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    Is it any wonder that Ford, Gm, and, Chrysler are struggling mightily right now?  They are getting annihilated by Toyota and Honda in terms of market share here in the United States.  While Honda and Toyota were concentrating their efforts on fuel efficient cars, the big 3 were blindly relying on trucks, SUVs and large cars.  With a few exceptions, Japanese automobiles are the way to go to get the most reliable and economically car possible. 

    The American 3 simply have no answer for the Civic, Civic Hybrid, Corolla, and Prius.  These 4 cars are dominating the small car and hybrid markets, respectively.  What competition is there; the Ford Focus?  The hybrid market has a lot of entries, but none of the current offerings even come close to matching the fuel economy of Prius and Civic Hybrid. 

    The subcompact market is heating up, and every automaker is trying to get a piece.  I don’t think there are clear cut winners in this area yet, but I sure see a lot more Fits and Yaris’ than Aveos out on the road.  I think this market will grow immensely if gas prices continue to rise, as these cars deliver exceptional fuel economy for a fraction of the current hybrid price.   

    Now I have to give some credit where it is due to our hometown car makers.  Ford can currently claim the most fuel efficient SUV on the planet in the Ford Escape.  Kudos to them.  However, I wonder why they  still don’t offer a small car hybrid.  Maybe they are working on that?

    As for GM, the Chevy Volt is currently getting some attention, and for good reason.  A plug in hybrid that can go 40 miles on electricity alone and 640 miles on a tank of gas when using the electric motor would revolutionize the hybrid car.  If GM can bring this car to the market in the near future and meet those promises, they will be rewarded heavily for it.  Here’s hoping that GM delivers the goods.  For some reason though, I can’t imagine Honda and Toyota getting beat to the next big thing. 

    As for Chrysler; anybody know what they are doing?  They make some quality vehicles, but not any efficient ones.  Who knows, I bet their working on something.  Maybe. 

    This one drives me nuts… I wonder how much fuel is wasted every day because of Americans whose commuter vehicle of choice is a gas guzzling truck or suv. I perfectly understand a mom who has 4 kids to drop off at school, or anybody for that matter who actually utilizes their larger vehicle. However, people who drive to work and straight back home do not need a large vehicle to get them there. Rolling up to the office in the Hummer or Escalade is just pointless and wasteful in my opinion.

    I don’t understand the rationale behind it. If it’s a status symbol thing, buy a nice smaller car. Today’s small cars aren’t the pieces of crap that were rolling around in the 90’s, some of them are nice, nice cars. Even if you’re making six figures and can perfectly afford the small fortune it takes to fill up these behemoths, take a second look at your role in our energy situation and your environmental effect. I can almost guarantee that you will feel better about yourself and eventually frown upon the countless others that still thunder to work to the tune of 12 miles per gallon.