No more Cruze, Impala, etc.

[aquariuscsm]

I'm probably in the minority,I like to be as low to the ground as possible. I like the go-kart feeling of a car where you feel connected to the road. When I drive high off the ground huge vehicles,I feel like I'm floating around aimlessly.

 

[ZZman]

So much for tariffs and tax cuts saving jobs...

 

[Snagglefoot]

In this world there is something for everybody. The fact is though, car makers have to sell cars. The sales of both the Cruise and Impala have been very poor for the last few years. You can easily look this up on the internet. It's more than just cars vs SUV's.

Also, there has been a lot said about the muddled line between what is an American car vs an import. In the sad end, I'd say a signicant number of jobs are on the final assembly line, and that occurs in the USA and Canada, or it does not.
If the car you "bought" was assembled outside of the USA and Canada then as far as I'm concerned you're driving a foreign car and your money did very little to support jobs here in the USA and Canada.

If you're saying those foreign cars are still better quality, than so be it. Funny because I see so much on this forum about the superiority of American manufacturing. Also, I think so much about foreign car buying is status. In reality the status is gained by low interest rates for car loans and leasing. Really sad.
If you're wondering why we are shutting car plants in both Canada and the USA , check out where you're car was assembled.

 

[AZjeff]

FAKE NEWS?

If you believe even 1/2 of what's said it sounds like GM is doing what needs done.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted by Vern_in_IL
Originally Posted by wemay
SUV and CUV:
-Easier ingress and egress
-More commanding view of the road
-More storage space
-Easier to store items due to hatch design
-Comparable MPG to sedans
-More substantial feel
-Safer to drive through slightly flooded streets
-Offer more crash protection against sedans


BETTER CAFE REGULATIONS..... A big reason GM is doing this.

I really HATE U.S. owned companies, they need to look at Asian companies and copy them.... then there is Fiat with 90% sales drop....

 

[4WD]

That makes no sense

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by 4WD
That makes no sense



It makes sense. The sedan market is losing a lot of market share each passing year.

 

[KCJeep]

I finally gave up on the domestic "American" car thing after driving nothing but domestic brands for over 30 years. Most recently the Jeep I drove for 7 years was built in Canada. The Lincoln I drove after that was made in Mexico. The domestics actually built here are sporting so many imported parts it makes you dizzy. The VW Passat I just bought was built in Tennessee by Americans. It really is a global car market anymore.

 

[KalapanaBlack]

Originally Posted by E365
Originally Posted by Greggy_D
They obviously haven't learned their lesson from 10 years ago when gas was $4.00-$4.50. You couldn't give an SUV away.

Gas prices WILL head back up again at some point and their business model will fail yet again.


I disagree. The difference now, as Ford management pointed out in their decision to cut many cars, is modern crossovers as quite nearly as fuel efficient as the cars. Often times better.

The Equinox with AWD and the biggest engine has a BETTER city and combined fuel economy rating than the V6 Impala.

Even the large FWD Traverse gets BETTER City and equal combined MPG than the V6 Impala.

The Buick Envision gets BETTER city and combined than the LaCrosse.

The FWD Equinox Diesel gets a better combined and highway rating than the gas Cruze hatchback.

The AWD XT5 gets the same City and combined rating as the AWD CT6. The upcoming, even larger XT6 will probably be even better.

Plus I didn't see any mention of cutting the two smallest cars, the Sonic and Spark.


The Sonic has already gotten its death sentence.

The Spark... Who knows. Maybe it's worth importing a few to the US as a small addition to large global sales. The Spark/Matiz has always been very popular worldwide.

 

[4WD]

See who I replied to … his political statement … not commenting to the overall decision …

 

[KrisZ]

We know what happened back in 2008, it is bound to happen again. These things are cyclical.
We also know that people are mathematically challenged and go with gut reactions and media driven fears. Most people have no clue how to calculate fuel economy and what kind of fuel spending one gets when moving from one vehicle to the next, instead they go by the cost of fill up. It is these types of people, which judging from 2008 there are a lot of them, that will be dumping SUVs and CUVs for something that costs less to fill up, even if the fuel savings themselves are small.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted by KrisZ
We know what happened back in 2008, it is bound to happen again. These things are cyclical.
We also know that people are mathematically challenged and go with gut reactions and media driven fears. Most people have no clue how to calculate fuel economy and what kind of fuel spending one gets when moving from one vehicle to the next, instead they go by the cost of fill up. It is these types of people, which judging from 2008 there are a lot of them, that will be dumping SUVs and CUVs for something that costs less to fill up, even if the fuel savings themselves are small.


Yep … and the media will whip out a new Top 10 Gas Guzzler list … I used to see the 5 banger H3 always on that list … GM would sell a tiny fraction of what the Toyota 4R and Ford F-150 sold … those two never making the list.
At the time all 3 got the same MPG …

 

[PimTac]

My vehicle choices have always been influenced by living through the Saudi oil shock of the 70's. While fuel economy is not my highest priority, it's up there. No matter what the price of gasoline is, it is real money to me.

I do smile a bit when my Mazda CX-5 gets over 35mpg on the highway. So not all crossovers are fuel thirsty.

 

[Rmay635703]

Originally Posted by AZjeff
So the manufacturers (not just GM) are supposed to keep making product that not enough people want and have to discount to sell until the price of gas goes back up someday? Instead of making what people want to buy? Makes sense.


See attached image of the new Ford F-150 that everyone wants.

Just because most people want something doesn't mean it makes sense to produce either

People tend to want what pop culture and social media tell them to want, the auto companies play a strong role in how they portray or don't portray vehicles to drive demand

In other words people make stupid decisions, every single passenger4WD F450 carrying nothing more than a sack of groceries in Florida is an example of a poorly made decision ,those guys then complain they can never find a parking spot and commute a 100 miles a day to their job at Wendy's

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by Rmay635703
Originally Posted by AZjeff
So the manufacturers (not just GM) are supposed to keep making product that not enough people want and have to discount to sell until the price of gas goes back up someday? Instead of making what people want to buy? Makes sense.


See attached image of the new Ford F-150 that everyone wants.

Just because most people want something doesn't mean it makes sense to produce either

People tend to want what pop culture and social media tell them to want, the auto companies play a strong role in how they portray or don't portray vehicles to drive demand

In other words people make stupid decisions, every single passenger4WD F450 carrying nothing more than a sack of groceries in Florida is an example of a poorly made decision ,those guys then complain they can never find a parking spot and commute a 100 miles a day to their job at Wendy's




I've never seen a Ford look like that.

You cannot judge someone's practical thinking based on what you see. A lot of people have a pickup or suv as the second car.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by KrisZ
I had a rental Impala for almost two weeks and I liked it. Very quiet and smooth. The power of that 3.6 DI engine was also very impressive. The steering feel was non-existent though. I also don't like the way the rear end looks. Otherwise quite a good vehicle IMO and I got 28mpg hand calculated in my commute.

This is usual American car company behaviour, just as they are getting good at building a model, they axe it.



Except nobody is buying them.....

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted by faramir9
See: https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/business/gm-cars-dropping-production/index.html

The Cruze was on the shortlist for my next car. Oh, well. Of course, used models will be around for a long time. Worse is the news for those in the large-car market. Looks like that will pretty much cease to exist someday,



Isn't the Chevy Sonic still going to be made (and in the USA). My guess is that the Cruze will all be imported from Mexico.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by wemay
SUV and CUV:
-Easier ingress and egress
-More commanding view of the road
-More storage space
-Easier to store items due to hatch design
-Comparable MPG to sedans
-More substantial feel
-Safer to drive through slightly flooded streets
-Offer more crash protection against sedans



Those are probably true except for the part about gas mileage. Just basic physics that a car that weighs more uses more gas, all else being equal. Some of those older sedans haven't been updated so the gas mileage would be worse without the latest direct injection, 7-9 speed transmission and start/stop function. On the other hand, sedans usually have better handling, lower center of gravity and shorter stopping distances. And of course if all things were equal, they should also have better gas mileage, but that's probably not showing up because the car manufacturers are getting rid of them instead of spending money updating them.

 

[zorobabel]

Originally Posted by dishdude

For right now, CUVs make sense. The packaging allows for more interior space and cargo hauling capacity. Now that CUVs achieve about the same fuel mileage and similar performance as sedans, what incentive is there to purchase a sedan?

More interior space if you style an afro, otherwise they're just jacked up compacts.

 

[grampi]

This is just the next step in the auto industry's quest to get everyone driving the same vehicle. Next they will all have the same options, after that, only one color will be offered...we're going back to the days of the Model T being the only model offered...