Yes, sales are down all over. There are numerous reasons for this severe downturn. One that has not received near enough attention, is poor basic engineering all around.
The trouble is the corporations who are making mechanical and electrical goods, are in charge of people who have no clue about anything technical.
Add to that stupid regulation and idiots like Al Gore, who insist carbon dioxide is a pollutant when it is nothing of the sort!
Minnesota wants to join California and require refiners to reduce the amount of CO2 a gallon of gas produces. Since the regulators, and now the general public have no clue about simple chemistry and thermodynamics, they don't know what they are doing. The only way to make a gallon of gas make less CO2 is to remove carbon from it. The the gas has less energy content, as every atom of carbon combines with one oxygen molecule (two atoms) producing CO2 and energy. If you remove the carbon, you are chucking energy down the drain and will use correspondingly more of it. Just try and explain that to any grandstanding politician preening himself before a far to ignorant Joe public.
Then take the issue of SUVs and trucks. Up here we are in the grip of a severe arctic winter, with lots of snow. We need heavy iron! The newer Chevy trucks are in trouble with those stupid plastic manifolds giving trouble in ever increasing numbers. I'm told some models only have four bolts attaching each manifold! That is just daft and irresponsible. Further more the newer transmissions and power plants will just not hold up to moving snow with a blade, in the quantities we have been getting it round here.
People are now giving a small fortune for old 70s 80s trucks, even if they are rust buckets, round here at the moment!
My 1988 Diesel suburban has been receiving a lot of envious attention lately. It looks perfect and runs just like the day it left the factory with 200,000 miles on it. I have been moving my snow with my 61 year old John Deere Model A tractor with farm hand loader. Now that is heavy iron. I have spent 30 hours on her so far this winter, and have burnt through 65 gallons of gas moving snow. It really upsets me to see how low we have sunk now.
Things are probably worse in Europe. They are having unusually cold temperatures and it seems there cars can't keep going with temperatures just below freezing!
This from the
expat Telegraph.
Yesterday tens of thousands of motorists were left stranded in a record day for car breakdowns amid chaotic scenes on the roads as temperatures in parts of the country dropped to as low as minus 11C (12.2F).
It is just not good enough. There will I think be massive shake ups coming out of this crisis. If not we will sink into the abyss.
