JC

"Readers offer U.S. automakers some advice"

Very good read and I couldnt agree more. READ HERE

Opinions? Comments?

OniS14

NISSAN! FUCK YEAH!


american manufacturers have quite a bit to do when it comes to modern cars..
but US trucks have been designed very good..and that's what japanese manufacturers had problems with..untill they used the american design..and built up on that

US manufacturers just need to find a good design and try to improve upon that
ive noticed that alot of the vehicles still made are based on old inferior designs..just minor exterior changes..
That leads me to believe that US companies are lacking passion and excitment..and are too focused on trying to just sell cars...
..so..ya wanna discontinue the production of cavaliers..and then release the cobalt, thinking that the consumer wouldn't know any better eh?

what happened to the passion that the US market put into their cars back in the '50s and '60s? back then..it was all about using radical and innovative designs...i just dont see that in the american market anymore...

Buisness doesn't go very far when you half-ass something!

but i do like the way the solstice and sky came out...and i hope that it is the direction that the market is aiming for. something that the consumer would WANT to buy..and at an affordable price


oh..i am also glad to see alot of european influence on the designs!
the one thing i dont like is how american market the euro market!
jaguars look just like ford..[base model]
mercedes looks like chrysler..[base model]

although..i do see that GM is using alot of designs from toyota..
but...urm..aztek? ewww
....is saab dead?


^and that pretty much sums everything up
they only care about profits

JC

Good points

93ex

Funny you should mention the aztek in the same post as this. The dodge viper was created as a concept car, but the concept car got such rive reviews and outright demand for the car that it got built. the aztek had a very similar origin. Look what happened with that. Radical and innovative designs are very hit or miss. Toyota and nissan are hardly what you would call radical design, except if you really love vanilla ice cream and plain yogurt.

the 50's and 60's had VERY little foriegn competition, sans europe and germany, but for the most part those cars were out of reach for the average consumer who drives the customer base. But even then radical deisgns and wild concepts were either well recieved or shut out. Edsel anyone? How about how the american car companies did all they could to keep Tucker automobiles down?

It's not that american car companies need to reverse egineer anything, they all just end up either a day late to the market or wetting the bed the night before in anticipation. If chevy had had the cobalt first, to compete against the civics, neons, etc in the compact car market, instead of the trashy cavalier, they might be in a different boat. If ford hadnt saturated the market with every imaginable suv under the sun, regardless if anyone wanted them, maybe they would have been in a different position.

Why is nobody buying american? A large portion is the mindset of the 80's. Yeah the K car ate shit. Yeah, the ford tempo really sucked. Are those the cars of today? No. Some people blindly hate on everything domestic for whatever it was 10 years past. But nobody ever says that honda sucks because in 1973 the civic was dull and boring, but the duster and mustang etc were the king of the road.

Another large reason is that, truth be told, american vehicles are really spotty on quality control. My Blazer has 185,000 miles on it. My dads F150 has 212,000. Does this speak for the entire american fleet of vehicles? No. I know of people with s10's that barely lasted to 80,000 miles, much less 180. Just like I know of people who's accords lasted 80,000 miles too. None of us know the entire story with everyone elses vehicle, but a lot of it is "my brother's friend, or my fathers friend, or my neighbor this and that" had problems. How did they mantain it? DID they even maintain it? Whose to say that they wouldnt have the same problems with a nissna or toyota? Dont get me wrong, I did say that american vehicle quality was spotty. We all know it. I know of people on this site who bought focuses when they first came out, and had them in the shop for various recalls over and over again. Then some people have never had an issue. It comes down to consistency. You have much better odds of having a civic (etc) lasting 150k than you do a cavalier. And its probably safe to say that nobody is reading this anymore, so I'll wrap it up, I think I'd rambled enough.

robofunc

I think you are exactly correct.

Blueboost

Thats not very fair. The most exciting thing I've seen Toyota roll out in the past 5 years is the IS300. To say the same about Nissan, you are overlooking a lot. Nissan offers a few sports cars in their line-up, where is toyota's? You have an innovative approach to powertrain options and asthetics on the new Nissans as seen on say, the 350Z, wich is unlike any other sports coupes offered today. G35 as well. Nissan is even putting exciting cars out there for under $20,000 like the SE-R Spec V. I really think toyota is over rated the past few years, and lacks excitement in design.


American manufacturers wear their problems on their sleeve's, it was only a matter of time before the decisions made by big business and big gov't landed them in the hot water they are in now. There's really nothing new here.

93ex

Okay nissan is like vanilla with oreo cookies on it. a few sports car amongst base model sentras.

JC

I think your taking this as a Domestic bash. Its really not.

The new Nissans inlcuding non sport models have styling appeal that current domestics do not.

But besides the point, a lot of the article is dead on.

roracer70

im really not all for new cars, but i have to say the car companies releasing "retro" cars is bs. im a domestic guy and i have to agree. the new camaro and challenger coming out look identical from the side, almost like they came off the same assembly line, even though they didn't. and the challenger doesn't look like the bad ass car it once was.and yea, with some money you can make these neons and cobalts move. but if im gonna fork over money for a 4 or 6 cylinder car, its either a 240z, 280z or zx, or a 240sx. i wouldn't spend a second thinking otherwise.

93ex

No, I know exactly what the article was talking about, I was just responding to a few points earlier in the thread.