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The Daily Tar Heel

Cartoon unfairly mocked domestic automakers

TO THE EDITOR:

I take issue with the editorial cartoon (Nov. 21) regarding the domestic automakers. Only a true cynic would have drawn a picture of the Chevy Volt and the Toyota Sequoia. The Chevy Volt is the only mass-production ready car that will handle 75 percent of America's commutes without even touching a drop of gas. It will be for sale in 2010. This cartoon also ignores the fact that General Motors is the ONLY car manufacturer to offer a full-size SUV with the city gas mileage of a Toyota Camry. GM is also the only car manufacturer currently distributing fully production ready hydrogen vehicles to journalist test-fleets. This year CNN ranked automakers by average miles per gallon: Chevy was No. 3; Toyota No. 10.

Independent MPG and quality studies place domestic manufactures on par with or surpassing foreign competitors. In fact Ford and GM are both profitable overseas where these negative sentiments aren't as strong. It is estimated that approximately one in ten individuals is in some way employed by domestic auto manufacturers. At least consider the consequences of this collapse before you perpetuate a preconceived notion that doesn't actually have any factual basis.



Michael Reid
Graduate Student
Medicine


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