July 17th, 2009
While searching for information on auto production, I came across an article on Spike.com listing the 7 Ugliest Cars Ever Built.
I was happy to see one of my top choices was on the list, the Pontiac Aztek:
The picture doesn’t do it justice (or, it does it too much justice) as it’s really the rear end that’s particularly ugly. Here’s what Spike said:
Unfortunately, Pontiac ignored the warning signs and produced this malformed atrocity, and the Aztek was almost immediately hailed as one of the ugliest automotive designs of all time.
This stigma apparently just fueled Pontiac’s designers even more, as they began adding more plastic moldings, chrome pieces, and various lights and vents - perhaps in an attempt to confuse and distract potential buyers into some sort of purchase-crazy frenzy before they could come to their senses.
Mercifully, it didn’t work, and the Aztek was gone after 2005, concluding its four year run.
What are the ugliest cars you’ve seen?
July 17th, 2009
Got an interesting set of questions/comments from a reader on my last post and decided to break my response for all to see:
Q. the reason china is escalating is because thats where all of our jobs went…. remember chinese mostly ride bicycles although they are building GMs there now , only to sell them back here in the US ( cheaper labor costs again) Why can’t we buy Oil from non-opec nations who would willingly sell their Oil for cheaper than OPEC. And god forbid we tap our own oil in Colorado, wyoming, utah. huge reserves there more than iran, iraq saudi arabia has..
A. Actually, car sales within China are starting to boom again:
China has halved purchase tax on small vehicles, announced incentives for people to replace old cars under an economic stimulus package aimed at boosting domestic consumption to counter a slump in exports.
Demand for cars in China has rebounded, with sales surging 47 percent in May alone. China is at the start of another boom in car sales that is being propelled by rising incomes in third-tier cities and could continue for a few years, JPMorgan China economist Frank Gong said last week.
The Chinese government is encouraging consumer spending, road building, other construction, etc. China is no longer just the producer for the world, it’s producing for itself.
Cars, etc., especially that are being built in China are for Asia. The cost of shipping cars across the ocean offsets any savings in labor cost. Especially with growing fuel prices, it makes less sense to built a lot of things abroad. A lot of the softness in U.S. manufacturing is due to softness in demand in the U.S.
The problem with buying oil from non-OPEC countries is that countries (and OPEC itself) don’t set oil prices. The open market does. A barrel of oil generally costs the same wherever it comes from, unless the quality is different. But OPEC - which produces like 60 percent of internationally traded oil - can affect prices everywhere by cutting or boosting production.
Meanwhile, it’s not like non-OPEC nations have robust production capabilities.
Although there has been some new exploration and cultivation of oil sources, it takes time before such projects are ready for production. Cline said one of the biggest challenges for producers is skyrocketing costs for labor and steel, noting that costs for “everything that you need to build a modern oil project are rising very fast.” In addition, some new projects lack infrastructure, such as pipelines, which help bring new oil to market quickly and cheaply. Landlocked projects in Kazakhstan, for example, face extremely high transportation costs.
There are even reports elsewhere that non-OPEC production may be peaking.
Not sure where you get the data on oil reserves. According to the CIA World Factbook, the U.S. has the world’s 12th-largest proven oil reserves, and it’s not even close to the countries you list:
1. Saudi Arabia - 266.8 billion barrels
2. Canada - 178.6 billion barrels
3. Iran - 138.4 billion barrels
4. Iraq - 115 billion barrels
5. Kuwait - 104 billion barrels
12. U.S. - 21 billion barrels
Thanks for the questions. Hope I clarified some things. Keep them coming.
