It appears that the major "American" car brands are giving up on making sedans profitably. All of Ford, GM, and Chrysler will, within a year or two, be down to a couple of sedans (and coupes) each.
The major reason for this - unspoken due to embarrassment - is that the Japanese transplants, the Koreans, and the Germans are kicking their asses, building high-quality sedans at very reasonable prices, and the Big Three cannot match the product offerings by the others in this marketplace. The remaining American sedans are not bad cars, they are just not outstanding in any way. Well, check that - I guess the "Hellcat: Mopars are outstanding in their own way.
Second, the country has gone bat-shit-crazy for Trucks, SUV's, and the million variations on SUV's that this market has spawned. I have long scorned this infatuation with SUV's and CUV's. Cars are faster, safer, better looking, more economical, more reliable, and more comfortable than any of these (mainly) ugly beasts. And very few people need the "security" of all-wheel-drive, four-wheel-drive, or whatever else you want to call it. Give me a RWD car with traction control and a good set of tires, and I'll go anywhere that traffic is allowed.
It surprises me a little bit that the tree huggers have not campaigned to thwart the movement to SUV's, in the interest of national fuel consumption, but they are also too stupid and shortsighted to jump on the nuclear power bandwagon, so intelligence is not their strong suit.
Does anyone care about the demise of the American sedan? Are people going to hoard Impala's? Taurus's? Somehow, I don't think so.
The major reason for this - unspoken due to embarrassment - is that the Japanese transplants, the Koreans, and the Germans are kicking their asses, building high-quality sedans at very reasonable prices, and the Big Three cannot match the product offerings by the others in this marketplace. The remaining American sedans are not bad cars, they are just not outstanding in any way. Well, check that - I guess the "Hellcat: Mopars are outstanding in their own way.
Second, the country has gone bat-shit-crazy for Trucks, SUV's, and the million variations on SUV's that this market has spawned. I have long scorned this infatuation with SUV's and CUV's. Cars are faster, safer, better looking, more economical, more reliable, and more comfortable than any of these (mainly) ugly beasts. And very few people need the "security" of all-wheel-drive, four-wheel-drive, or whatever else you want to call it. Give me a RWD car with traction control and a good set of tires, and I'll go anywhere that traffic is allowed.
It surprises me a little bit that the tree huggers have not campaigned to thwart the movement to SUV's, in the interest of national fuel consumption, but they are also too stupid and shortsighted to jump on the nuclear power bandwagon, so intelligence is not their strong suit.
Does anyone care about the demise of the American sedan? Are people going to hoard Impala's? Taurus's? Somehow, I don't think so.
