Points of Interest | Green Energy News

November 30, 2003 – Vol.8 No.36

POINTS OF INTEREST.

A weekly collection of websites worth visiting.

To understand where 90-percent of crude oil goes, you have to understand the automotive industry - and where it is going.

Did you know that, according to the BBC, in the third quarter of this year General Motors made more money selling financial services and insurance than selling cars and trucks?

Did you know that, overall, vehicle production in North America - Mexico, the U.S. and Canada - is actually shrinking? By a small percentage there are fewer and fewer vehicles built here each year.

(This doesn’t bode well for workers on the assembly line.)

Did you know that, in particular, the production of cars is slipping dramatically - down more than 10 percent this year as compared with last. But that the production on trucks is up each year by a tick?

(This doesn’t bode well for energy dependency, greenhouse gases and pollution. Light trucks, like the most popular vehicle sold in the U.S., the Ford F-150 pick-up truck, have fuel economy ratings in the mid-teens, while that company’s soon-to-be-discontinued family sedan, the Taurus, gets in the mid-twenties.)

For an understanding of the automotive industry Ward’s Automotive Reports, experts in the business for 75 years, is a good place to start. There’s enough in the Public Features section of their website, such as Key Automotive Data and Industry Press Releases to make it worth the visit. And be sure to click Ward’s Commentary for an article - Hybrids, Not Diesels, May Be Winning Hearts, Minds of America. Visit Wards at http://www.wardsauto.com/ .