Those moments where the reputable press makes mercy killing look justified.

Not going to beat on this. But if you and your editor together can’t find the wool-brained slop of these statements—

[1] Some analysts see [auto] sales staying in a trough for years, as newly frugal consumers learn to do without leased Audi Q7s, and turn to the used-car market, or (gasp!) keep driving their old cars instead.

[2] In the 1970s, Japanese automakers invaded the US and Western Europe with efficient small cars, tapping a market the locals did not know existed.

—you should put an asterisk on the What the future of the auto industry will look like headline,

* Hopefully your guess is better than ours.

(•) I guess I should give “the answers” or something.

[1] The number of people leasing luxury SUVs was small, but this was hyperbole. The second statement, that people would “turn” to the used-car market, ignores the fact that most people do buy used cars, and that existing used cars in the US will be very unpleasant with high-priced gas. The third is cause to abandon hope: bicycles and shared rides, including transit, are beyond the authors’ imagining.

[2] Hmmmm. “In the 1970s, Japanese automakers invaded the US and Western Europe with efficient small cars, tapping a market the locals did not know existed.” Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I wonder if there’s a way to explain how incredibly wrong the authors are here, to make it really clear…

“The VW Bug.” The most popular car design of all time. If that beloved 1938 piece of auto erotica alone doesn’t make you wince at the authors’ memory, or Google skills, consider this: in the 1979 Japanese flick The Castle of Cagliostro, the hero drives a Fiat 500—

—first built in 1957 and in the top 50 best-selling cars ever.*

Other “nonexistent” non-Japanese top non-boat cars include:

Ford Escort (1967)
Renault 5 (1972)
Renault 4 (1961)
Mini (1959)
Fiat 126 (1972)
Ford Taunus (1952)
Citroen 2CV (1949) (yes it is also in the movie!)
Fiat 127 (1971)

In rough** order of sales. All were competing with the Beetle. I could also include the trend-setter (front-drive, hatchback) of this thirdth-century — the VW Golf — but some dumbfuck US-yokel hoocoodanoder might say that the Beetle’s 1974 replacement was obviously a desperate Japan-beater, “end of story.”

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* Maybe you looked at that list and said to yourself, “What’s the Ford Crown Victoria doing on a list of top-selling cars? I don’t know anyone who owns one.” That’s because you don’t know a cop or a taxi driver. (Look closer and you’ll see US manufacturers dominating light-duty commercial vehicles — pickups, vans, boatish fleet cars. This might suggest, to a wise investigator, why the housing crash KO’d increasingly niche-y “Detroit.”)

** The Ford Taunus was more like a car brand, including small models (which started in 1952).