They aren’t making what we want to buy, plain and simple.
U.S. sales fell for all three big American automakers in June, led by a 26 percent drop at General Motors Corp. (GM), while Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. surged.
Higher gas prices, slower sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles and a lack of deep incentives compared to last summer — when GM rolled out employee-level pricing — hurt the Detroit-based automakers in a weaker U.S. auto market.
… Toyota has taken a bigger share of a weakening U.S. market on the fuel efficiency of its line-up, which trails only Honda Motor Co. in average fuel economy among major manufacturers.
…Toyota has only a 9-day inventory of the Yaris, and an even tighter 4-day sales inventory of its Prius hybrid, essentially making both vehicles sellout hits.
Meanwhile, sales of Ford’s Explorer, a best-selling SUV, dropped by 36 percent in June while sales of the larger Expedition were down 46 percent. “There’s no question that higher gas prices have hurt demand for these products,” said Ford sales analyst George Pipas.
Kate and I have been complaining how Subaru has been behind the curve on hybrids (we have an Outback wagon). It’s an otherwise smart — and gay-friendly — automaker, but it really missed the mark by going for the SUV market with the stupid, fuel-inefficient and ugly Tribeca. Last year we went to see one in the showroom out of curiosity and it was disappointing that they wasted development time on this instead of a hybrid. The automaker was obviously shooting for the upscale family SUV demo already targeted by the Big Three.
Incidentally, Subaru reported its best June sales in company history — even the Tribeca posted double-digit gains –and total sales are up 3 percent for the year so far. More pain for the U.S. car makers. Driving around town I never see any Tribecas on the road, but I see a ton of new Outback wagons, mini-SUV Foresters and Outback Sports (the 5-door hatchback) out there. And let me tell you, the number of Toyota Prius hybrids sailing around Durham is substantial.
Apparently Subaru is pairing up with Toyota to use its hybrid technology, though nothing is expected until 2008. All Subaru has now is a concept car, the B5-TPH:
58 Responses to “Big Three automakers see sales plummet”
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
I don’t follow auto industry news very closely, but I regularly hear that the big three are in trouble with their pension and healthcare liabilities. The fact that they are targeting high profit segments of the market may be due to the fact that the lower margins on the vehicles that Toyota is selling would mean that the big Three would not be able to meet their Union contract obligations if they targeted that market. Of course, there’s always just plain incompetence, but the big three have occasionally put some really innovative products on the market, so it seems unlikely to me that their distress is due to a lack of creativity in the design department. Marketing and the sales side may well suck, tho.
If the US were to go to a single-payer health plan it would be a huge boon to large companies with generous union contracts, since all of the healthcare portions of the company obligations would be taken care of. It’s not just a one-time infusion of cahs, it reduces operating costs permanently, and permits greater room for risk taking.
I wonder what’s going to happen when the SmartCar arrives on the market in a couple of years? You can park it anywhere, it gets sixty miles to the gallon, and it’s a two-seater.
We have ‘em in Canada, ginmar. They are — while still rare — becoming more a common sight in urban areas.
I bear no sympathy for GM. They have been whining about health care and pension costs for the last 20 years, using that as the excuse as to why they can’t compete. Guys, something that predictable and obvious is not something you get to complain about. It’s like complaining about having to pay taxes. You signed the contracts, now live up to your promises. Factor the costs into your business plan and figure out how to deal with them.
And what’s up with all the SUV stuff? Anyone with a brain cell of intelligence could have diagnosed increasing fuel costs–why didn’t you start working on a good energy-sipping car? You’ve been doing nothing but playing catch-up with the Japanese and the Germans when it comes to engineering–whatever happened to US ingenuity and US know-how?
U.S. Automobile manufacturers are going to complain their way into oblivion.
wonder what’s going to happen when the SmartCar arrives on the market in a couple of years? You can park it anywhere, it gets sixty miles to the gallon, and it’s a two-seater.
I already see them around Detroit a bit. But I have also seen reports (that I can’t Google quickly - D’oh!!) that they are being targeted for theft.
I have also seen commercials touting Saturn’s View and Aura hybrids, but I have only seen detail on the Vue hybrid.
Yes - the Big Three have been through this before. I remember the 70s…followed just about immediately by the Reagan Depression. You’d think they’d be a bit more prescient about this whole gas-guzzler-drug-on-the-market thing, eh? But no.
Gambling on the bigger profit margin items is also, unfortunately, gambling with the shrinking number of auto-industry jobs still remaining here in Detroit, and thus to a certain extent with the SE Michigan economy. Thanks, guys.
And re: national health - yes, it’s a good idea. Yes, we need GM and etc. to be in favor of it in order to get it. But DANG it ticks me off that it ends up being a great big giveaway to the corporate world, and I don’t bet much on a rise in taxes on same said corporations in order to pay for it. No, we’ll be taxing work again for that I’m sure…
GodDAMNit.
I love my Prius. We’ve had it a couple of years, had to order and wait 5 months to get it and then got what came in (no choice of color, options, etc) unless we wanted to wait for the next one in to see if we liked it better.
The Tribeca is just ugly. The Mega-SUVs are useless as anything but a status symbol (the meaning of which is now “Duh!”). Small SUVs (e.g. CRV) have some uses, but are wasteful as commuter cars or family runabouts (except for large families — a bus would be wasteful too if it only carried one to five passengers).
I really can’t afford a Prius (my parents have one), but fortunately, Canada’s got a wide selection of the little 5-door hatchbacks, like the Yaris, Fit and Versa, which offer subcompact gas consumption with a choice of decent back-seat space or cargo capacity. The smarts are very cool, but just a bit too small for my usual cargo needs.
But dear god, LA needs fortwos. Those massive SUVs choking the highway system with only a single driver in each is getting ridiculous.
General Motors already makes a cute, petite, gas-sipping car, the C2. The only problem? You have to go to Mexico to get it.
http://www.chevrolet.com.mx/content_data/LAAM/MX/es/GMMGM/showroom/chevrolet/modelos/chevy/diseno.html
Still, it seems like it wouldn’t be that difficult to bring the C2 up to American emissions and collision standards. A lot easier than engineering a small car from scratch, certainly.
We have a 2001 Honda hybrid and a 97 Subaru Impreza. I try to minimize use of the Subaru since it only gets 27 mpg. At the time we were car shopping the Toyota Prius was a tiny car with no room in the back seat. Hence the Honda. If I were looking today the Prius, which has a more advanced hybrid drive and gets better gas mileage (60 mpg?) than the Honda (40 mpg) would be my first choice. It is much roomier than the old body style.
That being said, Subaru has one advantage. All of their cars have “all wheel drive” which is very useful during New England snowstorms. My ideal car would have the Toyota Prius power train and the Subaru drive train (hybrid + all wheel drive)
I sincerely hope that Toyota is not standing pat with their current hybrid technology, but will continue to refine and improve it. 80 mpg should be achievable and even 100 mpg might be possible.
^^^
To follow up, here’s an article on the entire range of small, fuel-effecient vehicles that GM builds and sells abroad in markets like Brazil, and why they inexplicably refuse to sell them in the US.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060618/AUTO01/606180301
I’m planning on buying a Yaris liftback as soon as I pay off a couple of home improvement projects (which should be by the end of the year.) I can’t wait to get it, it will save me so much money in gas alone. I have a kind of long commute, so my American-made sedan is killing me. Plus, buying a sedan as an owner of two dogs that I cart around a lot turned out not to have been the best choice ever. Plus, the Yaris liftback is beyond cute!
Feathers McGraw:
That does rather raise the issue of the collision standards themselves, right? We allow motorcycles on the road and they obviously don’t have the same collision standards as a standard car. Why not create a new set of standards for things like minicars? Call ‘em four wheeled covered motorcycles or something like that, if you have to. There has to be some scope for adjusting rules to permit innovative thinking. The Canadian market for gas-sipping mopeds was killed stone dead for over two decades by a regulatory framework that treated them as if they were the same as 1200cc motorcycles. Only now, with some small changes, are mopeds and scooters making a comeback.
Hybrid minivan! Hybrid minivan! Hybrid minivan!
Everybody I know through my kids wants one! But all they make are stupid hybrid SUVs. Those don’t work for families that haul lots of kids/stuff or people who also use their vans (sans seats) for hauling and delivering stuff for small businesses. SUVs have high sills and low interior room to size ratios and seats that suck to pull in and out through small holes.
What’s so fucking hard about a HYBRID MINIVAN! I think it would revolutionize the delivery van market, if nothing else! Local and regional runs would mean great mileage and low local emissions.
Seeker:
That does rather raise the issue of the collision standards themselves, right? We allow motorcycles on the road and they obviously don’t have the same collision standards as a standard car. Why not create a new set of standards for things like minicars?
Because minicars shouldn’t be allowed to totally demolish a Mercedes in an offset head-on crash?
http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/mbccustom/smart/safety/event_clips.cfm
First, Ms. Kate is correct.
Second, Ms. Kate badly needs to be tranq’d. It’s stress, I think.
Third, please see First.
Daimler started making a four-seater Smart in Europe about two years ago. Not quite as tiny and matchbox-like as the two-seater Smart, but the gas mileage was almost as good. I thought that would sell over here.
I didn’t see many of the four-seater Smarts on my last trip to France about a year ago. I saw the two-seaters everywhere. I don’t know if the four-seaters just didn’t take off, or weren’t widely available yet.
Every time I pull up to the pump and see that the car before me just spent $70, probably to fill an SUV, I feel brilliant that I chose a Honda Civic back when gas prices were still around $1.20. I wish the Civic hybrid had been an option then, but the only Honda hybrid at that time was a funny-looking thing with no trunk space. My car had been totaled in a hit-and-run accident and the insurance was paying for the rental for only thirty days, so I couldn’t wait for a Prius to show up and had to choose something off the lot.
I don’t follow auto industry news very closely, but I regularly hear that the big three are in trouble with their pension and healthcare liabilities.
You regularly hear that because they’re whiny punks. They complain that X of every car they build goes to their workers’ retirement and health, but they seem to complain that Y of every car goes to fat paychecks for their incompetent executives. Who, by the way, can’t blame their workers’ retirement and health for their bad decision to outright ignore the demand for more efficient vehicles.
Once again, the execs screwed up, and rather than learn from that mistake, they chose to blame their workers’ outrageous demands to retire and remain healthy.
And I too love my Prius. FWIW, I didn’t have to wait; drove one off the lot the same day I walked in. Of course, I live in a metro area with a lot of dealers, so I could call around and find out which one had the one I wanted.
Oooh, that Yaris *is* cute.
But they never seem to complain that Y of every car goes to fat paychecks, darn it.
Ms Kate, that link doesn’t work for me in either firefox or IE. Sounds potentially funny, though.
What makes Subaru a “gay friendly” automaker?
I ask because, when I told my kids (22 year olds) that I was thinking of leasing a Legacy, they told me it was a lesbian car.
Still haven’t figured out what that meant.
I ended up with my fourth Camry in a row (because it was roomier, not because of my kids’ comments).
I am boring.
Read this earlier post of mine:
Subaru drop-kicks Concerned Women for America
That’s okay Libertarian. I think it is cool that you drive what works for you, rather than trying to buy mass-produced “individuality” statements that project “insecure dweeb wanting you to like his car”.
Me? I drive “Easy Beat”, my bike friday. She fits in a suitcase or folds into a bag and travels with me, or navigates elevators and staircases and commuter trains with ease. Or Lady, my Bianchi Eros road tripper. Or a Raleigh C40 front shock city bike named Gloria (I took delivery on Steinem’s birthday and named her in her honor - like Steinem, she’s stylish, urban, and doesn’t take any shit from any holes).
For two-seater child-hauling comfort we have Carless Santandem (an ageing Santana Tandem). Cargo room? Just add the old Burley baby trailer to any of them, even with craigslist-swapperoos Gary Fischer Maniac and American Eagle 5sp roped inside for kid pick-ups.
Zog has a Can-of-ale touring bike (Lance)with a cracked rim, a 7speed internal hub Giant city cruiser (Teacherbike), and a high-speed patio chair (recumbent) named “MelloYello”.
Then there is Violet Beauregard, our Patriot Blue 2000 Dodge Caravan Limonade edition. 17 city/20 mixed/25 hot day highway. $60 per tank fill. Fucking ouch. We use her for camping, groceries, and hauling 4+ people more than a couple of miles. She sits in the driveway a whole lot (we only did 8500 miles last 12 months) and sometimes gets grounded for an entire month.
For us, driving isn’t for commuting. Driving is for trips involving 1)lots of stuff, 2)lots of people, and/or 3)lots of bad weather. For all else, there are bikes and public transit and feet.
I seem to remember that somebody in California hacked their Prius: they put in a higher-capacity battery and tweaked some of the settings in the computer, and got over 100 mpg. Basically (if I understood correctly), they converted the car from a hybrid to a self-recharging electric car. I like that idea, and I think others might too. You probably have a significant sacrifice in terms of acceleration, but if you are mostly doing local driving, that would be an awesome transitional vehicle.*
I get around 50 mpg on my Civic hybrid (only had it a month, so we’ll see if I can keep that up!).
*Until we can come up with a decent 100% non-fossil-fuel consuming car.
All the press I’ve seen for the Daimler Smart car to be launched in the US in 2008 quotes average mileage of 40 mpg, not 60.
And, hybids are not the end-all and be-all of fuel economy. On the highway they offer no fuel economy benefit over their conventional equivalent models, while introducing cost and complexity with their electric infrastructures.
The future of fuel efficient automobiles (including minvans) may be more about fuel efficient gasoline drive trains than hybrids.
“For us, driving isn’t for commuting. Driving is for trips involving 1)lots of stuff, 2)lots of people, and/or 3)lots of bad weather. For all else, there are bikes and public transit and feet.”
That’s another very good point: public transportation needs to improve in most parts of the country. I’m in Joisey, so I can get a lot of places by bus or train, but outside of areas like this, you’re screwed. Ditto for bike and pedestrian paths, which are much better some places than others.
I’ve got a Nissan Altima 2000 (got used) which I have managed to put 60K on in three years (yeah, I drive a lot. I’m in sales.) Except that I’m planning to move to Japan soon (no car needed!), I’d probably want to trade it in for something like an Insight or a Yaris after it hits 200K.
What I really want is something small that has two seats, looks like a sports car, has a big trunk, and gets 60 mpg….hello, auto companies?
I remember a study a while back that tried to connect vehicle with driver’s location on the political spectrum and apparently drivers of the outback tend to be overwhelmingly liberal.
It’s too bad about GM. My father was a GM autoworker for more than 20 years, and it’s because of the union benefits that my sister and I were able to have a nice home and go to college.
It’s truly embarrassing that Japanese car companies can read the American consumer better than an iconic U.S. company like GM.
Times are a changin’. My Republican, buy American, Dad, just sold off his Saturn VUE V6 Red-Line SUV and bought a 2006 Corolla. We’d thought we’d have to pry his cold dead hands off of the steering wheel. He’s using it for long-distance trips and winter driving. I question if the long-dstance trip thing will work out - my mother is tall and really likes her leg room.
I just bought a Scion xB . . front-wheel drive with traction control standard for Iowa winters, enough room to easily seat a young family of 4 still using carseats, Toyota manufacturing, and 30/33 milage. I didn’t even know about the sound system before hand, but that was like finding out the cute girl you’ve been obsessing over for weeks is totally geek.
I think the milage could get better if Toyota would redesign the drive train so interstate speeds don’t crank the engine above 3000 RPM in overdrive, but I’m not an automotive engineer.
I traded it for a 92′ Toyota pickup with a slipping transmission and 15-18 MPG, so this was a definate improvement.
I’m hoping to save gas by moving to a new house and new job and having a 5 mile commute instead of 22 miles — that’s way better than any new car.
I bought a Subaru Forester back in ‘99, when hybrids weren’t available. Now it’s 7 years old and I’m wondering whether I should stick with my pledge to drive it for 15 years (”use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”) or trade in for something with better mileage. Hard choice. I’m waiting for a plug-in hybrid, ideally from Subaru.
About pensions: look for the recent article describing how big corporations are stealing funds from employee pension plans while plumping up their own executive pensions. They aren’t practicing thrift, they are practicing theft.
Thanks Pam.
Oh, that Yaris IS cute. I was so desperate for a smartcar I bought I diecast model.
I always swore, in my salad days, that I would only buy American cars, did so and I was happy with them.
However, when I started looking for my last car, I read an interview with a Toyota executive and compared it to the attitudes of the GM executives. The Toyota executive was, all, we will build hybrids and fuel-efficient cars because that is the right thing to do, the environmentally-conscious thing to do while the GM executives was all, future, what future? What environment? Short-term money, money, money, baby!
That was when I went out and bought my Toyota Corolla.
I would LOVE an AWD hybrid minivan, preferably with kick-ass styling. Sadly most minivans today seem deliberately designed to evoke a painter’s van.
I drive ( almosT) a 1.4 diesel citroen C3
3.8 litres /100 km ( on motorway). 4.5 in the city.
I am trying to get it converted to biodiesel
Seeker, that link doesn’t work from google either, where I got it this morning.
Try this one: http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/06/12/video-mercedes-s-class-vs-smart/
It is in German, and uses a much bigger S-class Mercedes (other one, if it comes back, is a smaller e-class that totally crumples while the Smart still has operable doors). If you look at the damage to the dummies (green “bruise” zones), the Smart gets the best of this one too because the thing is an armored sphere.
AWD hybrid minivan
That’s what we’re holding out for; or at least a hybrid wagon. Does anyone drive wagons anymore? I feel so square…
GM’s problems are healthcare and pension costs. Because they actually PAY workers good wages and benefits, they have accrued what is known as “legacy” costs. GM pays healthcare for all of its workers (who are union members) through retirement. How many other companies in the United States do that? Not many. Sure, they’ve made terrible marketing mistakes, but it’s not fair to bash them as “whiny,” when they are one of the last corporations to pay wages and benefits. Forty thousand people are about to lose their GM-related jobs, and I wouldn’t call them whiny.
BTW, I own a Saturn. GM. Union made. In the USA. Great gas mileage.
Unfortunately, I think every single one of the hybrids is just reallydamn ugly. And for that reason, I won’t buy one unless/until they get better looking. Which, I suppose, is pretty stupid, but I hate ugly cars and I love my little Mercedes sedan.
Ms Kate - I found that video a little troublesome. It’s clear from the video that the Mercedes crumple zones are doing most of the work of decelerating the Smart. That implies that in a collision with a vehicle that has poor crumple zones the outcome for the smart will be far worse. Also the post-collision tumble of the Smart both rattles the hell out of the passengers and potentially spins them into secondary collisions.
I rather like the Smart concept, but the size issue is IMO quite serious. With so little to crumple the peak decelerations have to be large, and it’s not speed that kills, it’s deceleration.
I second (third, fifth, ninth?) the concern about size. When I went looking for a car to use for my insanely long commute (here opens the discussion on housing prices vs commuting distances), safety was very high on my list of concerns. I wound up w/ an ‘04 Civic. It has ABS, airbags & side airbags in addition to getting about 40 - 43 mpg (it’s all freeway driving). There is no point for me to get a hybrid as the fuel efficiency is all in city driving.
I will also second the call to the history lesson of the 70’s & early 80’s. What happens when gas prices skyrocket? Americans buy little cars w/ good gas mileage (even if they’re foreign).
The Yaris? I have a friend who finds the whole campaign hilarious since the Yaris has been the cheap rental car of Central America for years.
I wonder which fuel/technology will win out. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was corn derived ethanol.
That does rather raise the issue of the collision standards themselves, right? We allow motorcycles on the road and they obviously don’t have the same collision standards as a standard car. Why not create a new set of standards for things like minicars? Call ‘em four wheeled covered motorcycles or something like that, if you have to.
I think you just described Japan’s “Kei Jidosha” cars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_jidosha
About the Subaru Tribeca - Subaru came up with that ugly lump when GM owned 20% of the company. That’s all you need to know to understand why it’s big and ugly and out of character for Subaru.
GM, strapped for cash sold it’s share in Subaru to Toyota late last year. I expect the Tribeca will disappear fairly quickly.
Just out of curiosity, what defines a gay-friendly automaker?
Just out of curiosity, what defines a gay-friendly automaker?
Actively markets to the gay community; sponsors gay events and causes, internal policies that support GLBT employees.
Check out this site:
http://www.gaywheels.com/gff.htm
What I really want is something small that has two seats, looks like a sports car, has a big trunk, and gets 60 mpg….hello, auto companies?
Tell VW to build THIS!
Less than a ton, two seater, IS a sportscar, it’s rear engined so that whole hood is trunk space and gets almost 70 MPG (and a 6-second 0-60) from a 1500cc turbo diesel.
I think you’ll like Japan. Look into “Kei” cars when you get over there.
Many Toyotas are built in the USA. Not mine, unfortunately.
I drive 35 mi each way when working in the office rather than in the field (I’ve been in the field since mid-March). Less than 5 of those on arterial roads (so 30+ mi highway). I usually had an overall mpg in the mid-50s with my Prius. A little below in the coldest part of winter as the batteries are less efficient in cold and the heater requires more energy as well.
My husband comutes around 10 mi by car; my son about 3 mi by car or bus; and my daughter (until she graduated in June) a bit over 40 mi by car, train, bus and walking. The $300 for a multi-use monthly pass on for all parts of the MBTA is a bargain compaired to Boston rents.
The only issues I’ve had traction-wise with my Prius, in New England with its wonderful multi-foot snowstorms, has been with ice build up at the traffic light from the private street where my building is.
My 6′+ son and nearly 5′11″ daughter fit comfortably in the back seat. It is as comfortable for my husband (6′) to drive as it is for me (5′6″). It cost less than many compairable sedans. We need the size as well as economy, so researched.
All that said, many cars get nearly as good an mpg with conventional drives. Many of them are smaller and most are also made by Toyota, Honda, etc. No big 3s at the moment, as far as I know.
“I wonder which fuel/technology will win out. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was corn derived ethanol.”
My money’s on biodiesel. Unlike ethanol and other bio-fuels, there is no refining involved - you put the Mazola in the tank and drive off. The technology exists, it’s just as proven as current engines, and it doesn’t require us to build anything new (beyond diesel cars). Plus, America’s massive agricultural sector can produce vegetable oil in massive quantities without breaking a sweat. I’ve always thought a politician could score some major points by pushing for biodiesel, emphasizing American self-reliance and ingenuity. Something like “Fuel by Iowa - not Iraq.”
I’ve long thought that any senator tired of the mealymouthed opposition from domestic automakers to increased CAFE standards should just put on their best third-grader voice and say, “Waah! But making efficient cars is haaa-aaard!”
As for more efficient cars being too tiny to fit in… I’m inconveniently tall, but I’ve had no problems fitting into my recently acquired Corolla. It’s not much comfier for me to ride in a full-sized truck; the size issue in a well-designed car is a non-issue.
I’m tall and I have no problems in my friend’s Smart Car when I am up at her place in Canada. It’s wonderful, and I actually get to see more of the road and surroundings than I do in normal cars.
Plus I have really long legs and similarly had tons of leg room. Actually the seating makes you sit more upright, almost like you are in an SUV, which I find more comfortable than the usual car seating arrangements where you are almost half-lying.
Also, we had no problems passing anymore, the little thing had a huge amount of pickup from being still, and I never felt unsafe in the thing … and, well, parking rocked
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_(automobile)
I personally think I’ll get a Mini (Cooper-S of course!) … but I still would love a Saab hybrid as well …
Biodeisel is great from a carbon-only viewpoint, but don’t forget that burning it releases a lot of the same harmful particulates as normal diesel.
I’m not too excited about Subaru hybrids, even if they manage to solve some of the battery issues that are plaguing other models. The last couple of subs I’ve known have (aside from the drivetrain) been total piles of crap. If you’re going to get Big Three reliability (…aside from the drivetrain) you should at least get to pay a Big Three price.
Sarcastro, did you/are you living in Japan? I lived in Tokyo for ten years on my last stint; this next jump will probably be similar….will probably try for somewhere out near Kichijoji. (Kanagawa/Kawasaki is also a possibility.)
Oh, and yeah, the Tokyo Motor Show is HOT! I found them great to amble around at–I always loved the concept cars and the automobile industry Shibuya girls running around in moon boots and weird wigs posing among the clouds from the dry ice.
My ‘93 Corolla station wagon is coming up on 200,000 miles and I expect I’ll have to replace it within the next year or two. It gets 32 mpg in highway driving (which is pretty much all I do). I can’t find any reliable station wagons that get this kind of mileage on the market anymore. Bastards.
Yep, been there too. Multiple generations of autoworkers in my family, and it was because of those good jobs that I had opportunities to do something else.
I saw my first Honda Jazz yesterday: at least, the first on American soil. It does look small, amid the SUVs and pickups, but it also looks cool and cute. You’re going to see a lot of Japanese cars on that scale this year, and it will break a barrier of resistance to them, both bureaucratically and in terms of their acceptance. And GM will continue to try and squeeze markups off the big guzzlers. They’re more practical and make more economic sense than the Smart outside of high-density urban areas, and they answer so many transportation questions.
I didn’t see many of the four-seater Smarts on my last trip to France about a year ago. I saw the two-seaters everywhere. I don’t know if the four-seaters just didn’t take off, or weren’t widely available yet.
The ForFour’s been withdrawn from production: too much competition in that sector in Europe, really. You could pay less and get a small Fiat, Renault, Citröen, Nissan, Peugeot… even a Mini. Not to mention the small cars made by GM and Ford for the Euro market.