comment #1

Rich S. says ...

I thought Friedman said the next big car ideas were coming from India.

comment #2

monettx says ...

Funny that Friedman uses both Apple and the car industry. When once asked why Apple doesn't do much in the way of market research for new products, Steve Jobs was reported to have quoted Henry Ford, who (allegedly) said "If I'd asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for a better horse....."

In any case, it looks like the american auto industry is trying to move to a more efficient and flexible model:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/15/autos/chrysler_envi/index.htm?postversion=2008121513

comment #3

62Lincoln says ...

Friedman doesn't know jack about the auto industry, as he has demonstrated again. Toyota TODAY froze a plan to build the Prius in a plant in Mississippi. Why? Because Prius sales were down 48% in November. Apparently peolpe have seen the Prius, and still don't know they want one. And Toyota didn't expect people to not buy them like crazy, either. Add this debacle to their new full size truck plant in Texas that was shut down for 3 months due to lack of sales, and saint Toyota is just another car company, not the savior this dumbass perceives. STFU, Friedman. Maybe you should write about films.

comment #4

mizerock says ...

Car sales are down dramatically, for all brands and all makes. Maybe this is the wrong time to build a new automobile plant of any type, but that doesn't make the Prius a failure. You need to compare its sales to that of other vehicles, not to itself from last year.

That said, I'm sure that sales are off quite a bit in places where you no longer get a tax break for buying one (?). And can you still drive one by yourself in HOV lanes?

I agree with the concept: you need to decide now to build what people will buy in the near and distant future, which isn't necessarily the same as what people say they want right now.

comment #5

62Lincoln says ...

The market in November was down 34%, so the Prius' decline outpaced the marketplace. The Prius is waaaay down, and so are the other "fuel economy" choices that were so popular this summer. Guess what has reemerged as a strong seller (particularly for GM)? SUV's! So if GM builds "what people will buy in the near and distant future", that would be the SUV. The U.S.has to have a coherant enegy policy, including substantial taxes on gasoline, to encourage the consumer to purchase fuel efficient vehicles. Why not create a floor for gas at $4.00/gal via taxes; except I have nofaith in the politicians of either party to not screw up the revenue.

comment #6

SpinDozer says ...

Toyota says cumulative worldwide sales of the Prius hit 1,028,000 last month -- when sales jumped 67 percent amid record gas prices -- and claims the cars have eased global warming "by producing approximately 4.5 million tons less C02 when compared with gasoline-powered vehicles in the same class."

Despite Toyota's impressive sales figures, hybrids are still just 2.3 percent of the U.S. market. That number is sure to change as consumers ditch their gas-guzzlers. Hybrid sales rose 38 percent last year even as overall vehicle sales fell, and with gas prices approaching four bucks a gallon, Toyota's having trouble meeting demand for the Prius.

Priuses (some say the plural is Priora) are getting harder to find in showrooms and buyers are paying more for them. Toyota says domestic inventory is limited by production capacity in Japan, which is shared by the Asian and European markets. The U.S. supply is at its lowest level in two years, according to Bloomberg, and things will only get worse as demand rises.

May 15, 2008
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/prius-sales-top.html

12/15/2008
China's electric car ahead of the curve
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/12/15/china_electric_car

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comment #8

Yuval says ...

Lincoln, November is in the past, it is not the near and definitely not the distant future. Friedman is talking about long term plans, not the reaction to sales in November.

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