http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/953/
Man!! Why the heck does GM spend good money turning good cars to crap??!!!
Man!! Why the heck does GM spend good money turning good cars to crap??!!!
We get the Cobalt, the Euros get this:
- Thread starter mnztr
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They are in competition with Ford who is also very good at that.quote:
Originally posted by mnztr:
http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/953/
Man!! Why the heck does GM spend good money turning good cars to crap??!!!
Instead of pimping Euro cars up before the sell them here, they should just do the minimum amount required to meet US safety and emissions standards and leave the Euro dedesign alone.
The Euro and Japanese car companies can sell Euro and Japanese originated cars here that aren't completely hosed, why can't GM and Ford do the same with their Euro based cars?
I have long thought that Ford should scrap most of its current North American vehicle line and bring the European equivalents over with just the bare amount of mods needed to meet US rules. Keep the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis, the full-sized pickups (both lines) and vans, and whatever other vehicles have no Euro equivalent, and let everything else come from Europe. Same with GM.
They cannot do that due to cost constraints. If they do, Cobalt-class vehicle will cost $25k and will be priced right out of its market segment. They have to dumb-down and cheapen American market vehicles as much as possible, otherwise they will be eaten alive by the competition.
On top of that, most mass-market vehicles outside US/Canadian market are too small and expensive to be desirable to the local consumer.
On top of that, most mass-market vehicles outside US/Canadian market are too small and expensive to be desirable to the local consumer.
I think that is changing. Also, you need to look at all the European cars that sell quite well in North America without much change. (the Golf being one). The new Mazda 3 also sells in Europe in pretty much the same config as North America, but with smaller engines.
GM is "getting there," but they've been "getting there" as long as anyone can remember.
They benchmarked the Focus in the development of the Cobalt. So the result is a car that is competitive with the other guy's 5-year old model. They'll keep the Cobalt around relatively unchanged for FAR too long, then start over again. When the car gets so outdated they've cashed out all the brand's equity, they'll rename it and start all over again.
You can't win a game of "catch up."
mr
They benchmarked the Focus in the development of the Cobalt. So the result is a car that is competitive with the other guy's 5-year old model. They'll keep the Cobalt around relatively unchanged for FAR too long, then start over again. When the car gets so outdated they've cashed out all the brand's equity, they'll rename it and start all over again.
You can't win a game of "catch up."
mr
You actually reinforce my point. All you have to do is look at sales. Golf sales are miniscule. Mazda3 sales are not much better, even compared to such horrors as Ion. I personally think that is because they are real cars for a fair price. People in the US would rather buy a Buick for that kind of money...
Sometimes I do forget that the US market is very different then Canada. The Mazda 3 is a very hot seller here, but in the US people prefer a car that is one size up. The Cavelier has been the most popular car in Canada for quite a while, swapping places with the Civic from time to time. So I guess you really can't argue with GM's small car strategy. If we buy crap, we deserve to drive crap.
But how many of those Cavaliers are sold to rental fleets, versus the Civic?quote:
Originally posted by mnztr:
Sometimes I do forget that the US market is very different then Canada. The Mazda 3 is a very hot seller here, but in the US people prefer a car that is one size up. The Cavelier has been the most popular car in Canada for quite a while, swapping places with the Civic from time to time. So I guess you really can't argue with GM's small car strategy. If we buy crap, we deserve to drive crap.
mr
More different every day, it seams. Better, in fact
TDi VWs are on a tremendous rise and you get the coolest ever Jetta TDi Sport Edition. Toyota Yaris, Smart...What you guys really need are the Ford and GM products from Oz. Similar sized vehicles to what you have now but miles ahead in design, build quality, ride/handling/braking etc. Built to handle tough Aussie conditions so durability would be a sneeze on your U.S roads. After years of trying GM boss Bob Lutz sadly has convinced Mike Simcoe to move to the states to head up GM design so that side will improve. Still it seems strange that we have a booming indigenous car industry exporting all over the world and yet Canada doesn't with nearly double the population? We do use Canadian built LS1's though.
True we get some nice vehicles, but we don't get Scion which the Yanks get. I suppose we'll get it eventually, maybe through Toyota dealers. I have to admit it still really burns me what GM did in sticking us with the medicore Cobalt (spending big $$ to create it) when they could have just given us the tasty Opel Astra. It's based on the same Delta platform so I doubt the cost per vehicle is that different.
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