the auto industry is like the devil

Conspiracist over here! me! *raises hand*

ive long time believed and have preached that the folks behind the auto industry are like devils. they intentionally build crappy cars that are intended to break. AND they intentionally do not make the cars fuel efficient.

the reasons are simple: (1) if cars keep on breaking, mechanics will have jobs, so will places like autozone, napa auto parts, sears, etc. furthermore, the auto industry can keep on selling more and more cars. people think they need a new car when its like 5 years old! just think about the modern stigma attached to a car: 80,000 = time to get a new car. thats bull. to prove it, i keep on driving my truck (keep fixing minor things myself) and its got 230,000 miles so far. people are amazed by that, but im not. engines should be able to go a long long time if properly maintained.

and reason (2): the oil industry and the auto industry are lovers. its simple. the oil industry pays the auto industry tons and tons of money to keep all the cars out there from being more efficient. obviously, if they are less efficient, the oil industry makes more money. the government is in on the deal too. as you read below ask yourself why the EPA has not changed the minimum fuel economy standards..?

i heard a story one time thats true about this guy in texas who designed a carburetor for his old ford torino (or something like that) and it got like 70 miles per gallon. then he got it patented. you know what happened? well, Ford stopped over, bought the guy a few drinks and offered to buy the patent for some obscene amount of money. the dude sold. Ford took that patent and probably filed it away in a safe place so no one would ever use it. sure as hell they would.

so this morning, i was reading this article about the gov wanting to up the efficiency standards on cars and trucks by 40%. thats awesome! here's what is says:

An agreement among congressional Democrats to support a 40 percent increase in U.S. vehicle fuel efficiency by 2020 has been hailed as an historic step by both environmentalists and the automotive industry.

Did you know that since 1990 (thats 18 years!) the EPA standard on fuel efficiency has been stuck at 27.5 mpg!!! thats ridiculous. eighteen years. so with this new deal, it would be raised to 35 mpg. thats not too bad. in fact, "it would save consumers $25 billion at the pump, based on gas costing $2.50 a gallon, and it would reduce the nation’s oil consumption by 1.2 million barrels a day" (i wonder who has been pocketing that 25 Billion thus far?)

anyways, i kept reading the article and came accross this statement:

Ford CEO Alan Mulally said Monday that the automaker would be able to meet the new, tougher requirements without having to abandon any of its lower-mileage truck or SUV lines.

BAM!! Caught in the act!! You know what Alan is saying? He is saying that they have the technology (and the patents) to make some pretty efficient cars. its no problem. all the existing Ford Excursions...they just need to swap out a few parts and boom! 40 mpg.

oh...this really upsets me. really.