DISQUS

VentureBeat: Unlikely bedfellows back mystery car that could sweep the efficient vehicle market

  • Paul · 6 months ago
    Minor mistake in your article...Ray Lane was not the CEO of Sun Microsystems, he was the President and
    COO of Oracle.
  • Camille Ricketts · 6 months ago
    Hi Paul -- thanks so much for catching that. I have fixed the error!
  • Adam · 6 months ago
    Seems like they will be similar to smart cars.
  • lamapper · 6 months ago
    Only a WIN if it is fuel like Electric, Hydrogen or Water. Though water is going to become much more precious over the next decade. (In fact I believe the predictions that the next wars will be fought over water rights).

    If fuel is a percentage oil, or even alternative gasoline / oil type of fuel like ethanol or other bio fuel, #FAIL

    Fortunately at least one manufacturer is coming out with an Electric car that will go between 350 - 500 miles per charge and can recharge in 30 mins. You could travel cross country with that, though your pit stops would be 15 - 20 minutes longer than they are now. But that could be fun if planned into the trip. But even this manufacturers base sticker price is over $10K. Too high given the current economy.

    Prices for cars have been out of whack for way too long already and I seriously doubt any new vehicles made in the USA will bring the prices back in line with economic reality any time soon:

    Examples:

    Base Sticker Price of a Car: 1975: < $1,000 (Chevy mid size) 1977: <$2,000 (Malibu Classic); 1981: $8,000+ (Chevy Citation); 2009: 16K - 25K (mid size economy car, not luxury). Unless you buy one from India or some other country for $3K, looks affordable given the economy. Economically those foreign cars looks promising!

    3 Bedroom / 2 Bath House: 1983: $40K - $80K; 1987: $90K - $130K; 1996: $180K - $225K; 2005: $200K - $325K; 2009: unknown, banks waiting for prices to rise and will not sell (jokes on us), unless you are their personal friend, than that house they repossessed from some other American who they would not work with, they will sale to a personal friend for $500, check the news, multiple reports if you do not believe this.

    Mid level IT Worker Salary: 1983: $30 - $70K; 1995: $50 - $80K; 2000: $75 - $100K; 2009: $30K - $70K (assuming job has not been moved offshore already)

    Health Care: Does not matter, medium to minimum wage workers can no longer afford health care. Why do you think over 40% of all new bankruptcies are related to an American's visit to a Hospital. And we pay enough in taxes now to afford health care, stop making excuses.

    Even food, unless you live near farming communities has doubled and tripled, yet salaries for most Americans, if they are lucky enough to even have a job, have gone DOWN, not UP.

    Economics dictates that prices should fall give the state of the economy, yet that is NOT happening thanks to both the Reps (who started this mess) and the Dems (who are continuing this mess) who would rather play politics than solve problems. BOTH PARTIES FAIL!

    And even if the above numbers are not exactly correct, they are close, very close percentage wise. Prices on everything has gone up, except salaries have NOT kept pace.

    So do not even talk about affordable vehicles, if you can not get the base sticker price down to $2 - 4K. That's right, $2,000 to $4,000. I would rather buy a foreign car every year for $3,000; or a used vehicle here in the US for $500 - $1000 and fix it up. No model with sticker prices as high as they are makes sense today, none of them.

    And if the car still runs on oil based or oil like fuels, you FAIL all Americans.

    American car companies have not made a car I would be willing to purchase, based on fuels alone, for over a decade now.

    Wake up America, if you MUST buy a car, buy a USED CAR, fix up the engine, give it a paint job, but buy it FREE AND CLEAR (NO CREDIT, as that game has been stacked against honest consumers for more than two decades now). But that is another story.

    Better start looking at alternative types of families, with more than just two wage earners in the future or our kids will NEVER be able to afford a home of their own based on starting salaries straight out of college. Heaven help you if you do not have a college degree.

    All Americans regardless of religion, regardless of spiritual belief system, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of background or where you were raised. The death of the traditional family unit rest solely on the shoulders of our politicians (all parties) based on their preference for: 1) Playing politics (our party against theirs, both Dems and Reps) instead of solving problems and 2) Putting special interests (Lobbyist) before the American citizens they say they represent, but do not.

    #2 above applies to Oil, Banks, Health Care, Insurance, Pharmaceuticals, Telecommunications (Wireline and Wireless) and many, many others.

    I have seen the problem, it is us. Especially if you continue to vote along party lines, WAKE UP!
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