Inside Line’s Wacky Predictions for 2010
We don’t consider Inside Line as the highpoint for automotive journalism–any site that runs a comparo between an old Ferrari 308 GTB and a Korean minivan is likely a waste. But the refreshed (and overdone) Edmunds spin-off has run an oddball list of ten events it sees happening in 2010.
The article was done by someone going under the creative name of “the Mechanic.” Rumor has it he was a former Detroit exotic dancer, sometime salesman, and later editor for The Advocate. Actually, we’re not really sure. Nor do we care.
So here is a summary of Inside Line’s predictions:
The BMW 5 Series GT and Honda Accord Crosstour will be colossal failures.
The Chevy Volt will be a sales flop. Read more
Video: The Birth of a Polyfiat
Video: Chrysler’s Turbo Power and Eighties Luxury
Your Next Chrysler Could Be a Lancia in Drag
The Fiat Group’s is looking to kill two birds with one stone. Lancia is Fiat’s entry-level luxury brand, a sort of Italian Buick. And like Buick, Lancia has been suffering from a stale image. Fiat execs’ strategy will gradually merge the American Chrysler and the Italian Lancia into one. The new Lancia Delta will be the first bilateral vehicle, set to be showcased this coming year. The Chrysler 300 will serve as the basis for Lancia’s next full-size saloon, the Sebring will cover the next mid-sizer, and the Dodge/Chrysler crossover architecture will be exported to Italy.
The Ten Best Concepts of the Decade #5: Chrysler Firepower
The Firepower seemed like the next logical step in the Viper evolutionary chain. The old Dodge two-seater had grown a little long in the tooth by 2005, no longer the raw road monster it had once been. The Firepower closely resembled the Viper, but progressed the design to appear more upscale–even lavish–with chrome, creases, and leather.
Being a Chrysler, the Firepower was more about grand touring than all-out performance. The 6.1 L Hemi V8 put out seventy-five fewer horses (425 total) than the Viper’s V10, but the coupe made up for it with its shiny interior, stylish looks, and claimed 4.5 sec. 0-60 time.
It doesn’t take a scientist to see where the problems lay. The Firepower would’ve ended up as another low-volume, low-dollar exotic (a la the Viper). Oddly enough, the Firepower’s rumored target price was a mere $50,000. Of course, it never would’ve sold for such a low sum without major sacrifice. A shortage of company dollars and a lack of demand left the Firepower to the already-packed Chrysler bin. Soon after its mid-decade debut, the Chrysler Group began its slow meltdown…which we are still seeing today.
Alfa-Romeo in Dangerous State
There’s been a lot of hype surrounding Alfa here in the US. With all the talk of the pretty cars and Italian style, observers ignore the horrid rep Alfas (and Fiats) have in reliability. For the past decade, Alfa-Romeo’s been trying to serve as the Italian Audi–which comes to a wannabe BMW. The overweight, front-drive convertibles and trouble-prone saloons aside, Alfa’s place in the Euro sales charts has been slipping big-time. Total sales are down by almost half of what they were a decade ago. Alfa and Fiat heads are looking to converge the Euro-American vehicles with Chrysler corresponding to Alfa and the dying Lancia, and Dodge hooked-up to Fiat. We’re betting on the Marchionne Magic burning out by 2015.
McCain Gives Thumbs-Down to Chrysler
“It was all about the unions. The unions didn’t want to have their very generous contracts renegotiated so we put $80 billion into both General Motors and Chrysler, and anybody believes that Chrysler is going to survive, I’d like to meet them.”
So goes Senator John McCain.
The Arizona senator spoke to The Detroit News while attending a Phoenix racing event. McCain’s grim prediction comes amid the continually declining state of the Chrysler brand and dismal words for CEO Sergio Marchionne’s business plan.
McCain went on: “We see the automotive industry, and my heart goes out to the citizens of Detroit, really in the tank, and yet we have manufacturing plants all over the South, which are not bound by some of the labor rules and contracts that make them non-competitive.”
Image courtesy of Caricature Shack.
“Why the Reorganization of the US Auto Industry was Handled the Way It was” by Eddie Alterman
Earlier this summer, after GM had run through bankruptcy like a greased pig, our John Phillips threw a page of questions onto my desk. The queries sought to make sense of the rearranged domestic car industry. There were a lot of them, but they demanded answers. Here are the most pressing five:
Viper to Stay with Chrysler
There was concern earlier in the spring when it was announced the Viper license was up for sale. A tussle ensued, with clashing claims over how much was offered to take ownership of the Viper automotive name and assembly plant. Robert Nardelli, Chrysler’s outgoing CEO, stated there were no worthy offers; others disagreed, claiming offers as much as three times the desired amount.
None of that matters now, for the Viper will stay within the Chrysler network–now a property of Fiat. Chrysler’s media office announced the license and production will remain under current ownership, though the long-term future of the Viper is unclear. There are no major plans to replace the current generation in the product planning department, but early ideas have been produced within the Chrysler design arm.
Diesel Dropped as a Priority for Automakers
For those of you still hanging onto the idea of a diesel renaissance here in the States, there’s bad news: Automotive News has reported that the six of the biggest names in the auto business have halted their diesel development plans for the US.
Honda, Nissan, Toyota, GM, Ford, and Chrysler execs felt the cost in making diesel engines fully compliant with US (and especially California) air standards was too high; in addition, consumer perception was not favorable enough to dent the move towards hybrids.
Honda had been on the forefront among the six, with diesel variants of the Accord, TSX, and TL in the pipeline. One-by-one, management axed the proposed diesels, eventually putting the whole project on hiatus. Plans from BMW and Volkswagen, however, appear to be moving forward.
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