I know that most of the time your coming here to see pics and stuff from the places i go to party, but I wanted to take a moment to talk about the economy. I know, I know, your all tired of hearing about it but seriously it’s a really big deal. Some of you may not know it, but I’m big on cars. Now even though I don’t have a car, I do have a huge passion for cars. So it bothers me to hear that the big 3 are on the verge of going down. So here is what I think. These companies need to seriously rethink their priorities.
In the movie an “Inconvenient Truth” which was shown in 2006, Al Gore stated that car makers who made fuel efficient cars that people actually liked to drive sold better that cars that are not. A good example is all the trucks you see in dealer ships practically being given away today.
Here if you watch this video review at the LA Auto Show from a popular YouTube channel called “Garage 419”, there are points made about American car makers that make to much sense.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIiC5eZ4Rpw]
Points you should look for:
- 1:28 – The US auto maker presense.
- 1:56 – The Chrysler EV Minivan (It has a tail pipe?)
- 3:29 – How does a concept model that looks great turn into a god awful looking car?
More of what I think after the fold….
Anyway, enough about that video. Here is something else to talk about. Chevrolet. The brand new Corvette was going to be the new shining jewel of their whole line.
Now, it’s gone because they feel that it isn’t going to sell. I totally think it will. One good reason why it will sell is this:
Your probably asking your self right now, “Why?” or “What the hell does the GT-R have to do with the new Vette.” Well in my eye, everything. In the past few months its been available I have seen three brand new GT-Rs. Two black and one white. One of the black models has all of the available sports add-on. That makes that particular GT-R close to $135,000. Your now probably saying, “Yeah, but that’s because it’s so much a better car!” That on the other hand isn’t entirely true actually.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC-PQca6FJU]
Now true, the base model ZR1 is a lot more expensive than the GT-R, but in order to get the same performance out of the GT-R you’ll end up spending more on the GT-R. Now true, most of us will never be able to afford any of these cars, but what I’m trying to say is Nissan had the balls to put it out there for people who really want a good fast car. GM on the other hand wants to focus on cars that suck.
Speaking of Focus. Ford announced that they are going to bring their prize winning Euro spec cars over from across the pond. This includes the Focus and Fiesta.
Screw JDM this and JDM that, “Check out my JDM tail lights!” Blah what ever. That is a base model sports Ford Focus. Now yes there are a lot of extra add-ons, but they are from the factory and not a third-party. Which means that if sport spec Focus looks like that, well lets just say you won’t be shamed driving mom’s little two-door hatchback.
Which leads me to another thought. If these designs have existed in Europe and they sell very well, why in the hell are they not selling them here. Which brings me back to my original thought, why design something cool and then turn around and sell crap to the masses.
Out of all the car companies in the world, Japan is the only country I can think of that gets the concept of giving the consumer what they want and not what the car makers want the consumer to want. Take Honda and Toyota for example. Why do they have such a high resale value? It’s because they last for a really really long time.
I have a good example from personal experience, back in the day me and my Girlfriend at the time had a 1985 Celica GT (not the hatchback).
To be honest, that car went through a lot of stress. We bought it for like $100 from someone who just needed to sell it. It had a bit over 91,000 miles on the motor, which in 2001 was pretty good for a car from 1985. Well in the first year we had the car I had pushed the mileage up to 181,000 miles. I had a lot of trips to make back and forth from Ewa Beach to Town close to everyday. It just kept on running. I will always have a soft spot for that car, because it was good to me.
In all of this I’m not saying that US automakers have made only crap cars. However, the amount of crap out weighs the good cars. A list of good US cars are as follows:
- The Cadillac CTS – great looking car with great handling. If I could afford one, I’d buy it.
- The Dodge Challenger – great way to bring back a classic. I wish they would have made the hood scopes actually do something
- The new 2010 Camaro – another classic that will be a force to recon with. Only problem is that they made it so expensive that there is no point in getting a car that will get you less than 19mpg.
- Ford Mustang – after the Impala ended up a compact car someone had to fill the misrepresented piece car history. The 2010 model is nice btw.
To end off my long debate here. All I’m trying to say is that US automakers really need to take their heads out of their asses and starting thinking about what people would actually buy. Something reliable, something good looking, something you won’t be embarrassed to drive and something that wont kill your wallet even after you’ve purchased it.
I wanna hear what you think so comment below or email me if your shy.
Thanks!!
