Dire indeed

So I am spending the Christmas holidays (as in "holy" not "holly") in Pittsburgh and in somewhere in the process, I decided that I needed to rent a car. Budget provided me with a suitable vehicle -- but then "tempted" me with an "upgrade" to a premium vehicle. Now get this, the car in question is a Ford Crown Victoria, the car of choice for State Police and old farts heading to Florida.

I accepted the upgrade thinking that the trunk (boot) would be larger and accomodate the extra luggage of the season. Wrong. Instead, there is an oddly-shaped well which drops down over the bumper and a shelf from which protrudes the spare (smaller) tire. In short, practically useless for serious luggage. A Honda Accord fits more.

And THEN ... I pulled out of the airport garage. What a woeful piece of poop. A boat of the old school: you navigate this thing, never knowing where the corners of the car are , or headed. Jeezuzz ... this is '70s technology! No, worse. '50s. And the plastics inside are of the cheapest -- Korea stopped making crap like this about 10 years ago. You cannot -- I repeat -- cannot get a good driver's position in this thing. It also won't drive straight. I used to swear at drivers of these arks, wondering why they can't keep to their lanes. Now I know. I can only wonder that someone could be STUPID enough to spend their own money on one. Or anyone else's.

FORD: shame on you for building a car this dire in this day and age. YOU DESERVE TO GO BROKE. And the worst part is that there are MANY fine Ford vehicles built around the world to compete with European-grade sports sedans, but does any of this technology make it into the American version? No. In fact, the European focus is a DAMN fine car -- but does it get imported into the States? No. Why is that? Huh? Are the profit margins on the US versions that much higher that it makes up for the fact that you can't compete trying to sell these P(ieces) Of S?????

Are all you people in the corporate offices in Detroit smoking drugs? What the HELL is wrong with you? Use the resources that you have WITHIN your company and start producing value and quality -- or else post the obituary for your miserable company and selves.