Huffington blogger Laurie David rails on Bob Lutz; claims Toyota is already numero uno in the world
In her latest blog on Huffington Post, heartless attacker of Michael Crichton and global warming advocate Laurie David is taking GM vice chairman Bob Lutz to the woodshed for his recent comments about raising CAFE standards. Only problem is that her whipping switch is a little short. David asks, "Why has Toyota just surpassed GM as the number one auto seller in the world?" I didn't know the numbers were confirmed because just a few days ago Toyota officials were beaming at the promise of overtaking GM in 2007. Toyota says expects to sell close to 8.9 million vehicles worldwide in 2006. GM doesn't forecast worldwide sales but the company sold almost 9.2 million in 2005. As far as I know there hasn't been an official proclamation anointing Toyota as the world's leader.
David's observations are quite biased and not reflective of the entire auto industry. Consumers are still interested in large vehicles, so much so that Toyota is banking $100 million marketing campaign on the launch of its full-size Tundra.
I agree with David that some of Lutz's comments were unfounded, but he hasn't destroyed the company. And as for all those technologies "sitting on the shelf," I've seen many of them and they ain't cheap. I'm very eager to drive the new two-mode hybrids that will appear in GM's full-size SUVs very soon. If the vehicle gets an honest 25 percent improvement in fuel economy, then GM deserves a pat on the back. But I wonder if David will be there with her switch, continuing to rail on Lutz for building full-size vehicles, or if she'll appreciate the effort.
[Source: Laurie David / Huffington Post]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike Magda 4:38PM (1/03/2007)
Corrected. Thank you.
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Arnie 8:20PM (1/03/2007)
Why waste time reading the Huffington Post at all? It's like taking a bath in manure. Only more stupid.
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Manu Sharma 1:17AM (1/04/2007)
Mike,
Heartless attacker of Michael Crichton? Is that the best description you can think? How about The Woman behind The Movie?
In case you didn't know, Laurie David produced An Inconvenient Truth. She and fellow producer Lawrence Bender saw Gore's presentation and later approached him to make it into a movie.
Besides Micheal Crichton deserved it.
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DaleW 6:47AM (1/04/2007)
This woman and her family will burn far more fuel in one cross-country trip on their Gulfstream than scores of families will use, on the margin, driving a full-size SUV for a year vs. a smaller car. I quote from Michelle Malkin's excellent editorial, Gulfstream Liberals:"
Then there's the criticism of the rich environmentalist who flies in a private jet to Sierra Club fund-raisers. A midsize Gulfstream 200 uses from 1,200 to 1,500 gallons of fuel for a cross-country flight, so if it holds four people, giving them the chance to stretch out on the leather sofas, each person would use about 350 gallons of fuel. That's 10 times the amount of fuel used per person by 130 passengers flying coast to coast on a Boeing 737-300.
It's also nearly the equivalent of driving a Hummer cross country, twice. Mr. Burkle's 767, if it carries eight people across the continent, would each use 1,000 gallons of fuel, enough for eight Hummer trips from southern Brazil to Dearborn, Mich.
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Tim 9:53AM (1/04/2007)
Who has more hypocrites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrites the Left or the Right? I’m thinking the left, but what ANY politician says is irrelevant. General Rule #1: Carefully watch what politicians do, never what they say. Politicians (especially trained lawyers) earn their living by spinning reality and compromising their personal integrity to reach political “deals.” They do this by telling half-lies or incomplete truths. A half-truth is the blackest of lies because it can be partially defended. Here’s a famous half-truth… “it really depends on what is is.” These words were uttered by president Bill Clinton (a lawyer) during his impeachment trial in the Senate for committing perjury. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perjury.
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JP 12:10PM (1/04/2007)
Tim are you freaking kidding? Or just a red state lunatic? Your best example of lying politicians is Clinton? Where have you been the last 6 years?
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