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The Prius has a 8 year/100,000 mile warranty on the battery and hybrid systems and the replacement cost of the batteries is $3000.

"Prius battery pack will last 10 years": http://www.newsoxy.com/toyota-prius/battery-pack-will-last-10-years.html

A Prius battery pack could last as much as 400,000 miles with minimal maintenance issues, according to an independent study conducted by Toyota Motor Company. The study also found that many of the first-generation Toyota Prius hybrids are still running with more than 200,000 miles with their original battery packs. This study quite interesting and it does squash any rumors that the Toyota hybrid will need its batteries replaced every five years, as most critics speculate.

The study also found a few cars in Victoria, B.C., that are still used as a taxi service. These vehicles have between 300,000 to 400,000 miles on them and are still using the same batteries installed since 2001. These findings are remarkable.

[...]

http://www.newsoxy.com/gm/recall-and-steering-12719.html

Granted, having your power steering crap out is a bit less dramatic than having your car suddenly accelerate uncontrollably. Of course, if I was GM and I could pick a time to recall a bunch of vehicles, now might be a good time as everyone seems focused on Toyota. I also noticed that Nissan has just recalled over a half-million vehicles too.

You want to be fair, and have no protectionist practices? Okay, when does India stop being protectionist? In case you didn't know, India is extremely protectionist.

And maybe India isn't wrong. I think it can be argued that it is the right, and responsibility of any nation to protect it's own national interests.

At the very least, it would be nice if US corporations stopped lying about the severe shortages of US workers. For example Microsoft wants to lay off Americans, and hire unlimited h1bs.

Microsoft Plans To Cut Jobs By 10 Percent
The reality is, this should be no surprise to anyone currently in the technology sector. The industry is bleeding and other companies such as Yahoo, Google, Sun, and Sony recently had massive layoffs.

http://www.newsoxy.com/microsoft/article11527.html

How can msft claim that there are not enough US workers, at the same time that msft is laying off US workers? Just last March, Bill Gates sat before the US congress and insisted that the US needed unlimited numbers of h1bs. Without those h1bs - we are constantly told - US companies will be forced to ship jobs offshore - because there are just not enough Americans to do the jobs.

As always, the pop-media, seems to play softball with msft. The pop-media reporters just nod their heads, and ignore the elephant in the living room.

I guess the fun and games just never end.

Sun's corporate PR spins talk of "accelerating our delivery of open source solutions."

But the company is hurting. Sales down about 30%, losses approaching $2 billion in its third quarter.

I think the days of open-handed corporate funding of open source - without a clearly defined plan to make it profitable - are over.

Sun Microsystems Cuts 6,000 Jobs

It's remarkable how he can paint a happy face on the steepest decline in the history of the company.

If his figures are correct, the PC market just experienced the largest contraction ever and nobody noticed. Especially odd in that Intel's operating income is up 23%. Top PC seller HP's net income is up 16% on strong notebook sales and huge growth in emerging markets. Lenovo is reporting a 17% increase in sales on strong global demand.

Is anybody besides Microsoft seeing this decline? Is somebody lying to Ballmer? "Gee, no, Steve. Business is off everywhere. It's a recession. People adore Vista. You can put the chair down now."

"Dell Job Cuts to Top 8,800 as U.S. Spending Slows" (Dude! You're getting a pink slip!)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aEO1GX_CC.8U&refer=u...

"Google DoubleClick cuts 300 jobs"
http://www.newsoxy.com/google_doubleclick_cuts_300_jobs/article10671.htm

"Motorola to lay off 2,600 workers"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-motorola-8k-jobcuts-motap...

"Chrysler Slashing Tech Jobs - The latest cutbacks affect 400 technology workers"
http://www.thecarconnection.com/blog/?p=1095

In other news, according to the NYT:

> The economy shed 80,000 jobs in March, the third consecutive month of rising unemployment, presenting a stark sign that the country may already be in a recession.

> The unemployment rate ticked up to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent, its highest level since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005.

> The downturn has even come to San Francisco, where highly trained workers with elite degrees flock to work for some of the world's biggest technology companies. CNet Networks, the online media giant, laid off 10 percent of its staff -- about 120 workers -- this year in an effort to increase profitability and its share price. Yahoo, the search engine company, said it would cut its work force by 1,000.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/business/04cnd-econ.html?em&ex=1207540800&en=c1de4fb13c4ec4bd&ei=5087%0A