Recent Comments:
Toyota responds to Ford's new initial quality ads {Autoblog}
May 12th 2008 10:36AM "Toyota could have their cars built by children and would still have a higher quality than a Ford. Toyota's products are FAR from perfect, but they're still better than any of the Big 3's, except for a rebadged GM product produced by Toyota."
Here's the thing... if you have a 0.001 serious defect ratio... meaning only one in a thousand cars would burst into flames on the highway... then only 200 or 300 cars would ever have a wheel fall off and kill the driver when you are making hundreds of thousands of a particular model.
When you start making millions of a particular model... then you start having thousands of these cars having their engines seize or losing a wheel or catching fire and other such spectacular failures. Thousands means a greater chance that people getting on the internet and emailing each other about "that Camry that killed a family of four when..."
It happened to GM, and I predict it will happen to Toyota. People already think their full size trucks are crap and Toyota is looking tarnished because of it... and it is my prediction that in 2015 a series of quality snafu's will push Toyota back down to second best and some other manufacturer will steal their thunder. By then it may be something crazy like Renault-Nissan-Chrysler or the new Saturn or Hyundai...
Either way, the "most sold" mark seems to be a death knell for a companies perceived reliability.
VW Rabbit gets a carrot from Consumer Reports {Autoblog}
May 12th 2008 9:41AM The easiest way for VW to actually get customers would be to pull a Hyundai: drop a 10-year/100,000-mile warranty on all their cars and put up enough cash to make sure that VWUSA and the dealer network doesn't try to screw people out of money should their newer cars break.
If the new models are reliable... then VW will save money... and if they aren't... they won't piss off legions of former VW lovers by having dealers try and tell them that some chintzy latch breaking or electronic hassles was their fault and they need to pay $700 to fix it.
In the meantime, the rabbit will be a great compact...
... as soon as they actually start shipping the TDI ones.
Rendered Speculation: MG TF is coming... {Autoblog}
May 8th 2008 1:48PM stick a pencil through the roof in a few places.... and break off any fan-control knobs.
Then it will be nostalgic enough.
Why hasn't anyone created a 2.0L DI turbo Fiero? {Autoblog}
May 7th 2008 4:55PM "Sure they're faster than GT-Rs, but are they faster than ZR-1s?"
The ZR-1 is actually a slightly modded Fiero :O
By the Numbers: April 2008 {Autoblog}
May 2nd 2008 9:11AM I love the symbolism of Hummer dropping and Mini skyrocketing.
Toyota iQ could spawn larger variant {Autoblog}
May 1st 2008 1:39PM "a hybrid version isn't feasible since there's no room of the battery pack and the additional weight contradicts the philosophy behind the iQ; specifically designed to be a lightweight means of urban transport. "
What I feel he's really saying:
"a hybrid version isn't cost effective as slimline battery packs and a super-teeny hybrid synergy drive would pretty much double the cost of an already pricey 'luxury' minicar."
Nissan 360: the Micra 160 SR {Autoblog}
Apr 30th 2008 5:35PM I still think there is a gap between the perceived desire of people who want these things... and the actual number of people buying these things.
If this car would do so well... why isn't the Yaris skyrocketing? Why was scion so quick to upsize the xB and kill the xA to make the xD? Why did Honda lowball the Fit so much?
I think the basic answer is simple: People perceive little cars as unsafe. All it takes is driving one of the things 80 MPH on a freeway surrounded by semi's and explorers before you suddenly feel like you are riding in a motorcycle surrounded by tinfoil... even if has a 5-star all around and all good by the NHTSA... they still ride like roller skates/go carts and people still wouldn't get it because they just think of teeny hatchbacks as coffins.
Bentley goes green with Continental DC {Autoblog}
Apr 29th 2008 3:03PM And yet, if one of the Big 3 made something like it, you would be bitching the loudest... I can see it now...
"How dare they waste resources that could be spent making better cars braka braka braka gonna fail waaaark"
VW begins polling everyone... about everything {Autoblog}
Apr 29th 2008 10:23AM Andrew: It is my experience that Autoblog's commenting feature leaves most people wanting. Sometimes you will hit reply and lo, it posts as a new comment anyways.
Alas, there doesn't seem to be any technology that warns us we are about to use the wrong homophone, and since you seem so bent on judging people's intelligence by what they write while traipsing through the internet, people won't feel bad when they consider you irretrievably stupid for not getting "polls" right the first time.
Latest Ford Focus ST arrives in the UK {Autoblog}
Apr 28th 2008 2:43PM "A C30 starts around $22,000. A US Focus starts around $15,000. I imagine most are assuming the Euro Focus would cost them the same as the US Focus."
If a euro-focus was de-contented enough, it would cost as much as a US focus... but having the original Mk1 focus stripped to stay under $14,000 in the late nineties is what got it slammed in the first place (sooooo many people whined about the cheap interior and suspension compared to the euro-spec). If the focus ST came over as-is, it would probably cost $30,000
"The C30 doesn't come in a 4 door. I want 4 doors and I think the 4 door Euro Focus looks better than the 2 door anyway."
Then get the Volvo S40. Same platform, euro-niceties out the wazoo... along with Euro-lux cost.
