Happy New Year Everyone! (Yeah, I know. A little late for that.) The automobile world has been trudging along quite nicely in 2011- I will contest there's nothing game changing going on. Trust me.
While the auto world is abuzz from the turnaround of the US automobile business, at the heels of the Detroit Auto Show- Ford is humming along nicely; the Chevy Volt has won the prestigious Motor Trend's Car of the Year Award; and Chrysler, despite living in and around a toilet going on two years now- has redesigned its flagship 300.
Did I ever tell you about my tenure with the 300? Six years ago- I was selling the then Motor Trend Car of the Year for 2005- boy have things changed there... Not a highpoint of my life, I'll admit- but few can say they knew the 300 "when" they were selling at full-list and it was a car people actually would trade-in a Mercedes-Benz or a Lexus for.
In 2005 everyone was getting fat and drunk off their real estate and stock portfolios- and the "Baby Bentley" 300- and what wins in 2011? A plug-in electric car?
Maybe it's a sign of the times? But in the pecking-order of things, a la the classic Post War American mentality of "my Chrysler trumps your Chevy" well, things have certainly changed forever.
2011 is not without it's fair share of ongoing recalls- including the latest from Honda- where something to do with a wiring harness in the CRVs is causing some Japanese engineer to fall on a sword, somewhere, but hopefully not the mass suicide (or was it mass murder?) that Toyota felt in 2010.
And there's even a smattering of recalls over at GM- something to do with the axles of their trucks? But again, compared to the Camry fiasco- in my humble opinion- any recall that even makes the news is a "quiet recall," a blip on the old dealer's bulletin.
Like when your Subaru goes in for a service and there's something to do an e-prom adjustment- that may give you better fuel economy? Or that "quiet recall" of a set of faulty rear wheel bearings that start to howl like tortured dogs- only to find out that you've driven too many miles for them to cover it under warranty. Not that I'm bitter about that or anything. But I'm digressing now at the risk of sounding, well bitter.
Another concern in the world of car- despite having pulled themselves from the doom-and-gloom of 2010's Recall-a-Rama, Toyota's platforms are aging- and while the same could be said for rebounding greats like General Motors- GM's making significant strides- so much so- that next year, 2012- promises to be yet another game-changer for GM- when "bold new" platforms sold overseas just may find themselves here, in the home market.
But a corporate reorganization is one thing- emerging from a PR nightmare- coupled to the fact that- Toyota makes boring cars to begin with, well- Toyota has a lot of ground to cover this year, and in the years to come; however, this didn't stop Toyota from unveiling the Prius wagon- the latest addition of what promises to be a whole lineup of hybrid Toyotas- or Priusses.
(I like how it rhymes and shares lots of letters with wusses...)
As if it was such a dramatic change from the Prius hatchback that its been selling for years? What? So the stuff behind the backseat gets a little more headroom.
It's like in Spinal Tap- "this one goes... to eleven."
Again, there's a reason why I haven't written anything going on three weeks.
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