Outside The Detroit Bubble -- LA, Consumer Reports, and Smart
Rumor City (the new name for Detroit?) is very concerned with the eventual fate of Chrysler. Will GM buy Chrysler and expand its collection of brands? How fast can Ford shrink? Will Ford ever bring its European Focus variants or the new Mondeo to the US and when? Will the Pontiac G8 rear drive sedan courtesy of GM's Aussie mates be a hit or is it still too dull for the US market? Who is leaving Ford today? Who is being fired for bad marketing decisions? What auto parts business is going bankrupt and what private equity group is swooping in to buy it. Will GM ever release its 2006 financial reports?
These are all good and interesting questions to car people. However, here in LA, I don't think that the general Detroit hypertension really matters. After all, we are dealing with damaged American brands that have once again been shut out of Consumer Report's Top Ten picks for 2007. The CR Top Ten list and much of the survey information made front-page business section news in the major newspapers; however it made page 48 of the 5 March 2007 Automotive News. Their comment was that the highest-scoring Detroit 3 (sic) model for consumer satisfaction was the Chevrolet Corvette. You can see how disconnected The Detroit Bubble is from the reality of consumer preference.
Let's look at the 2007 picks:
Fun to drive: Mazda MX-5. Where is the Pontiac Solstice -- oh yes, it's at the bottom of the list of Convertibles with complaints including a noisy engine, controls, top operation, luggage space and reliability. Good job, Mr. Lutz!
Small Sedan: Honda Civic. There is no surprise here. CR loves Honda and the Civic is an excellent small car. At the bottom of the Small Car list is the Suzuki Forenza (a GM-Daewoo product) which is just a little bit worse than the outgoing Saturn Ion.
Small SUV: Toyota RAV4. The RAV4 wins this category because it is available with Toyota's corporate V6 engine that has only a small 1 mpg penalty over the 4-cylinder model. If you want a 4-cylinder small SUV, CR recommends you go directly to the new Honda CR-V. At the bottom of the list, DailmerChrysler has a pair of unremarkable entries -- the all-new Dodge Nitro (based on the Dodge Caliber) and the "new" Jeep Wrangler. The comments on the Dodge Nitro are not to be missed: Under "highs" the response is "not much". Under "lows" CR gives the Nitro dings on ride, handling, noise, fuel economy and fit and finish. Ouch.
Family Sedan: Honda Accord. CR is in love with Honda and I think they like the Accord -- even if there is an all-new Accord due this fall -- because in V6 trim, it gets better gas mileage than the arch-enemy, the Toyota Camry. Funny, though that the new Camry takes top awards in the Family Sedan category for the 4-cylinder models. CR throws out the VW Passat as a good alternative. At the bottom of the 4-cylinder list is the all-new Chrysler Sebring. In the V6 list, the Sebring is only worsted by the Pontiac Grand Prix.
Minivan: Toyota Sienna. The Sienna beats the Honda Odyssey only because the Sienna got the corporate 3.5 liter V6 and offers all-wheel drive as an option. But don't worry, they give the Odyssey the number 2 spot on the list and call it "fun to drive" for a minivan. At the bottom of the list is the Chevrolet Uplander which just edges out the Dodge Caravan for worst minivan. It's a good thing that GM is getting out of the minivan business. GM has never made a good minivan in over 20 years of attempts. And if the minivan is a bread and butter vehicle for Dodge, then it needs to really make the new Caravan due later this year much better. I doubt that the new Chrysler/Dodge minivans will even come close to Toyota or Honda, but time will tell.
Luxury Sedan: Infiniti M35. CR liked the new M last year too and that's good news for Infiniti. The runner-ups are the BMW 530i and Audi A6. Sound familiar? At the bottom of the list is a Ford product -- the ancient Lincoln Town Car. This isn't surprising as the Town Car is riding on a chassis that is over 25 years old and still has a live real axle. But the new-last-year Cadillac DTS was the modern bottom feeder. Did GM actually think the DTS was a good effort?
Midsize SUV: Toyota Highlander. This is the outgoing Highlander. The 2008 Highlander based on the new Camry platform is already on Toyota's website! They like the fact you can get a hybrid version of the Highlander and it apparently keeps getting good marks for reliability and decent fuel economy. Of course, not to leave Honda out of the picture, the dull Honda Pilot is their recommendation if you want a third row seat. At the bottom of the list is a trio of GM products: The GMC Envoy (all new for 2007), the ancient and due for replacement Chevrolet TrailBlazer and the new Hummer H3.
Budget Car: Honda Fit. This is a new category for CR and the little Honda was a natural fit. (Ok, bad pun, but how could I resist?)The Chevy Aveo (a GM-Daewoo product from Korea) cleans up last in both the manual and automatic transmission categories. However, in a rare ding to Toyota, the Scion xA (which has been replaced by the all-new xD) and the Toyota Yaris are the runner-ups to the bottom of the two lists.
Upscale Sedan: Infiniti G35. The second generation G35 is all new for 2007. I haven't driven it but the interior is definitely a step up from the last generation and the styling is sportier (think BMW). CR suggests the deadly dull Lexus ES350 as an alternative. The ES350 is all new, as it's based on the all-new Camry. Bringing up the rear are two Fords and one GM product: the Jaguar X-Type, a rebadged Ford Mondeo, the Saab 9-3 which shares GM's global Epsilon platform with such distinguished products as the Chevy Malibu and Pontiac G6, and the Volvo S60, the neglected bread and butter car for Volvo. Hopefully a new S60 based on the new S80 platform will help lift the S60 off the bottom of this list.
Green Car: Toyota Prius. I'm getting tired of the Prius being on the top of all these hybrid/green car lists. Will some company other than Toyota please make a distinctive hybrid car? Naturally, as an alternative, CR throws out the Honda Civic Hybrid.
So that's the Top Ten list. Even when you look at other categories, there isn't much good news on the domestic front. Large Sedan: Toyota Avalon. Convertibles: Mini Cooper, Sports/Sporty Car: Volkswagen GTI, Performance/Luxury Sports Car: Porsche 911, Large Sports-Utility Vehicles: Mercedes-Benz GL450, Full-Sized Pickups: Honda Ridgeline, Compact Pickups: Nissan Frontier, Wagons and Hatchbacks: Mazda5.
Rumor City -- a tempest in a teapot -- or the Detroit Bubble as I call it, just isn't on the radar (or GPS navigation) screen in LA. We are buying the imports listed by Consumer Reports. I realize that what happens in Detroit will affect thousands of Americans as they lose their jobs, pensions and healthcare benefits. But the product from the Big 2 ½ is damaged goods and not on most people's shopping lists. For example, I don't think I've seen a GMC Canyon or Chevy Colorado in months. But I sure see plenty of Toyota Tacomas and Nissan Frontiers. Toyota and Nissan own this market here.
What is the buzz in LA? Yes, the new BMW 3-Series convertibles, due in showrooms at the end of March) will be parked on every street in West Hollywood (thanks for that observation, Dan Neil). But what people are really looking for is cars with green credentials. There are plenty of buyers waiting for the 2008 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetech diesel. It will be a real treat to have great fuel economy again on a big German luxury car. But there is a great hunger for more hybrids, plug-in hybrids, clean diesels or other cars that have excellent fuel economy and at least some green credentials. This is Hollywood.
The most anticipated new car is the Smart ForTwo due in the US in January 2008. I wrote about it a few weeks (Issue 163, 1 February 2007) ago; but since that time, Daimler has put Chrysler on the auction block (even if DCX CEO Dieter Zetsche says that Chrysler won't be actually "auctioned").
Roger Penske said that there are far more Smart franchise applicants than the 50 to 60 franchises that will be granted initially. At that time, the preference was to Mercedes-Benz dealers and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealers. Now that we know Chrysler is going to be excised from Daimler, I wonder if a franchise will be granted to any non-Mercedes dealer. Franchisees will be selected in May and June this year, so there is plenty of time to remove any Chrysler Group applicants from the pool.
So will Beverly Hills Mercedes-Benz or W.I. Simonson (Santa Monica) become Smart dealers? I hope so. Beverly Hills BMW is still kicking itself for not getting a MINI franchise for lack of space. I'm pretty sure that LA will embrace the tiny Smart Car and given its inherent "green" credentials and a choice of two colors for the shell and several plastic body panel colors. It's going to become a disposable fashion accessory.
But Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan driving matching shoes with the ForTwo won't be the only people buying a Smart. It's also going to be adopted by people looking for a different, small, fun economical car. On a dust to dust analysis of the Smart ForTwo, I bet it will be right up there with the small cars listed by Alan (15 February 2007 editorial 165) on the total cost to society for different cars.
While the rumors fly about who will buy Chrysler or which OEM supplier will file for bankruptcy or be acquired at a bargain price, LA will be steaming ahead with the darlings of Consumer Reports, the new MINI, the 2007 BMW 3-Series convertibles and the much anticipated Smart ForTwo. Welcome to the future today.
