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Wednesday, December 08, 2004
I Think We're Company of the Year
I'm mulling over a metaphysical diatribe (in haiku, of course) on the nature of journalism. One of the great failures of journalism is context. I am not a journalist -- or am I? check back for the haiku answer -- so I'm allowed to juxtapose three stories about General Motors.Government Probes Hummer H2 for Defects December 6, 2004
Federal regulators are investigating the Hummer H2 after receiving three reports of wheels falling off the vehicle, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday.
Ed. Isn't a consumer vehicle weighing over 3 tons defect enough?
Honda Gets the 'Greenest' Award December 7, 2004
Japanese automakers produce the cleanest-burning vehicles and they were led in the 2003 model year by Honda Motor Co., while General Motors Corp. placed dead last, a U.S. environmental group said on Tuesday.
"In sharp contrast to Honda, today we're naming General Motors public polluter No. 1 when it comes to emissions generated by automakers," said MacKenzie.
"GM has gone from being the best of the (Detroit) Big Three to the worst automaker overall in our rankings," he said.
The report said GM, the world's largest automaker, was the only one to produce vehicles that emit more smog and heat-trapping gases in the 2003 model year than they did in the 2001 model year.
GM spokeswoman Joanne Krell disputed the report's methodology, however, saying it penalized automakers who build more large trucks as part of their vehicle lineup.
"We think the report more accurately reflects an automaker's fleet vehicle mix, and U.S. consumers' purchase behavior, than it does environmental performance," Krell said.
Automakers Sue to Block Emissions Law in California December 8, 2004
Toyota, General Motors and seven other automakers filed suit on Tuesday to block California's new greenhouse gas regulation, which was approved by the state in its final form in September.
The suit sets up a battle between automakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. Although Mr. Schwarzenegger is a fan of the Hummer, an S.U.V. with prodigious greenhouse gas emissions, he has promised nonetheless to defend the regulation, which was signed by his Democratic predecessor, Gray Davis.
"This regulation would limit consumer choice and increase vehicle prices," said Jim Press, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Toyota's United States sales operation. He added that among Toyota's current models, only the Prius hybrid car and the manual transmission version of the Echo compact car would be able to comply with the regulation.
"The rest of our cars and trucks would have to be completely re-engineered or eliminated," he added, in a statement. In other settings, Toyota has indicated that it plans significant expansion of its hybrid vehicle offerings across its lineup over the next decade. Ed: Any guess on the number of cars and trucks that will be completely re-engineered or eliminated in the next 10 years regardless of California's air emission standards? The Altima was redesigned in 1998, 2000, and 2002. The Pathfinder was redesigned in 1996 and 2000. The Sentra was redesigned in 1995 and 2000. According to this, Nissan doesn't have any models that haven't been completely re-engineered or eliminated in the last 5 years, let alone 10.
In addition to Toyota and General Motors, the other automakers in the alliance that filed the suit are Ford, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche and Volkswagen. Honda and Nissan are not part of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and did not join the suit. Both companies said they opposed the regulation and were mulling their options.
