Alizium Auto Blogs: car parts

Hyundai could help save American jobs

We’re living in a global economy.

While the U.S. auto industry supplies millions of people with jobs, the truth is that industry is collapsing. All 3 major U.S. automakers are on the brink of financial disaster with their only hope being a federal bailout.

But for Chrysler, there’s hope from Hyundai.

With talks of the grand GM/Chrysler merger now out the window, Hyundai, that little carmaker from South Korea, is poised to sweep in and buy out Chrysler. Or at least part of it.

Just a couple of years ago the idea of Hyundai taking over Chrysler would have been laughable. Now though, it just might make sense.

Had GM succeeded in their bid to takeover Chrysler, it might have worked to keep the company name around but I doubt it would have saved any jobs. A GM that consists of Chevy, Pontiac, Cadillac, GMC, Saab, Buick, Hummer and Saturn can’t even hold on, so adding Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep would only add redundancy and ultimately lead to massive layoffs. Just like a bankruptcy would.

The Hyundai scenario is a little different, because of the redundancy issue. It’s highly unlikely that the Chrysler of today will remain intact because there are pieces of it that will appeal to other automakers. If Hyundai doesn’t absorb all of Chrysler, it could buy Jeep. Nissan has mentioned buying Dodge.

Under a scenario like this, jobs could stay in America though they’d be managed from an office in Asia. And the Chrysler as we know it would be gone.

Cerberus Financial, the current owner of Chrysler, has said they are not interested in selling pieces of the company. But if they are at all interested in saving American jobs, I think they’ll have to.

I ask you: Are you more concerned with saving Chrysler, or with saving American jobs?

-tgriffith

If we’re serious about reducing our use of oil, why does every dealership, repair shop and quick-lube joint I’ve ever visited still recommend changing the oil in our cars every 3,000 miles or 3 months?

The maintenance manual for my 2007 Suzuki recommends changing the engine oil every 7,500 miles. My Honda recommends every 10,000 miles. Yet anywhere I go, the little sticker on the windshield says to come back in 3 months.

I’m thinking this is an example of recommending unnecessary oil changes to pad the bottom line, when perhaps we should require that shops adhere to manufacturer recommendations. I’d even go so far as to suggest we change our oil one time per year, if an adequate filtration system could be developed to extend oil life another couple thousand miles.

In the US alone, there are about 250 million vehicles. If each uses 5 quarts of oil every 3 months, that’s 20 quarts (or 5 gallons) every year. Five gallons multiplied by 250 million cars is a big number: about 1.2 billion gallons. That’s 22 million barrels of oil each year.

Switching from 20 to 5 quarts per year would reduce the number of barrels we’d use by an astounding 17 million.

Though I admit changing the oil in our cars once per year isn’t feasible currently, it is feasible to follow the recommendations in your manual and not let your repair shops coerce you into a 3-month schedule.

That is a simple and effective method we can use right now to conserve our dwindling oil supplies.

I want to know: How often do you change your oil and why?

-tgriffith

Alizium Auto Blogs

Will Hyundai save Chrysler and American jobs?

Related posts:

Related posts:

Let’s change how often we change our oil

Related posts:

Related posts:

Links

Blog Archive