First, in Detroit, Ford and GM unveiled some of their newest innovative vehicles at the 2008 North American International Auto Show. In keeping with the American tradition, the new models were big, rugged and tough. Here are some of the most advertised models:
Also this week, Indian firm Tata Motors unveiled its new Nano model, whose $2500 price will make it the world's cheapest car. Not a F-150, but it apparently works!
Finally, back in Detroit, candidates battling for the US Republican Party Presidential nomination debated the best ways of saving the crumbling American auto-industry.
I'm no auto-expert, of course, but judging by the pictures above, the US auto-industry in in limbo for a good reason...
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Canadians working in manufacturing plants for US auto-makers are losing tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs. The high dollar is of course partly to blame, but the dinosaur mentality of Ford-GM as shown in the Auto Show doesn't help either. The Tata is the car of the future, the F-150 is the car of the past. With our high dollar and level of education, there is an opportunity for us Canadians to develop an expertise in the area of small, energy-efficient car, and rid ourselves of the reliance on the health of the Detroit 3.
A small firm in Québec built the amazing ZENN (Zero Emissions, No-Noise) car which impressed Rick Mercer enough for him to feature it on his program. It can reach highway speeds, fit a weeks worth of groceries in its trunk, and removes six tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M88k6Ipp3c)
But unfortunately, thanks to our great bureaucracy, it has only received safety approval in British-Columbia and... the United-States.
In most countries an innovation as fantastic as the ZENN car would have received HUGE governmental support. But in Canada, our government has been so busy trying to save the GM jobs in Mississauga that ZENN has had to wait for two years to get its safety certification request processed.
A small firm in Québec built the amazing ZENN (Zero Emissions, No-Noise) car which impressed Rick Mercer enough for him to feature it on his program. It can reach highway speeds, fit a weeks worth of groceries in its trunk, and removes six tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M88k6Ipp3c)
But unfortunately, thanks to our great bureaucracy, it has only received safety approval in British-Columbia and... the United-States.
In most countries an innovation as fantastic as the ZENN car would have received HUGE governmental support. But in Canada, our government has been so busy trying to save the GM jobs in Mississauga that ZENN has had to wait for two years to get its safety certification request processed.
1 comment:
Actually the car can't reach highway speeds. It is limited to 25 mph.
http://www.zenncars.com/specifications/specs_index.html
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