From Detroit, Big, Gutsy Cars and Wagons
12-01-2003, 07:49 AM
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From Detroit, Big, Gutsy Cars and Wagons
December 1, 2003
From Detroit, Big, Gutsy Cars and Wagons
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
WAIT long enough and everything comes back into fashion. For 2004, that means big rear-wheel-drive iron from the Detroit automakers.
Over the next year, consumers will get a look at the biggest, gutsiest cars and wagons in a generation. While these automobiles might not be as long as the ocean liners that last plied the nation's highways in the 1970's, this new generation of rear-wheel-drive vehicles is bound to attract attention from drivers who have grown accustomed to sedate, almost generic, cars.
In a business that is essentially a fashion industry, rear-wheel-drive vehicles have been scarce for almost three decades. So the Big Three, which have always looked to the past for inspiration, are seizing on rear-wheel-drive vehicles now in hopes that their novelty will draw customers from the industry's foreign competitors. Executives are confident that the biggest drawbacks of past rear-wheel-drive cars - namely poor fuel economy and unstable handling in poor weather - have been overcome by the latest technology.
Whether these vehicles will, in fact, pull customers into showrooms is another matter, for the renaissance of rear-wheel-drive cars from Detroit runs counter to where the automotive marketplace has shifted the last three decades.
For one thing, millions of Americans have grown up primarily with front-wheel-drive cars, save for the occasional sports car or luxury car. And, during the last three years, the car market in the United States has been dominated by foreign brands. They control nearly 60 percent of the market for cars and actually offer more car models than do the companies from Detroit. Detroit remains well ahead in sales of light trucks, however, with 60 percent of the market.
Front-wheel-drive cars became the vogue in the 1970's and 1980's, when gasoline prices spiked and the federal government instituted corporate average fuel economy standards, forcing automakers to improve their vehicles' gas mileage.
The first front-wheel-drive cars that many Americans drove came from Japan, where fuel economy was long a priority, with gas prices of $5 a gallon and up. Front-wheel drive - the car is pulled forward by the two front wheels - is a more efficient way to power a car, since the engine is closer to the front wheels.
Front-wheel-drive vehicles, which have 60 to 70 percent of their weight over the front wheels, provide better control on ice and snow than rear-wheel-drive cars, which are propelled forward by the back wheels. With little weight over them, the back wheels tend to spin on slick surfaces.
But in the decades since, car companies have developed a variety of technologies to improve the handling and fuel economy of rear-wheel-drive cars, like stability control and all-wheel-drive systems, which can be applied to any type of vehicle and engaged in challenging driving conditions. Too, the majority of four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicles are built on a rear-wheel-drive chassis, meaning car companies can argue that consumers are already familiar with the configuration.
Their biggest selling point, however, is that the car world simply considers rear-wheel-drive vehicles to be more hip than those with front-wheel drive.
The lineups of European luxury carmakers have always been primarily rear-wheel drive, as are a variety of Japanese luxury cars, including the LS 430, the Lexus flagship sedan. To car buffs, the advantages of rear-wheel-drive cars in speed and performance far outweigh their drawbacks.
Hands down, the most important of this new crop of rear-wheel-drive cars are the Chrysler 300C and the Dodge Magnum, which is actually a sport wagon but has a rear-wheel-drive configuration. Set to be built in Canada, the two cars are a collaboration between Chrysler and Mercedes, a result of the 1998 merger of Chrysler with Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler.
The two vehicles draw about 20 percent of their components from Mercedes, most notably a five-speed transmission offered on Mercedes cars for the last few years. Each has a strong, square-jawed appearance.
And each will be available with Chrysler's powerful 5.7-liter, V-8 Hemi engine, which delivers 340 horsepower, making the two vehicles the highest-performance mass-market cars Chrysler has offered in years. "This is a fresh start for Chrysler," said Trevor Creed, the company's senior vice president for design.
It is also a critical juncture. Chrysler is scrambling to be profitable this year and to hold back the foreign companies' charge. In August, Toyota Motors, whose Camry is the best-selling car in the United States, passed Chrysler for the first time in American sales, to rank briefly as No. 3 behind General Motors and Ford.
"They realize it's fourth down and less than two minutes left on the clock," said Karl Brauer, the editor of Edmunds.com, a Web site that offers shopping advice to car buyers. "If they don't get a touchdown, the game is going to be over.''
Despite the obstacles, Mr. Brauer said he believed that customers were willing to consider rear-wheel-drive cars from Detroit as long as they are appealing and well-packaged. As evidence, he points to the success Cadillac has had in resuscitating its image, thanks to a series of rear-wheel-drive cars, including the midsize CTS sedan, which has sold well in two years on the market, and the new XLR sports car, which is sold out at many dealerships. It recently introduced another rear-wheel drive vehicle, the SRX sport wagon.
Cadillac plans to follow these vehicles next year with an all-new version of its STS touring sedan, which will also be rear-wheel drive. Elsewhere, the rear-wheel-drive onslaught includes new versions of two 60's classics, the Pontiac G.T.O. and the Ford Mustang, which should warm some baby boomers' hearts.
"People are more than ready to have some American success stories," Mr. Brauer said.
From Detroit, Big, Gutsy Cars and Wagons
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
WAIT long enough and everything comes back into fashion. For 2004, that means big rear-wheel-drive iron from the Detroit automakers.
Over the next year, consumers will get a look at the biggest, gutsiest cars and wagons in a generation. While these automobiles might not be as long as the ocean liners that last plied the nation's highways in the 1970's, this new generation of rear-wheel-drive vehicles is bound to attract attention from drivers who have grown accustomed to sedate, almost generic, cars.
In a business that is essentially a fashion industry, rear-wheel-drive vehicles have been scarce for almost three decades. So the Big Three, which have always looked to the past for inspiration, are seizing on rear-wheel-drive vehicles now in hopes that their novelty will draw customers from the industry's foreign competitors. Executives are confident that the biggest drawbacks of past rear-wheel-drive cars - namely poor fuel economy and unstable handling in poor weather - have been overcome by the latest technology.
Whether these vehicles will, in fact, pull customers into showrooms is another matter, for the renaissance of rear-wheel-drive cars from Detroit runs counter to where the automotive marketplace has shifted the last three decades.
For one thing, millions of Americans have grown up primarily with front-wheel-drive cars, save for the occasional sports car or luxury car. And, during the last three years, the car market in the United States has been dominated by foreign brands. They control nearly 60 percent of the market for cars and actually offer more car models than do the companies from Detroit. Detroit remains well ahead in sales of light trucks, however, with 60 percent of the market.
Front-wheel-drive cars became the vogue in the 1970's and 1980's, when gasoline prices spiked and the federal government instituted corporate average fuel economy standards, forcing automakers to improve their vehicles' gas mileage.
The first front-wheel-drive cars that many Americans drove came from Japan, where fuel economy was long a priority, with gas prices of $5 a gallon and up. Front-wheel drive - the car is pulled forward by the two front wheels - is a more efficient way to power a car, since the engine is closer to the front wheels.
Front-wheel-drive vehicles, which have 60 to 70 percent of their weight over the front wheels, provide better control on ice and snow than rear-wheel-drive cars, which are propelled forward by the back wheels. With little weight over them, the back wheels tend to spin on slick surfaces.
But in the decades since, car companies have developed a variety of technologies to improve the handling and fuel economy of rear-wheel-drive cars, like stability control and all-wheel-drive systems, which can be applied to any type of vehicle and engaged in challenging driving conditions. Too, the majority of four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicles are built on a rear-wheel-drive chassis, meaning car companies can argue that consumers are already familiar with the configuration.
Their biggest selling point, however, is that the car world simply considers rear-wheel-drive vehicles to be more hip than those with front-wheel drive.
The lineups of European luxury carmakers have always been primarily rear-wheel drive, as are a variety of Japanese luxury cars, including the LS 430, the Lexus flagship sedan. To car buffs, the advantages of rear-wheel-drive cars in speed and performance far outweigh their drawbacks.
Hands down, the most important of this new crop of rear-wheel-drive cars are the Chrysler 300C and the Dodge Magnum, which is actually a sport wagon but has a rear-wheel-drive configuration. Set to be built in Canada, the two cars are a collaboration between Chrysler and Mercedes, a result of the 1998 merger of Chrysler with Daimler-Benz to form DaimlerChrysler.
The two vehicles draw about 20 percent of their components from Mercedes, most notably a five-speed transmission offered on Mercedes cars for the last few years. Each has a strong, square-jawed appearance.
And each will be available with Chrysler's powerful 5.7-liter, V-8 Hemi engine, which delivers 340 horsepower, making the two vehicles the highest-performance mass-market cars Chrysler has offered in years. "This is a fresh start for Chrysler," said Trevor Creed, the company's senior vice president for design.
It is also a critical juncture. Chrysler is scrambling to be profitable this year and to hold back the foreign companies' charge. In August, Toyota Motors, whose Camry is the best-selling car in the United States, passed Chrysler for the first time in American sales, to rank briefly as No. 3 behind General Motors and Ford.
"They realize it's fourth down and less than two minutes left on the clock," said Karl Brauer, the editor of Edmunds.com, a Web site that offers shopping advice to car buyers. "If they don't get a touchdown, the game is going to be over.''
Despite the obstacles, Mr. Brauer said he believed that customers were willing to consider rear-wheel-drive cars from Detroit as long as they are appealing and well-packaged. As evidence, he points to the success Cadillac has had in resuscitating its image, thanks to a series of rear-wheel-drive cars, including the midsize CTS sedan, which has sold well in two years on the market, and the new XLR sports car, which is sold out at many dealerships. It recently introduced another rear-wheel drive vehicle, the SRX sport wagon.
Cadillac plans to follow these vehicles next year with an all-new version of its STS touring sedan, which will also be rear-wheel drive. Elsewhere, the rear-wheel-drive onslaught includes new versions of two 60's classics, the Pontiac G.T.O. and the Ford Mustang, which should warm some baby boomers' hearts.
"People are more than ready to have some American success stories," Mr. Brauer said.
12-01-2003, 12:48 PM
#2
Race Director
It is about time the American car companies got back to their roots and started in with the HP wars. With quality too back on the rise hopefully GM and the rest will lose some of those old stigmatism’s. 
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