Reply #6: I agree with you in theory Andy... [View All]

but the onus is on the American car companies to produce the vehicles we want to buy.

Billions were given to the car companies during the Clinton administration for researching alternatives, yet they chose to hitch their wagon to hydrogen fuel cells, a technology that won't be ready for prime-time for another thirty years. Little or no investment in efficiency, clean diesel, hybrid technology, NiMH or Li-ion batteries was carried out by American car companies; they simply handed it to the Asians. You can hardly blame Toyota or Honda for having the vision to take advantage of the gift.

I also agree that it's a shame that much of the money made by foreign automakers in the U.S. flows back overseas, but the workers salaries are staying and being spent here (except when it's spent at X-Mart). Given the amount of overseas production the Big Three are engaged in, it probably balances out.

The U.S. automakers are not victims, they are bloated, failed businesses that are subsidized and have been bailed out by the government too many times already. They refuse to use their vast resources of infrastructure and talent to develop new, revolutionary products and deserve to die like any other failed company.

I don't like it either, but we need to get off the merry-go-round.