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Leave it to the NY Times to try and drum up a crisis where there really isn't one. If you want to believe it, Ford could be in trouble because GM and Chrysler have declared bankruptcy. The "logic" goes like this...

AR Index     517.05  -8.23  (-1.57%) Stocks of individual interest Toyota  75.61  +0.12 GM        0.70    -0.44 Ford      5.75    -0.03 Dow 8324.87  -204.51   (-2.40%) Prices at the pump have started to ease a bit, although it seems to have nothing to do with any kind of reality regarding supply and demand, just more of the games in the commodity markets. But it seems that this time around, unlike last year,  the traders haven't been able to force the markets to insane levels. The year-to-date chart of crude oil price divided by gas price at the pump is settling down to a steadier number...

According to sources, a plug-in version of the Prius should hit the market in about 2012. Toyota plans to build 20,000-30,000 plug-in Priuses a year and intends to price them at about $48,000 - twice the price of a conventional Prius hybrid and about $8,000 more than the Chevrolet Volt, which will hit the market at the tail end of 2010. Just like the Volt, I don't think a $48K vehicle is likely to be a widespread commercial success...

Perhaps I need to change my opinion about low-profile tires, or at least modify it. A Mountaineer owner comes in with a low tire light and I wonder how to tell which one. I would never put low pros on a vehicle, no matter how cool I thought it looked...

Dear Dub, I hope you and your family have a great 4th of July holiday. We've changed the traditional cookout at our house and have a spread of healthy foods instead of greasy burgers, hot dogs filled with who know's what, and sugar filled sodas. I know it sounds weird, but you should try it...

As Winston Churchill said after the battle of El Alamein, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." There's still a long way to go in the recovery of the North American auto market, but there are honest-to-goodness bright spots now...

  As one of the earliest participating Car Allowance Rebate System dealers (better known as the Cash for Clunkers Program), the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family is very excited about the potential savings our valued new car shoppers can take advantage of.   Do you know that the CARS voucher is not considered income for Federal Tax purposes? Or that it is independent of other programs?..

From the Wall Street Journal DETROIT (Dow Jones)--A Nissan North American executive said showroom traffic patterns over the past 60 days are showing signs of some stabilization in the U.S. auto sales market. "Given the past 60 days, we are looking optimistically at July, August and September," Al Castignetti, Nissan North America's vice president and general manager said in an interview Wednesday...

A + B = C right? Look at the headlines from two Reuters stories this morning... Japan overall auto sales -14.5 pct in June and Japan non-mini auto sales down 13.5 pct in June Doesn't that mean that larger vehicles are selling better (less worse if you prefer) than mini-vehicles?..

AR Index     525.28  +19.60  (+3.87%)  Stocks of individual interest Toyota  75.49  +0.82 GM        1.14    -0.06 Ford      5.78    +0.40 Dow 8529.38  +190.37   (+2.28%) Maybe the pulse isn't as strong as we'd like, but there still is a pulse in the North American auto market and it has a chance to grow stronger. It also looks like we're not in for a repeat of last year's nonesense with gas and oil price, although the commodity markets have been giving it a try again, making sure that price changes have nothing to do with actual supply and demand. Prices at the pump seem to have backed off their peak a bit, so that may help with the angst level out there...