Today I had the opportunity to look at a new vehicle from a new car company that not even the car magazines have seen. It's not going to get them excited, but eventually they will be doing stories on it. It will seen in major cities by the thousands in a very short time. And before we all think it's another Bricklin, Tucker, DeLorean or even the likely soon to die Tesla, it isn't. It's a real business financed and run by people with extensive experience in the US auto industry.
It's being built in the USA in a major US vehicle assembly plant by US workers using driveline components and many other parts from Big 3 and other domestic sources, mostly GM. It's a vehicle nitch that will definitely have an impact on the US vehicle market, but in a way that hasn't really been addressed as of late. It's primary purpose is extreme practicality for carrying people and cargo and durability. It weighs a whopping 5000 lbs and it's aimed at the commercial transportation and municipal government market as well as the paratransit market.
The part that I found most interesting, when talking to one of the founders of the company, is some things just can't be sourced in the US because of either cost or quality issues. In this case the body panels for this vehicle are sourced in Japan. I don't think the issue is quality (US stamped bodies can easily match tolerances of anyone) but cost. It's a shame that with the US auto industry in dire straits, a US body stamping operation cannot beat the Japanese at their own game.
It's being built in the USA in a major US vehicle assembly plant by US workers using driveline components and many other parts from Big 3 and other domestic sources, mostly GM. It's a vehicle nitch that will definitely have an impact on the US vehicle market, but in a way that hasn't really been addressed as of late. It's primary purpose is extreme practicality for carrying people and cargo and durability. It weighs a whopping 5000 lbs and it's aimed at the commercial transportation and municipal government market as well as the paratransit market.
The part that I found most interesting, when talking to one of the founders of the company, is some things just can't be sourced in the US because of either cost or quality issues. In this case the body panels for this vehicle are sourced in Japan. I don't think the issue is quality (US stamped bodies can easily match tolerances of anyone) but cost. It's a shame that with the US auto industry in dire straits, a US body stamping operation cannot beat the Japanese at their own game.