Opinion : Auto Show 2008

I just went to the Philadelphia Auto show and I have some thoughts.

1. The most impressive thing was the new convention center, which I had never been in before. I was particularly impressed with the area above the market and the grand ballroom. That place is going to be really amazing when they finish all the new construction.

2. I was disappointed at the lack of historic and concept cars. the few that were there clearly attracted the biggest crowds. The only company that actually had a full historic display was Subaru. Maybe I am the only one, but I would have been more interested in American muscle cars, race cars or historic cars (like Packards, formerly made on the site that the convention center now stands) than compact, economic Japanese cars.

3. If GM's green movement isn't a joke, then the marketing of it certainly is. GM's green "concept" vehicles were standard GM vehicles with new paint jobs that you could not actually inspect up close. The hybrids they had were nothing special (no targeted vehicles like prius, nothing special in terms of specs or price). Lexus, on the other hand, had the hood open on their next-gen hybrid systems, as did Mercedes on an alternative fuel (biodiesel) car. More importantly, they had dealerships in Jersey taking orders on these vehicles. Note to GM: to make any money on these ideas, you actually need to sell the cars.

4. Speaking of American cars and marketing, Ford is going to pay me $75 to take a test drive of a truck and give them market research feedback. As part of this promo, they bragged about how regular people like us could give them better feedback than the market research types in NY. Note to Ford: Philadelphia is not a quaint slice of idealist rural America (where I assume the only people who still drive Fords live) and maybe if you hired those NY consultants, you wouldn't be getting crushed by the competition in every market segment. I will be happy to take your money though...

5. The best display went goes to VW. Not sure what is so special about "German Engineering" but the thing that made the toys out of plastic fascinated me, and the future booth thing fascinated my girlfriend.

6. If I were buying a car, I would probably buy an Infinity. They look really cool, and they are a good value. The Lexus Hybrid SUV comes in a close second and I liked the new Honda Civics and Accords. My girlfriend thought the best car was the new Pontiac G6, and I must say, Pontiac is probably my favorite American car brand.

Great Article : The decline of the US auto industry

As Toyota prepares to claim the title of the worlds largest car maker, this article from the BBC is a fascinating look at the decline of the big three American automakers. It is a sad story (for americans at least) of a spectacular fall and an important lesson for industrial giants everywhere. The British seem to blame it mostly on the vague force of "globalization", but i think it has to do with poor decisions, greedy near sighted American investors, and shoddy engineering as well. I have predicted the fall of GM for awhile now (although it looks at the moment that Ford is even more likely to go first), and when the post mortems are finally written, there will be a lot of blame to go around. The article also looks at the local human impact, which I suppose is also sad...

Opinion : The end of a good car

The news that Honda is canceling its Accord hybrid makes me sad. At the auto show a year ago, I though this car was the best all around practical car on the market. It was fast, looked cool, got great gas mileage, and looked cool. Alas, lately the auto industry is being more driven by marketing than technology (at least more so that usual) as several companies try to cut costs and look cool. I would say the biggest victim of this trend is Honda. (honorable mention to Ford, which has actually made a few decent cars lately) Honda has clearly been the biggest innovator of late and it has nothing to show for it. It was the first to the market with hybrid technology (with the Insight), the first to put that technology in a normal model (the civic) and its latest redesigns simply look cooler than their Toyota rivals and they haven't been plagued with as many recalls as Toyota or Mitsubishi. Problem is they are getting crushed in the market. Toyota is outselling them in pretty much every category, and they are the slowest growing Japanese automaker. (to be fair, it isn't all hype, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Mazda 08 models all look cooler and generally go faster)
While I would probably by a Nissan if i had the cash, it bothers me as an engineer and a tech fan when the innovator loses out to a rival with simply better hype.


Disclaimer: for financial reasons, I currently drive a beat up 92 Corrrolla