ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT BUYING A CAR OR TRUCK?

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I was sent this video on the French Peugeot e-Legend electric concept car, which was introduced in 2018 for a company then celebrating half a century of existence:

Of course, concept cars are just that, they represent the future, many times unrealistically. In 2019 Peugot announced that they would not mass produce this vehicle because the assembly line start-up would cost $300 million, and they would need to sell the car at $95,000, even if they rolled-off 20,000 cars.

France has never been a player in world car sales, and, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been in one. The most prominent companies are Citroen (and this is one of their concept cars....from 1955), which sold their first vehicle 102 years ago in 1919. They have had a checkered existence, once owning Maserati, with takeovers by Peugot and alliances in China, Italy and Germany.

Renault began operations 122 years ago, and also had a rocky past, once being privatized and forming alliances with American Motors, General Motors and more recently with Japan and South Korea. Remember Carlos Ghosn, who ran Renault, went on to become chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, and is now a wanted international fugitive?

Peugeot goes back even further to 1889, and their history includes taking over Citroen and Chrysler Europe, assisted by the French government, and a later dalliance with General Motors. The company is now jointly owned by Dongfeng Motor Corporation of China and is in merger within Stellantis, which is now operator of 14 different brands, including Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Open, Vauxhaul, and Citroen, with headquarters in Amsterdam. Peugeot is scheduled to return to America in 2026.

Heck, if I came this far into automobiles, did you know that world car sales peaked in 2017 with 68.3 million sold, 35% in China. Interesting that in 2017 17 million new and 39 million USED cars were sold in the U.S. Last year was unusual, but it was a free-fall to 56 million sales, with again, 35% in China.

Here are some other interesting vehicle facts:

Between 1908 and 1927, 16.5 million Ford Model T's were sold.

Was said to be the best selling automobile for 40 years.
In 1940, 90% of all cars were Fords.
The Ford F-series trucks arrived in 1948 and for the past few decades have been their annual best seller, now in the range of 45 million sold world-wide.

In 1972 Volkswagen overtook Ford with its Beetle. Inspired by Hitler, and beginning in 1938, 23.5 million Volkswagen Beetles were sold until discontinued in 2019.
Since 1936 Toyota has sold more than 300 million vehicles.
The Toyota Corolla came in 1966 and outsold the Beetle from the late 1990's.
Still selling it, and the total is now approaching 55 million as the most sold car model in history.

The Russian Lada produced by AvtoVAZ deserves mention, for over 20 million units were sold WITHOUT ANY MAJOR DESIGN CHANGE from 1970 to 2012.
Toyota regained world leadership in 2020, beating out Volkswagen:

#3 Daimler (produces Mercedes, Smart and others)
#4 Honda
#5 Ford
#6 General Motors
#7 BMW
#8 SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation)
#9 Hyundai
#10 Nissan

Electric Vehicles are catching on:

The U.S. seems to be leveling off at 2%. Why? The federal tax credits expired. Well, the Biden American Jobs Plan included $100 billion in subsidies for EV buyers. So do all buyers qualify for $7500? Maybe, maybe not, and maybe partly. Read this and check with your dealer.

As of 2018, California led the U.S. with 12 EVs per 1000 on the road, or only 1.2%. Hawaii was #2 with 0.6%. A third of the 42,000 charging stations are in California. The Biden plan calls for a national network of 500,000. In comparison, there are around 150,000 gasoline retailers in the U.S.

Some day, this is how you will check into an airport and have your car parked.

Costs around $65/day. Then again, their new $3 billion terminal has not yet been completed, now four years overdue.

A NEXT COVID SUBVARIANT?

By now most know that the Omicron BA.5 subvariant has become the dominant infectious agent, now accounting for more than 80% of all COVID-19 cases. Very few are aware that a new one, BA.4.6, is sneaking in and steadily rising, now accounting for 13% of sequenced samples . However, as BA.4.6 has emerged from BA.4, while there is uncertainty, the scientific sense is that the latest bivalent booster targeting BA.4 and BA.5 should also be effective for this next threat. One concern is that Evusheld--the only monoclonal antibody authorized for COVID prevention in immunocompromised individuals--is not effective against BA.4.6. Here is a reference as to what this means. A series of two injections is involved. Evusheld was developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, and is a t ixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab . More recently, Los Angeles County reported on subvariant BA.2.75.2 . which Tony Fauci termed suspicious and troublesome. This strain has also been spreading in

Part 3: OUR NEXT AROUND THE WORLD ODYSSEY

Before I get into my third, and final, part of this cruise series, let me start with some more newsworthy topics. Thursday was my pandemic day for years. Thus, every so often I return to bring you up to date on the latest developments. All these subvariants derived from that Omicron variant, and each quickly became dominant, with slightly different symptoms. One of these will shock you. There has been a significant decline in the lost of taste and smell. From two-thirds of early patients to now only 10-20% show these symptoms. JN.1, now the dominant subvariant, results in mostly mild symptoms. However, once JN.1 infects some, there seem to be longer-lasting symptoms. Clearly, the latest booster helps prevent contracting Covid. A competing subvariant, BA.2.86, also known as Pirola , a month ago made a run, but JN.1 prevailed. No variant in particular, but research has shown that some of you will begin to lose hair for several months. This is caused by stress more than anythi

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These are held every five years, and there have only been

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