Free Republic

Cars prices have accelerated steadily for the last decade, thanks to an increasing reliance on technology and ever-more luxurious interiors. Even a compact car can easily cost more than $20,000. Shifting into reverse, French auto maker Renault decided in 1998 to design a modern car with state-of-the-art safety features costing only 5,000 euros [$6,000]. Renault's strategy was to create a car for people in emerging markets who have never owned an automobile -- some 80% of the world's population. But when the $6,000 Logan was unveiled last fall, it wowed West Europeans, too. This June, the much-in-demand Logan, which sells...

A 73-year-old Victorian farmer was killed when his ute rolled over his head as he tried to retrieve a load of strawberries. Police believe the man walked behind the vehicle to pick up some of the fruit that fell from a tray. The accident happened near the corner of Wonga and Warranwood roads at Warranwood, near the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood, shortly before noon (AEST). When he got out to pick up the strawberries, the ute rolled backwards over him, a Metropolitan Ambulance Service (MAS) spokeswoman said. "Our paramedics arrived and tried to revive him, but unfortunately he died at...

Automakers Getting a Taste for Vegan Values Sharon Bernstein Los Angeles Times Is your car vegan? Actor Michael Bell’s is. The 66-year-old Encino, Calif., resident doesn’t eat or wear animal products, and his hybrid car doesn’t have a stitch of leather in it. Toyota has tapped into the enivronmentally conscious customer base with its fuel-efficient, leather-free Prius. If it had, Bell said, he wouldn’t have bought the car, a 2001 Toyota Prius, despite its impeccable green credentials. In raw numbers, vegans such as Bell are so few that they barely register on surveys of consumer habits. But to automobile manufacturers...