Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

GM doesn't care to make good sedans

A few months ago Ford announced the company will cease to sell sedans (other than the Mustang) and will focus fully on SUVs and trucks. Most in the industry thought it is a prudent strategy because consumer tastes having switched dramatically to SUVs, and also Ford’s currently lineup of sedans are lackluster to say the least.

Last week General Motors basically announced a similar plan, only that GM will shutdown plants and cut workforce into the 10 thousands as well. The public reception to that have not been so good. The same GM that received the massive government bailout after the start of the great recession, and the same GM that just last year lavished in the cut to corporate taxes, cannot repay the favors in kind by eliminating precious jobs. Those are real consequences to people’s livelihoods, rather than just a different product mix inside a dealership showroom as in the case of Ford.

Even from a strict economical standpoint this plan by GM isn’t entirely positive. It’s true that the market is leaning so heavily towards SUVs that Lamborghini sells one, but that isn’t to indicate the sedan category is dead in the waters. Asian manufacturers are still making quality sedans and continuously improving them (the redesigned Honda Accord is brilliant), and people are still buying. While not completely immune to shift to SUVs, the combines sales of Toyota’s Corolla and Camry remains in the 600,000s annually.

GM simply isn’t making class-competitive cars.

Indeed (negative) reputation plays a part, and I think American manufacturers never recovered from the adverse brand equity it carried from the 80’s and 90’s. Back then if a customer wanted a well-built car that will last for many years, the only option were Asian marques, and brand perception is a heck of a sticking point. Surely you’ve seen the Chevy commercials where “real people” were surprised at the quality of a Chevrolet car; bad reputation is insanely difficult to repair.

These days GM and Ford are making solid cars, but it’s never class-leading. Alpha-chassis Cadillac sedans are some of the best handling cars currently available, but the interior quality is leagues below its rivals from Germany. It can be argued that GM never intend to produce world-class sedans, but merely what’s good enough to move units. Now that those units aren’t moving quite at the numbers of the past, GM decides to eliminate the category from its portfolio completely.

It’s a shrewd move; partly due to prevailing market forces, and partly because GM doesn’t care to make great cars. Thousands will be out of a job because of GM’s incompetence.

Businesses are driven by the bottom line, but I think ceasing production of sedans is the wrong decision. The popularity of SUVs and trucks is partly bolstered by cheap gasoline prices, so then what will happen when prices inevitably go back up? Just like in the early aughts, American automakers will once again not have the appropriate product mix to cater to that demand.

Only there won’t be another bailout; GM never learned from their mistakes precisely because the government saved them from collapse back in 2009.

Working hard or hardly working?

Working hard or hardly working?

I now see why SUVs are so popular

Sport-utility vehicles (SUV) are popular as ever; if an automaker wishes to print money, produce an SUV. Porsche was highly prescient over a decade and a half ago introducing the Cayenne SUV; that car made the company so much money that they were then able to invest it back into sports cars. The likes of Lamborghini and Bentley have followed suit, and Ferrari will soon join the fray. These historic nameplates, far removed from the idea of an SUV, simply can’t resist the money prospective.

Full-line manufacturers have long ago latched on to the SUV money train, even if some are later to the party than others (looking at you, Volkswagen). Particularly, Subaru proved that consumers will buy anything resembling an SUV: they simply raised the Impreza hatchback on stilts, call it the ‘Crosstrek’, and the result is mega profits. The buyers are none the wiser that it’s merely a wagon sat higher from the ground.

SUV sales are doing so well and consequently traditional sedans are not (even the vaunted Honda Accord and Toyota Camry is down in sales) that Ford will be jettisoning its entirely sedan lineup in favor of SUVs. Of course, nowhere in the announcement is an admission that Ford’s current sedan portfolio is desperately outdated and behind on the competition.

As a car enthusiast I used to be utterly against SUVs. Wagons and hatchbacks offers the same utility, and if I were inclined to venture truly off-road, I’d buy a proper body-on-frame bruiser like a Toyota 4Runner or a Jeep Wrangler. The way I see it, the typical unibody SUV needlessly sacrifice fuel economy for the sake of a tall seating position and commanding view.

Keyword is I used to. My family recently bought an SUV - Hyundai Tucson, and having driven it around and on a few long trips, my mind has completely changed. There is indeed something magical, and more importantly comfortable, about the elevated seating position: ingress and egress is tremendously easy, and unlike a sedan your body is not hunkered down in a contorted position (especially if you’re on the taller side like I am). An SUV is also much easier to park, it being significantly shorter in the length than the typical four-door.

Sports cars remains the zenith in my heart, but for the regular commute and long journeys, I can understand why SUVs have become so incredibly popular.

The iPhone XS Max’s camera is a low-light monster.

The iPhone XS Max’s camera is a low-light monster.