The General Outlook

Life couldn't get worse for the world of petrolheads. Rising fuel prices, shrinking roads, more congestion, more cars, more idiots driving like vacuum cleaners on the road, and here comes the greatest problem of all - the great depression, well almost. Well you see, nothing really beats the pain of petrolheads other than the ability to own a car, and so much this crisis spells an age where hardships begin.

Many auto carmakers are shrinking their production capacity, alot. Famously, Volvo and Jaguar have made their decisions to the headlines. Still pending are talks of merger between two American car giants - Chrysler and General Motors. And the Ford management is calling for one Ford. Not bad actually, because most American cars turn out to be really crap. Europeansing them could be a way of an upgrade to their lives despite their poor financial status as of now.

At such times, even incumbent automaker Toyota has felt the pinch. Sales have fallen temendously and it too has to cut back on production. At such times, the most cushy jobs can be found in extravagantly luxury carmakers like Rolls Royce and maybe some other supercars. It's not only comfy, I would say. Slack too. I would certainly like to be the one designing the next Porsche 911, or Aston Martin. A new Rolls too maybe, because all I need is a ruler and a pencil. Ferraris are getting uglier, but in return more sellable, so it would be a bad option to be working there as a designer too. There probably isn't much work to start with.

That aside, tastes for car sizes have changed too - smaller. We'll soon see our road being flooded with tiny hatchbacks, even for sedan crazy Singapore. I hope we adopt the hatchback culture soon, for I really have a soft spot for them. It's pretty heartening to see our roads filled with Corsas, Fiestas, and maybe more ugly Minis.

The financial crisis hasn't hit me - yet. I'm living a comfy live waiting for my discharge from National Conscription into the elite forces that rule the skies. But I'll be without salary the next two months, which means I could possibly be contributing alot more time here ranting about cars, and the crisis that will soon hit me. I probably try to contribute to the society with my suggestions of fuel sipping cars and green alternatives. Yes, everyone is doing that I know. So I should evaulaute which gives you the biggest bang for your buck. Ok, enough ranting. More news coming.