Oh, and I actually agree with your quote, that's why there are no unions in the south. The companies have learned to treat their employees better than their competitors for the mutual benefit of the company and employee. Keep pay and benefits competitive, keep the workplace safe and pleasant, wam-bam people are magically happy with their employer. There's no big secret really. It's not as if middle management carries sub-machine guns around when there's no union in the plant. I actually know several line workers and aside from having really boring jobs and having to do shift work, none of them complain about their workplace. They do pretty well for themselves too, and even carpool to work like us greenies... but they do it in a brand-new-virtually-free M-class Mercedes. What a rough life.

They do have a choice. The labor laws in the south do not prohibit unions or stop them from forming. Southerners have by in large chosen not to allow them into their places of employment. I don't have a problem with unions; I have a problem with the UAW. Unions like the UAW that stopped protecting the worker and started punishing the business need to be shut down. My attitude is why the good people of our state have consistently driven by the unionists in the street begging them to sign their cards. My attitude is why the south is getting another assembly line in the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa and the Tupelo plant is moving forward with its new line. The only reason Detroit has any new automotive business at all is because of $550 million in public money for the companies willing to put battery plants in the state.

If unions like the UAW and APA didn't give themselves such a bad name, this discussion might be very different. As is, the economy is speaking, and they are killing their own jobs. Wake up and smell the money, you can't force the market to do things the way you want them. In a free market if a qualified person is willing to work for less, they will do the work, it's pretty simple.

Ghen is right. While there are some dealers that really don't care about the products they sell, some of them do take a genuine interest in their product and love to talk about it. The Volt probably gets on some of the "go big or go home" guys' nerves because of what it represents, but I'd say it has more to do with them being bad salesmen. A good salesman can talk to a brick wall, and shouldn't care what the customer wants to talk about, as long as the customer is talking to him.

I'm not going to talk about the 5-ton elephant in the room, but I will acknowledge its existence: bailouts; enough said.

Now, my point. The average income in the state of Alabama for all occupations is $17.39. That's the average, including CEO's, doctors, lawyers, engineers, McDonald's employees, everybody. The Median, which may be more representative of the common person's actual income is $13.53. These statistics are available on Bureau of Labor Statistics website www.bls.gov for you to check yourself. The national minimum wage is $7.25 (dol.gov), just about half the average person's income. Auto workers in this state START at $14 per hour IF they work at the lowest paying plant in the state, Hyundai. If they work there for two years they earn an average of $21 per hour. IF you are an auto worker in this state with any skill at all you can probably land a job at one of the other manufacturers who's average salary at two years of experience is roughly $26 per hour. Keep in mind that ALL of these jobs have benefits, including health insurance. Are they required to? No, not by law. They pay these amounts because good help is hard to find and they want to keep their employees.

For the record, wages are not the big concern for us Merit Shop guys. The wages will sort themselves out, and we'll pay what our competitors pay or more to keep the employees we want. The key here is that we have the right-to-not-work in this state, and I can fire people if they're not performing. I can fire people if they smell funny, I can fire them because they piss me off, I can fire them because I haven't got anything better to do that day! The point is, you are not entitled to a job; you have to earn your job. If you're not good enough to prove your worth then you're not good enough to work for me, and I'll get rid of you whenever I please. THAT is why the southern manufacturers are more efficient, THAT is why we have better employees, and THAT is why the UAW will never make it down here, because our EMPLOYEES know that they're better, and they know they don't want that communist BS in THEIR workplace.

The only thing keeping the UAW out is our employees not signing cards... why do you think they don't sign them?

I'm aware it is not a hybrid, but I wanted to demonstrate that in general wisi is wrong about hybrids not achieving comparable gains. I also wanted to emphasize that the Cayenne sucks and I hate it. Porsche should have stuck to the roach shaped sports car market; this vehicle only cheapens the brand. Also, the Equinox is not a hybrid either, it just has a very efficient power train combined with a moderately aerodynamic shape. Something Porsche clearly doesn't do with their SUV's.

Ignorant people buy Porsche Cayennes. The point is, 10% better than abysmal is still not good; especially when you consider that the new Equinox gets 22/32 and the Cayenne gets 12/19 (on a good day). Look at the RX 400h if you want something "comparable" 26/24. Congratulations, Porsche, your worst place finish was 10% better than last time... in a concept vehicle.

Furthermore, your wrong, two easy examples are the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Nissan Altima Hybrid. If you compare the normal Fusion 2.5L (23/34) v the Fusion Hybrid 2.5L (41/36) you get a 78% gain on the city fuel economy, sure the highway mpg is only 6% better, but I'll wager overall your looking at something much greater than 10% for the average driver combined mpg. The Altima 2.5 (23/32) v Altima Hybrid 2.5 (35/33) shows a 52% gain in the city and 3% gain on the highway, same conclusion as before. If you look at the hybrids vs. the V6 version those numbers go way up; but never mind that.

Oh, and don't forget the Escape Hybrid before: 22/28 after: 34/31 = 54%/11%

So, what were you saying? Oh, right, Porsche is awesome; go run over some bunnies or something.

That is quite the use of the character map, there... I'm not even sure what characters he used to cap the ends of those ===== bars; I just have to copy/paste ╮. It's almost worth the wast of our time to sit and admire the creativity. Please, kjhfkjsf, explain your awesomeness.

Wow, ten percent. Way to go the extra mile, Porsche... what is that, a 1.5 mpg difference on a Cayenne? You're so cool.

The Volt may not save Detroit, but it's a good start. I think the only thing that could really revitalize that place is UAW taking a hike and letting the auto industry compete naturally. Maybe they could reuse some of the auto plants for solar panels or wind turbines or something...

The French always make a stink about words. Doesn't anyone remember the "Bio"-diesel thing? They made them change the name because it might cause confusion about whether or not pesticides were used in its creation. Please. I'll call it le Internet if I want.