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3771. Macnas - 4/13/2006 3:28:37 PM Jaysus yes, I remember smoking in hospital, but then, you could smoke everywhere back then. 3772. Adam Selene - 4/13/2006 7:30:28 PM Honda May Cut Hybrid Production
By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writer (on comcast.net)
56 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Honda Motor Co. may cut production of the Honda Accord hybrid because sales have been so slow, Honda Executive Vice President Dick Colliver said Thursday at the New York Auto Show.
Colliver was the second executive in as many days to question the direction of hybrid sales during media previews for the show, which opens to the public Friday. Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Wednesday that hybrid sales appear to be slowing down, something he has warned could happen as consumers decide whether hybrids are worth their additional cost.
Colliver wouldn't give exact sales for the Accord hybrid, which went on sale in December 2004, but said they make up a tiny percentage of Honda's overall sales. Overall Accord sales were down 4 percent last year, according to Autodata Corp.
"We've had to reevaluate our position," Colliver said. "It's having a hard time in the market."
Colliver said a decision on the Accord will be made sometime this year.
Not all hybrids are suffering. The Honda Insight hybrid saw sales jump 15 percent last year, and Colliver said sales of the Honda Civic hybrid remain strong. The company expects to sell 25,000 hybrid Civics this year, or 8 percent of its total Civic volume.
Colliver said the problem with the Accord is that the hybrid system is paired with a V6 engine, compared to the smaller 4-cylinder engine in the Civic, and consumers aren't convinced it will offer them any fuel savings.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus luxury division is betting that consumers eventually will adopt so-called performance hybrids like the Accord, which give vehicles a bigger engine with better fuel economy and lower emissions.
The 2008 Lexus LS 600h, introduced at the New York show, is the first luxury vehicle to pair a powerful V-8 engine with a hybrid system. The combination gives the 600h the power of a 12-cylinder engine with the fuel efficiency of a smaller vehicle. Lexus said the sedan will have fuel economy ratings equal to or better than some mid-sized luxury sedans.
But Colliver said he's not convinced consumers will embrace performance hybrids.
"We're still looking at where's the best package for hybrids," Colliver said. "We're going to have to watch the market."
Jack Nerad, editorial director of Kelley Blue Book, an auto information service, said he also expects consumers will be slow to adopt performance hybrids because they think of hybrids only as fuel savers.
"The general public doesn't grasp there is such a thing as a performance hybrid," Nerad said.
Hybrids made up 1.5 percent of new-car sales last year, up slightly from the year before, even though there were new models on the market, according to J.D. Power and Associates. 3773. Jenerator - 4/13/2006 10:51:00 PM Alistair,
The coffee is fresher (and it's not Nescafe) and the capsules are cool. I am making everyone their Christmas presents out of them. Pretty cool, huh? 3774. anomie - 4/15/2006 11:53:14 AM "The 2008 Lexus LS 600h, introduced at the New York show, is the first luxury vehicle to pair a powerful V-8 engine with a hybrid system"
Technology gone wrong is what this is. Using hybrids to maintain excessive HP for needlessly large vehicles is silly.
3775. anomie - 4/15/2006 11:58:53 AM I drove a 1.6 liter Toyota Corolla for 10 years and it did just fine w/o a hybrid boost. Many cars in the UK have only 1 liter engines. I think we drive around with way too much unused power in our cars. I share the blame with my current car, so I'm not pointing fingers. But I think we can work to change some of expectations about what we need a car to do. 3776. wonkers2 - 4/15/2006 2:59:34 PM The car companies have wasted most of the improved engine technology they have developed on heavier, higher horsepower vehicles rather than improved fuel economy. SUV's now accelerate as fast as the sporty cars of the 1970s. Increasing U.S. gasoline taxes gradually to bring at-the-pump prices up to the level in Europe would be the best way to reverse this trend. Diesel engines are a better solution than hybrids in my opinion. In the long run hydrogen fuel cells appear to be the most promising solution although driving around with a tank of hydrogen might make some people nervous. 3777. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 4/15/2006 3:00:11 PM Scrotum Scrub (WMV)
3778. robertjayb - 4/21/2006 9:48:31 PM 
(via bartcop)
3779. Jenerator - 4/27/2006 9:58:53 PM I remember a flight to London when I was seated next to a woman who was a professed chainsmoker and "PROUD OF IT!"
She kept trying to engage me in discussion the entire way there, which was fine because she was smart and funny. But then she asked me if I smoked and I said no. It went downhill from there.
According to her, smokers created their own sub-culture. The bandits, the rebels, the intellectual mafia, the true workers, yes - the HEROS all met outside periodically during the day to smoke their camels and bitch about things.
They were part of an elite club that us non smokers just didn't understand.
This woman gave me a long, hard look and said something to the effect of, "I just don't trust non-smokers. They don't get it." 3780. wonkers2 - 4/27/2006 10:23:30 PM Smokers are losers! 3781. judithathome - 4/28/2006 1:04:51 AM Had no idea one could be hired and paid to be a smoker. 3782. Jenerator - 4/28/2006 1:21:33 AM ?? 3783. Adam Selene - 4/28/2006 2:57:14 AM Lol! I've never heard of the smoker 'elite' club... and I was a 2 pack a day smoker for 15 years! I quit about 10 years ago (only took me 2 years of trying) and I don't miss anything. Ok, I still smoke about a pack-a-year when my coworkers drag me to happy hour... but it's amazing that now 3 or 4 cigarettes will make me so miserable the next day that I won't touch one for several weeks after. 3784. arkymalarky - 4/28/2006 3:06:49 AM You know, Adam. They're the ones who are huddled up outside tall buildings trying to block the wind in January while everyone else is lounging and visiting in the comfortable, climate-controlled break room. It's kind of like claiming you're part of an elite club that sticks beans in your ears.
From Jen's post, the woman's line: "They don't get it."
Get what? Lung cancer? Heart disease?
I've smoked off and on and my husband had a terrible habit for a long, long time. He lost a whole lot of weight and got healthy after being diagnosed with type2 diabetes, he went back to college after 20 years and got a degree in mathematics, he married a wonderful woman (and no, not the first one! The second one), had a beautiful daughter, built and developed a great place to live, and did lots of other fine things in his life, but he doesn't hesitate to say that quitting smoking is what he's most proud of, by far.
3785. arkymalarky - 4/28/2006 3:08:27 AM And if he were diagnosed with lung cancer tomorrow he'd still say that. He conquered a habit he thought he had no control over for 30 years. 3786. judithathome - 4/28/2006 3:14:58 AM People can quit easily once they decide what is most important...smoking or a better life.
I can't imagine Bob being a smoker after knowing him only as a non-smoker. 3787. Adam Selene - 4/28/2006 3:20:49 AM Ya, quitting is easy. I did it twice a week for years.
(With apologies to Samuel Clemens.) 3788. judithathome - 4/28/2006 3:36:14 AM I quit cold turkey several years ago...it wasn't hard for me, I should say. 3789. arkymalarky - 4/28/2006 4:44:52 AM Bob could go cold turkey easily for days, weeks, months, or even years. But when it hit, it hit and there was no turning back. But he promised his dad right before he died he was done with tobacco and he wouldn't violate that pledge. Maybe he shouldn't have made it, but he did and he's determined to honor it. 3790. PelleNilsson - 4/30/2006 5:10:08 PM Spring is here at last!
Anemone Nemorosa, 'vitsippa' for me, 'wood anemone' for you.
Another sure sign is that this evening the Chilean BBQ fanatics have gathered in our courtyard for the first time this year.
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