NYT: Chattanooga is a Lobbyist Battleground

On Tuesday, the New York Times published a look at the ongoing feud between pro- and anti-union forces at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It paints a picture of a political battle fought mainly by outside forces, utilizing the deep pockets of some of the nation’s most powerful lobbying groups.

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The Grey Lady Tests A BYD. CCT Gets Link Love

Yesterday night, I skyped with Ash Sutcliffe of Chinacartimes, and he kvetched that TTAC doesn’t give him enough “link love”. I pride myself in the knowledge of esoteric ways of showing affection, but link love? Would it have something to do with chains? Finally, it dawned on me that I make link love to Ash by topping his URL with TTAC’s high traffic words. And there is no better moment than this. Ash found the first real review of a real BYD plug in hybrid, performed by a real, card-carrying member of the press. My link love goes out to you for this, Ash!

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  • 3SpeedAutomatic At the time, a necessary evil. Development costs were minimal since the FOX body was ready amortized. The green house was the same, just change the front and rear end clips. Biggest news was TBI fuel injection (across the Ford range) and intro of V6 (cylinder head teething issues). Also, allowed Ford to test the waters for an aero look which was handed off to the T-Bird with success. SUVs were just coming on to the scene, so many a LTD wagon was the family hauler and the salesman's means of contacting customers. IIRC, the LTD's model year was purposely extended thru '86 just in case the Tarsus was a flop. Consider the LTD as a sacrifice fly so that the Tarsus could make the home run. 🚗🚗🚗
  • Ty I have truly loved each Olds, Buick, and Cadillac I've owned. Well, except for that stupid 1990 STS with a bad brake booster I was too poor to repair. I digress... My love is primarily for the 1895-90 98, Electra/Park, 1986-91 & 92-late 90s 88 (better with the word Delta before it), LeSabre, Bonneville, 1989-93 , 97-99 DeVille. But I have true respect for the Calais/ Skylark (& Somerset)/ Grand Am from that era. They were the work horses. I would buy a brand new Olds if they hadn't executed the brand in 2004.
  • MaintenanceCosts What is the actual out-the-door price? Is it lower or higher than that of a G580?
  • ToolGuy Supercharger > Turbocharger. (Who said this? Me, because it is the Truth.)I have been thinking of obtaining a newer truck to save on fuel expenses, so this one might be perfect.
  • Zerofoo Calling Fisker a "small automaker" is a stretch. Fisker designed the car - Magna actually builds the thing.It would be more accurate to call Fisker a design house.