SSbaby

Nobody has said much about it but my biggest fear for the Camaro is the high(er) oil price. People don't buy cars purely for weekend duty. Some do, most don't. I don't want to sound all doom and gloom but high oil prices will effectively railroad Camaro before it's had the chance to get off the ground.

Flame me if you will... but good on Ford for having the foresight to bring back a 'heritage' Mustang and make squillions before the high fuel prices effectively kill off the traditional Pony Car.

I've already raised my middle digit to the high oil prices. I'm happy driving my wife's Atoyot 2.4L 4 cyl. I've made a conscious decision to not buy a V8 ever again so long as oil prices keep escalating.

There's lots of other things to enjoy about life!

<Vent spleen> The oil companies and traders... India and China... could literally all go forth and multiply for all I care!</Vent spleen>

R377

You don't think this is already happening? Hardly a day goes by where you don't read about some new breakthrough (real or hype) related to alternate energy sources. That's the one good thing to come out of high oil prices: billions and billions of dollars being poured into alternative energy research. Most of these sources would never have been economical or feasible when their main market competitor (oil) was $20/bbl. But at $100+/bbl, suddenly a lot more things start to make sense.

And really, this is the only way it could have happened. Without the economic incentive of high energy prices, there would never have been this amount of interest in alternative energy. No amount of government research, grants, tax breaks, legislation, etc. could have ever accomplished what high oil prices are doing.

Maximum Bob

What you say is true. But, it still doesn't take the sting out. Especially when we'll be paying $4/gal. in a couple of months (economists prediction, not mine). And predictions are that we'll be up to $5/gal by next summer! Now look at all the people who have variable rate mortgages who are doing 1-1 1/2 hour commutes to work in 15 mpg trucks & suv's that they're still paying for & you have the potential for a Great Depression Part 2! Not everyone will be able to trade in for a more fuel economical car. Nor will many of them be able to sell their house to move someplace closer to work.

bossco

Yes, sucks to be in that crowd, but unfortunately they really have nobody to lay the blame on but themselves (I have a few friends and a brother in that boat) - don't mistake that for apathy though since my general impression of the ARM guys is little better than a crack dealer and IMO ARMs should be legislated out of exsistance. The bottom line should be if you cannot afford it with a fixed rate loan, you can't have it. Granted, that would kill the housing industry, but that really points to another set of problems, best summed up in the phrase "A company owes employees nothing and shareholders everything".

Derek M

Let's see the event that put all of this into motion was Katrina (Sept 2005). Ford introduced the 'heritage' Mustang as a 2005 model in 2004. The product planning and development for this vehicle had been taking place what 4 to 5 years before it's release. So did Ford's crystal ball just work a lot better than everyone else's, or could it have been sheer destiny that those milestones in time laid out the way they did....hmmmmm

Unfortunately Ford nor any other manufacturer have foresight into the future.

mcsslover1987

Gas here in Siskiyou County CA broke the $4 gallon today ($4.059 for regular). A VERY sickening site

GTOJack

After trading above $120/bbl, oil came down and closed yesterday at $119.97/bbl, another new record high.

SSbaby

The 'powers that be' are preparing us for $200/bbl prices.

The US waged war on Iraq after they invaded Kuwait when gas prices were far less. Will the world just sit back and accept what's going on? There doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. It's such a strange, strange world we're living in right now.

falchulk

Katrina was not the event that put this into motion. If you will recall everyone was freaking well before Katrina at 2.00 gas prices. There were the same news reports of people unable to feed their family then as well. Gas was on a steady march upwards years before Katrina. Gas did temporarily jump after Katrina but it returned to pre storm levels within a month. Oil would drop back to $60 a barrel if the dollar gained back the 10% it lost. Oil is tied to the US dollar and stays at a constant value. Oil does not get cheaper as the dollar drops, we just pay more dollars. If the Fed starts raising intrest rates to stop inflation we will likely see the dollar rebound and oild drop in price. If that means lower gas prices that's still in question. The oil companys still have not invested in new refinerys in the US. Which means they will still be operating at peak output and supply/demand means they can charge high prices.

falchulk

Umm, gas has not gone up so much in other industrial nations where they dont use the dollar. Its actually dropped in some places in Europe.

Snowhite97SS

I read somehwere that gas prices are going up due to refineries not making enough profiit so they are holding back production to make more profits?

indieaz

True, it's also part of the equation. But the dollar's devaluation is chiefly responsible. There are a variety fo factors all playing in to this. There is no smoking gun per se. If the dollar regained it's 2002/2003 strength we would probalby see gas drop to around $2.50-$2.75/gallon. Theother $1/gallon or so would be refining (they are only at 85% capacity right now) and other factors.

Also bear in mind that Canada is our top exporter. Getting the oil out of the tar sands up there isn't cheap, if oil were to drop back down to $30/barrel they would probably halt operations up there and drive prices back up. I believe I read it costs something like $40-50/barrell just to get the oil out of the ground up there. So oil needs to be substantially more than that to make it profitable.

Silverhawk

I'm "up here". Cost of extraction is roughly $22/barrel, and will get cheaper once the upgraders are completed. Economically, its absolutely crazy here. No hint of recession here, as this province is a main oil producer. Labor is hard to come by these days - and they pay around $14/hr for people to work in donut shops. Need a job? Come to Alberta......

indieaz

Last article I read was circa 2005/2006, so they must have improved efficiency by then.

FUTURE_OF_GM

I read that Wall Street speculation had driven prices up by roughly $1/gallon

It's a sad state of affairs we're in right now.