Quote:
Originally Posted by sanddrag
If domestic car companies would just stop making cars that look aweful and absolutely suck, perhaps they wouldn't be in this trouble.
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Through my line of work, I spent the better part of a half-hour today driving a 2009 Buick Enclave. CXL, Gold Mist Metallic, as I recall. Church quiet, beautiful looks (though I prefer the look of the White Diamond one I shot today), and pulled 23.9 MPG in spite of my uncanny ability to catch every red light on a 45-mile-an-hour road. In every measurement I can think of, it blows the doors off its predecessor, the Buick Rainier. I can't speak for the other auto makers, but I do know that GM's product has improved dramatically over the past four or five years. By 2010, its roster should be even stronger*. (That's coming from someone who's driven Hondas for 5.5 of the last six years, and rode in them for the sixteen before that!)
Were GM to join up with Chrysler, I think anyone connected to the automotive industry would be in for some hurt in the near term. GM does have a product hole since pulling out of the minivan segment at the end of 2007**; the Lambda crossovers*** filled some of the gap, but not all of it. The Jeep brand has some allure, particularly as gas starts to come back down to sane levels. The Chrysler's GEM and ENVI divisions may also prove fruitful in helping along alternative methods of propulsion; the latter
recently released a trio of prototype plug-in hybrids, one each for Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. Almost everything else clashes, which results in tough decisions. I would not want to be in that boardroom.
Were I not employed by a company who has to live with the decisions made in Detroit, I'd say it's time to pop some popcorn and watch the show. Because I
am employed by such a company, I'll forgo the popcorn and just watch closely.
*For 2010, the Buick Lacrosse (Allure for you Canadians) is getting an all-new model, the GMC Terrain replaces the Pontiac Torrent and GMC Envoy, the Saab 9-4X replaces the Envoy-based 9-7X. Before then, Pontiac dealers will receive the G3 (cousin to the Chevy Aveo), Solstice Coupe (for those opposed to the wind in their hair), G8 GXP (what's Australian English for yeeeeeeeee-haw?), and the G8 ST (which is the closest I think we'll get to the El Camino in our lifetimes).
**Alright, to most people; they sold the Chevy Uplander to fleets as a 2008 and exported some as 2009 models.
***Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook, Chevy Traverse. Full-size crossovers with three-row seating and V6 engines.