To each his own…

Can you explain how the new Ford Fusion, et al are embarrasing cars? Agreed, there are no MINIs and probably you and I will never buy one, but for what I have read in the automotive press and reputable rags, Ford seems to have a winner in their hands with the Fusion. The Fusion comes on the 20th anniversary of Ford’s most significant and successful mid-size sedan effort ever: The Taurus.

The Fusion, Milan and Zephyr all ride on the Mazda 6 platform which appears to be pretty good when stacked up against other established competitors.

I also think the 2006 Impala looks like a fairly attractive set of family wheels. At least it has more style than the hum-drum Toyota Camry and Buickesque Honda Accord. The SS version has a 5.3L small block V8 producing 303HP. Unfortunately this car is still FWD.

What about the Chrysler 300? Yes Detroit has some catching up to do and I am also find myself in agreement that Detroit’s bad reputation with consumer will forvever hunt them However, I see a concerted effort to revive the car segment and step away a little from the SUV and full size truck. I also believe that quality is no longer an issue with Detroit products, rather the bad perception among consumer is what hampers them.

Have you seen the new Pontiac Solstice? (And upcoming Saturn Sky roadster?) That thing looks SWEET. I never taught I would find myself ever salivating over a Pontiac or Saturn. Roadsters are out of the question for me, but I give credit where credit is due… GM did a terrific job with these cars. There are certainly not yesteryear’s Pontiac Fieros.

I hate Fords, but the current Mustang is a terrific car and proof positive that GM should have never abandoned the Camaro and Firebird/TransAm into obsolence. Where is the current day Dodge Challenger?

Detroit is engaged in an uphill battle, but for the first time in 30+ years, there are some very good products “Gotta haves” coming out of their plants.

Frank, if that badge engineering was directed towards me I’m not sure what you meant. You have sum spalain’n to do.

Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr = Mazda 6 sedan

Volvo S40, Volvo V50, Ford Focus (new euro version not the rehashed US version) = Mazda 3

Thanks for the Link Ian C. Most of the downturn in sales year on year is convertible sales. This seems to confirm my hunch that sales were higher last year as the drop-top was fairly new and probably still generating early excitement, despite the winter chill.

Chevy Cobalt, Saturn ION, Chevy HHR = Opel Astra

I think some people here are pretty much hung up on “Badge engineering”.

We, the aficionados that visit motoringfile.com and attend track days, are most likely the exception, not the rule. I would guess many buyers don’t know about the configurator and the many options available. They buy what they can see.

Chris LW If you want to post an article on MF send it to Gabe and he will decide if it warrants posting. Otherwise, use the link function at the bottom of the page and support the advertisers of the particular page you are commenting on.

GM Official Regrets Employee Discounting

By GINA CHON Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL January 5, 2006 1:15 p.m.

General Motors Corp.’s top North American sales and marketing executive, Mark LaNeve, said he now regrets launching the employee-discount program that drove GM sales to record levels last summer, and doesn’t plan to repeat such promotions this year.

Instead, Mr. LaNeve said in a recent interview that GM will roll back prices, and try to emphasize the advantages of its new models. Mr. LaNeve declined to say how much GM would lower prices compared to Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and other car makers, but he said the sticker prices would be “aggressive.” The first indicator of how low GM tends to go will be in the pricing for the new Chevrolet Tahoe, which will be announced next week during the Detroit auto show. The current base model has a starting price of $34,990.

“In some ways we are turning back the clock,” said Mr. LaNeve, vice president for GM North American vehicle sales and marketing, in an interview just before GM’s year-end holiday break. “The Japanese made their mark by making good products at a lower price. So to some extent, we are going to underprice them.”

Mr. LaNeve said the employee-discount promotion, which GM began last June, was very efficient in moving vehicles. Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group soon followed with their own programs in July.

But after the program ended three months later, sales dipped and hit a low in October, when sales fell by 26%. The payback from the summer sales bonanza was compounded by high gasoline prices because of Hurricane Katrina, which drove down sales of sport-utility vehicles.

The employee-discount program also caused the Detroit auto maker to focus its advertising messages on the sales promotion, instead of highlighting product attributes and its effort to reduce base prices on certain models.

Hindsight being 20/20, I probably wouldn’t have done it,” Mr. LaNeve said.

GM intends to kick off an aggressive product message in 2006 to talk about quality and value. GM plans what Mr. LaNeve describes as a “straightforward message on competitiveness, price advantages.” In some cases, that will mean calling out specific competitors, like Toyota and Ford, sometimes on a model-by-model basis.

This year is critical for GM, which is launching 19 new products, including five full-size SUVs, two full-size pickup trucks and a handful of new smaller SUVs, known as crossovers.

“Our comeback has to be fueled by great products,” Mr. LaNeve said. “There has been no comeback in our industry that hasn’t been fueled by great products.”

Aside from trying to stop its market-share slide, which was at 26% for 2005, Mr. LaNeve is looking at addressing the perceptual gloom surrounding the company. There are rumors that GM will file for bankruptcy-court protection. Analysts say GM produces cars that nobody wants to buy. And some consumers who left GM in the 1980s still refuse to return.

“We’ve got to get our mojo back in terms of the way we are viewed,” he said. “But I don’t know what the answer is. How do we get America rooting for us?”

A lot of that undoubtedly has to do with customer expectations. Owners of Buicks frankly don’t have the expectations that a MINI, BMW or Acura owner would have. Yet many of the products overlap price points so it’s not like the customer should really expect less. Even the brand new car (the name escapes me) that they’re pushing these days is a complete joke when it comes to quality of materials and craftsmanship. It’s more of an appliance than a car (a bad one at that) and it’s something that owners don’t want to even think about. They just want it to start, go, stop, and occasionally turn.

Since others brought up the subject……….a neighbor has just bought a $55K+ Corvette. He’s had more time at the dealer in the last two weeks that I did with my original ’02 MCS in it’s 1st year which wasn’t great advertising for MINI.

This was about MINI not those idiots.

If you lease, then it doesn’t really matter as much. But as an ownership thing, resale makes a difference IMHO.

Regardless of the ratings GM and others have gotten, I still notice differences in quality, engineering and handling. There is still some catching up to do.