After listening to my client whining, at great length, about the price of gas, I decided to do my own completely unscientific study of cars in Brevard County. I stood at the corner of Babcock Street and Malabar Road in Palm Bay for one hour between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on a chilly Tuesday afternoon. The next evening I moved to the eastbound lane of the Pineda Causeway for another hour at the same time of day.

The jolly police officer who questioned me on the first afternoon just laughed and asked, "Are all the Irish as crazy as you, ma'am?" Again, you don't want to hear the reply! And, you definitely don't want to hear the reply from the cantankerous Highway Patrol officer who questioned me on the second afternoon.

On a rough estimate - laying aside time spent gabbing to one police officer and defending myself to Highway Patrol officer, my rough estimate is that 43% of the cars on both these roads at that time were not of U.S. manufacture. The majority was either Toyota or Hyundai and they were mostly in the small car range. I've avoided telling my client about my unscientific findings.

Does this mean that we are moving further and further away from buying U.S. manufactured cars? I really don't know, but I have my own suspicions.

In 2001 the Toyota Motor Corporation had plans to produce 17,000 of its gas-electric hybrid vehicles for sale in the U.S. and Canada in the year 2002. That would mean a 40 percent increase over previous years. The Chief Executive Officer of Toyota Motor North America, Inc., Toshiaki Taguchi (known to his friends as "Tag") said at the Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas (EVAA) Electric Transportation Industry Conference in Sacramento in 2001, "As a core philosophy, Toyota continuously strives to better tune its automotive products to the needs of the earth."

Toyota's environmental report of 2001 had four main focused areas of concern, and they are:

• Among full-line manufacturers, secure the top levels of fuel efficiency in all vehicles classes and continue to exceed CAFƒ standards
• By 2005, reduce energy usage by 15 per cent per unit of production from the 2000 base year, which in turn decreases CO2 emissions by 15 per cent per unit of production
• Within two years, develop a database to track greenhouse gas emissions associated with sales and distribution operations
• Implement material and design strategies that will increase the recyclability of vehicles and meet a goal of a 95 per cent vehicle recovery rate by 2015.

That's not bad for a forecast. How are our own motor manufacturers doing? I've not researched the figures for General Motors, Ford, or Daimler Chrysler; but my unscientific suspicion is that they're not meeting the standards purported by the Japanese and Korean manufacturers.

The price of gasoline has escalated in recent weeks at quite a rapid rate. Will the Toyota's and Hyundai's of this world, who've plodded along doggedly for years, taking more and more of our market share, out-compete us at our own game?

When once talking to a senior Toyota executive in Bonn he told me that his company has a 250-year long-term strategic plan. Yes, he looked me straight in the eye and repeated the 250 figure when my incredulous question popped out. (I should perhaps have introduced him to my jolly Palm Bay police officer friend!) The Toyota executive wasn't planning to be around to see the plan reach fruition, but his company was, and is, ensuring that they are around to meet the future demand in the motor vehicle industry.

Maybe we need strategic long-term plans further out than 10-to-20 years? Maybe if we employed Boards of Directors and Chief Executive Officers who weren't quite so beholden to the instant gratification and whims of their shareholders, then our motor manufacturing industry could compete on a more level playing field. Gosh, I don't know. I just know that the Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons I stood counting family vehicles in Palm Bay and on the Pineda Causeway were cold and joyful moments of insight. We need speed bumps to help us slow down on the dash to momentary mammon production. And, the three SUVs are still in glorious and unfettered daily use.

Ailish M. Nic Phaidin, MPRII, President & CEO, Access Link International, Inc., Public Relations & Marketing Counselors, Phone: 321-952-2978, Email: Ailish@AccessLinkInternational.com