…with the sound of high-revving small displacement engines and turbo direct injection diesels as LotPro.com visits northern Italy. For the next 2 weeks, I will be reporting to you from a villa in Tuscany.

Things that I am thankful for

Aside from my wonderful family, there are two things that need to be mentioned today – my employers at LotPro.com, who have enabled me to make this trip, my first to Europe, and my brother-in-law, who is responsible for the arrangements and lodging and who, along with another brother-in-law, rented a villa (absolutely authentic and in much better shape than then one featured in the movie) in Tuscany.

A different perspective

I will be the first to admit that there are still many places that I haven’t visited in the United States: Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and the northwest states including the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. But there are reasons for visiting Europe that, quite frankly, have a greater bearing on the future of the auto industry in America. And from an automotive perspective, the trip should prove to be very educational.

The shape of things to come

Even with the recent news from Saudi Arabia that they plan on increasing oil production, it appears that the high price of gasoline is here to stay. Leaving the argument of oil speculators aside, demand for oil from emerging economies, such as China, virtually assures high (higher) gasoline prices in the U.S. for the foreseeable future. Since the countries of the European Union have been dealing with high fuel prices for the past two decades or more, studying their response to these market conditions should give everyone here in the U.S. a glimpse of what the mix of automobiles should be, here, within the next 10 years.

To Be Continued…