if Ford has retained more of an engineering culture...I think their CEO for some time (before Clayton Ford) was an engineer.  Although they're still pretty much financiers/marketers/accountants at the top, which has been part of the devastation of American manufacturing, Ford may have a bit more of support for engineers than the other companies -- probably nowhere near the Japanese or German companies, though.  So they may ultimately be doomed as well (unless they get bailed out).

Ford really gets it.  GM has problems with focus, but has the vastly overpowered overpriced Volt.

Ford is further behind on plugin but shows promise for 2012.

These companies can be saved!  How?

Force them to upgrade to  hypercar, Fiber Forge stamped carbon fiber body/fraime design, or they get no bail out.  Mileage would double or triple in every model.  Sales would soar.

The lower power required for standard performance would make plugin hybrids practical with present battery technology.

Government needs to order a million units per year to get this production going.  No free maney, you have to pay US back in economy plugin hybrid hypercars.  No choice Detroit.  That's an offer they can't refuse.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

I still believe algae is the best short and perhaps long term solution. We don't need the space, or soil for growth - primarily just the sun. We can make it with wastewater.

Shouldn't this be a biofuel we can believe in?

Chris McMasters

Waste stream algae, and even algae that would tend to filter fertilizer and manure runoff out of lakes and rivers is a great fuel source.  It cleans waste water.  It can be turned into biogas very easily.  And yield oil directly and carbohydrates that can be fermented into ethanol.

There's a pretty good chance that algae could produce a substitute for all oil based chemicals and fuels.  When most transport is electric, a lot less fuel will be needed.  Algae could provide.

But to replace current oil guzzling levels would be difficult.  

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

Like make a car that Consumers Union likes?

The Focus platform was supposed to compete on the global market. They seemed to succeed with the design. Unfortunately, they made crap... after promising not to do so, so many times before.

The other thing about, but not limited to Ford, is the idea of making the cars in a cleaner way while refusing to improve the carbon footprint by design and marketing of their product. Rather, the companies have committed resources to strategies that resist such improvement.

Goes off humming 21st Century Schizoid Man...