Very interesting the use survey from BITOG. Thanks for that, Black Bart. Amazing how the smallest minorities can make the most noise sometimes. :smile:
I found this (below) from "Tom NJ" dated from August of 2010 on BITOG, but he just says he found that M1 is including Group III in its formulations. No contradictions there, I'm already figuring that for reasons discussed earlier, but he doesn't discuss percentages in this post. I'd have probably gone on to dig for his original post from four years ago, but then he went on to say that he "uses Mobil 1 and considers it a great oil". Always nice to hear that from an industry insider, assuming he's on the level. Seeing that I'm only in it to know whether or not I'm using an excellent oil for my money, I'm good. I wish he'd cited some sources in that post though, as all the evidence we have to date is still anecdotal and laced with conjecture.
Interesting discussion and thanks for being dispassionate. It's not always so nice over there.
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I reported this change in the M1 formulations here four years ago and a global firestorm ensued. I took lots of grief over it, including people writing to the owner of my company, and dragging my name through the mud on the Internet. There are still people who adamantly deny that M1 formulations use Group III.
This presentation, dating sometime between 2005 and 2009, clearly shows that EM changed the M1 formulations to include Group III+, and that they did not want to tell their customers:
"With the exception of Germany, this reformulation will be invisible to consumers and B2B customers."
and:
"There will be no proactive customer communication relating to this reformulation. However, an internal briefing document and Q&A has been prepared to allow sales to respond in the unlikely event of a customer question."
This explains all the canned responses customers got when they asked EM about the change.
As I have consistently said, I use M1 and consider it a great oil, but I am happy that the truth is finally confirmed by EM. My name is finally cleared.
Tom NJ