York to L.A. in 17 hours by train, and that we haven't used it, is criminal. Let's hire the unemployed to build the new high speed lines all over the country. Chicago to Detroit in less than two hours. Miami to DC in under 7 hours. Denver to Dallas in five and a half. This can be done and done now.

4. Initiate a program to put light rail mass transit lines in all our large and medium-sized cities. Build those trains in the GM factories. And hire local people everywhere to install and run this system.

5. For people in rural areas not served by the train lines, have the GM plants produce energy efficient clean buses.

6. For the time being, have some factories build hybrid or all-electric cars (and batteries). It will take a few years for people to get used to the new ways to transport ourselves, so if we're going to have automobiles, let's have kinder, gentler ones. We can be building these next month (do not believe anyone who tells you it will take years to retool the factories -- that simply isn't true).

7. Transform some of the empty GM factories to facilities that build windmills, solar panels and other means of alternate forms of energy. We need tens of millions of solar panels right now. And there is an eager and skilled workforce who can build them.

8. Provide tax incentives for those who travel by hybrid car or bus or train. Also, credits for those who convert their home to alternative energy.

9. To help pay for this, impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline. This will get people to switch to more energy saving cars or to use the new rail lines and rail cars the former autoworkers have built for them.

Well, that's a start. Please, please, please don't save GM so that a smaller version of it will simply do nothing more than build Chevys or Cadillacs. This is not a long-term solution. Don't throw bad money into a company whose tailpipe is malfunctioning, causing a strange odor to fill the car.

100 years ago this year, the founders of General Motors convinced the world to give up their horses and saddles and buggy whips to try a new form of transportation. Now it is time for us to say goodbye to the internal combustion engine. It seemed to serve us well for so long. We enjoyed the car hops at the A and W. We made out in the front -- and the back -- seat. We watched movies on large outdoor screens, went to the races at NASCAR tracks across the country, and saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time through the window down Hwy. 1. And now it's over. It's a new day and a new century. The President -- and the UAW -- must seize this moment and create a big batch of lemonade from this very sour and sad lemon.

Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years.

So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job.

Yours,
Michael Moore
 
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

New Math: 35 MPG Is Really 26 MPG Under Obama Plan

WASHINGTON — President Obama's announcement of the more stringent and earlier-than-planned national fuel economy and emissions standards aren't necessarily what they seem.

"Turns out that there are loopholes almost big enough to drive an SUV through," quipped Edmunds CEO Jeremy Anwyl.

It starts with the math — two different mathematical formulas used by two agencies of the U.S. government.

One mathematical calculation is used for mileage ratings under Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rules. Quite another is used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to figure the fuel economy ratings on window stickers for new cars.

"CAFE miles per gallon ratings and EPA window sticker mpg ratings were originally generated simultaneously through government lab testing," said Edmunds.com Director of Vehicle Testing Dan Edmunds. "Window sticker ratings have been down-rated twice in the last 25 years to make them more realistic for consumers, while CAFE mpg methods remained the same. So, with each EPA revision, EPA window sticker mpg and CAFE mpg drifted further apart."

Indeed, the difference between the two is significant. For example, a vehicle that scores an EPA rating combined city/highway of 29 miles per gallon actually contributes 39 mpg to its manufacturer's CAFE score.

The new 35.5 mpg by 2016 standard announced by President Obama translates to about 26 mpg. While that lower number may be disappointing environmentalists, it explains why automakers, including the Detroit-based ones, so gleefully signed on — it's far less draconian than one might think at first blush.

In fact, according to Edmunds.com's analysis, 29 car models and 36 truck models already achieve the new standard, and about a third of the cars and half of the trucks are produced by a domestic automaker. A full list of those models is available at GreenCarAdvisor.com

source  edmunds