Uncommitted! Uncommitted! Uncommitted! Uncommitted!

Something Must Be Said about This

I'm going to go all Fire Joe Morgan on this NYT article. How Jerry Garrett got a gig as an automotive writer for the most important newspaper in the country is beyond me. (Jalopnik isn't fond of him either. Further proof that no one holds a grudge like a Michigander.)

HEAR the noise, feel the thunder, experience the lightning! Detroit is firing up the pyrotechnics as it prepares to play host to the 2008 North American International Auto Show. Perhaps all the hoopla will make it easier for the industry to forget, just for a while, the stark new realities of the showroom, where car buyers seem to be falling out of love with the kinds of vehicles that made Detroit the capital of the automobile world.

If you follow the Jalopnik link above, you'll see that Mr. Garrett is not a fan of both Detroit the city and Detroit the personification of the American automotive industry. Based on this paragraph, I'd say he is not a fan of marketing events either.

The huge auto show at Cobo Center downtown, where press previews start Sunday and doors open to the public on Saturday, Jan. 19 (through Jan. 27), is historically a loud, flashy and mostly unapologetic celebration of tire-burning, gas-guzzling, budget-busting vehicles, from big trucks and S.U.V.’s to racy sports cars and ostentatious luxury cruisers. Despite the considerable lip service that will be paid to green technologies, and a sizable fleet of concept cars showcasing various green ideas, the theme song of the show could well be “And the Band Played On.”

I'm going to assume that the song he is referring to is the Simple Minds track from their obscure mid-90's album Good News from the Next World, either that or he is making shit up. The fleet of concept cars to which he refers is apparently not so sizable that he can't ignore it for the rest of the article.

The auto industry in America faces a historic transformation. The playing field changed last Dec. 19, when President Bush signed a federal law mandating a 40 percent improvement in fuel economy by 2020. Later, 16 state governments and several environmental groups sued the federal government for the right to enact tougher emissions laws. And the year ended with new vehicle sales at the lowest level since 1998, amid shrinking demand for Detroit’s bread-and-butter models.

I don't really have a smart-ass comment to make about this paragraph. These are three verifiable facts the he has managed to get correct. (I'm actually giving him the benefit of the doubt on this, I don't feel like rummaging around in vehicle sales statistics.) (Actually, 2008 is predicted to be the worst year since 1998. But, it should be pointed out that this includes all manufacturers, apparently consumers don't want what anyone is selling. This certainly has more to do with the economy than with what auto makers are offering.)

I'll leave my argument about why CAFE standards are dumb to another time.

So, what significant new model introductions are Detroit’s Big Three
showcasing here? Essentially, it seems, even more of the same-old, same-old.

Ford is unveiling the new full-size F-150 pickup, still the nation’s most popular vehicle despite a sales meltdown late last year. (F-150 sales plunged by 105,000 units in 2007.)Development of the F-150, a truly crucial product for the troubled Ford Motor Company, was reportedly delayed for several months in 2006 for unspecified engineering changes intended to make the truck more competitive. Those changes, however, did not include making the F-150 smaller, lighter, less expensive or more environmentally friendly.

This is the paragraph that launched this post. Making the F-150 smaller/lighter would defeat the purpose of the F-150. It's a full-size pickup, there are already smaller pickups on the market, the F-150 is not one of them. Furthermore, the decline in sales is due mostly to the decline in home construction, not because buyers want a smaller truck. The larger and heavier pickup models are the ones that are selling better. Jerry Garrett knows this. He's the one who told me.

At the show, Ford is also unveiling the Explorer America, a concept
vehicle that suggests the next-generation Explorer may look a lot like a
Brinks armored car. Ford says the next Explorer will be powered, like several ofits new vehicles, by smaller, lighter, more efficient engines that can besouped-up with turbochargers and direct fuel injection.

OK, now I'm confused. I thought American manufacturers weren't releasing vehicles with smaller, lighter, more efficient engines? Make up your mind, Jerry!

Ford’s new 2009 F-150 will have some company, as Chrysler is expected to introduce a rival truck, the 2009 Dodge Ram, with a cattle run through the downtown streets.

The new Ram is said to have a more comfortable suspension, a nicer interior and other convenience features. But the Ram’s improvements, like those for the F-150 (which will be offered in a new, high-end Platinum model) have little to do with environmental concerns.

The auto companies need to release new trucks somewhere. If they had unveiled these new trucks at the L.A. Auto Show would that have changed Mr. Garrett's impression of it? Trucks, by their nature, are not environmentally-friendly. But, as evidence by the fact that the F-150 is the best selling vehicle in the country, there is a market for them. Automakers are in the business of making money, that means selling vehicles that people buy.

The other hometown company, General Motors, will put aside its
greener-than-green marketing campaign for a while to make the show’s most over-the-top introduction — a 620-horsepower Corvette ZR1 — the fastest, most powerful and most expensive Chevrolet in history. The Elvis of the auto show, this $100,000-plus limited-edition supercar has received breathless coverage in the enthusiast press.

I think a limited-edition car that costs more than what 90% of Americans make in a year is a bad example of an auto company's broader plans.

I'm going to skip ahead a little here.

So where is that next generation of vehicles capable of meeting those federal mandates, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and pioneering uses of alternative forms of propulsion? They seem to exist, for the most part, still somewhere over the rainbow and in television commercials.

Sales of the second-generation Toyota Prius hybrid, a relatively old model due for replacement before long, nonetheless soared 70 percent last year, with more than 180,000 sales in the United States alone. But Detroit automakers still have no equivalent vehicle — a compact sedan with a full hybrid system and a design not shared with gasoline models — though they have had since 1999 to develop one. A potential game-changer like the Chevrolet’s Volt electric vehicle won’t arrive until 2010, G.M. says.

For comparisons sake, slightly less than 700,000 F-150s were sold last year. I don't think that replacing the F-150 with a Prius clone is going to save Ford.

What does it matter if a hybrid shares a design with a gasoline model? It only matters if you want to make sure that everyone knows you driving a hybrid. Apparently, Mr. Garrett feels that American manufacturers need to put more of a focus on the self-righteous market. (Though judging by the John Mellencamp Chevy commercials and the Toby Keith Ford commercials, they may be doing this already.)

Skipping ahead again. (Not only is the next part a little boring, I also don't want to be sued for reprinting an entire NYT article.)

Chrysler will unveil three concept vehicles to serve as showcases for advanced environmental technologies. But while these are technologically feasible, they are likely to be well beyond the limited development budget of the privately owned Chrysler.

While Chrysler may have a limited development budget, I doubt if it has anything to do with it being privately owned.

Skipping...

Otherwise, the roster of Detroit debutantes is heavily laden with fairly conventional S.U.V.’s, car-based crossover wagons and big-engine sports cars. Only a handful of new sedans are being introduced, including the Hyundai Genesis, an upscale rear-drive sport sedan with a powerful V-8 and the Volkswagen Passat CC, a four-door car with a coupelike roofline. Mitsubishi is showing a sporty coupe, the Concept-RA, a hint of the next Eclipse.

Variations of vehicles introduced at overseas auto shows will be also make their debuts, including a BMW 1 Series convertible; a sedan version of the Ford Verve subcompact car; and BMW’s X6 crossover. Land Rover is showing a sleek LRX concept, currently in development in limbo until the company’s ownership picture is clarified; Tata, of India, is believed to be close to a deal with Ford to buy both Land Rover and Jaguar.

Wait! I thought we were talking about American automakers.

After taking some heat for its previous introductions of monstrous
trucks, like the Tundra pickup and Sequoia S.U.V., Toyota will use the 2008 Detroit show to highlight two small, efficient vehicles: the Venza compact crossover and the A-BAT hybrid, which has been called a Prius pickup truck.

With hybrid show cars proliferating, even a custom coachbuilder like
Fisker Coachbuild is getting into the act. The company, which has been rebodying BMW and Mercedes sports cars, will be showing a premium-priced plug-in hybrid luxury sedan.

Oh Toyota, you can do no wrong.

Hybrid shows cars are proliferating? What happened to "unapologetic celebration of tire-burning, gas-guzzling, budget-busting vehicles?" Oh well.

Oveplayed Meme of the Day

It's a new feature!! (Despite the implications of the title, new feature will not be posted daily.)

Today's overplayed meme is:

Obama voters are misogynist, Clinton voters are racist.

I'm Alive!!

Just very, very busy.