Reply #8: The cars both makers sell in Europe are nice [View All]

[jmowreader]

You can buy a car that's just like a Vauxhall in the United States, but it says either SAAB 9.3 or SAAB 9.5 on it.

Both companies have divisions you don't think of as divisions of GM or Ford--SAAB (GM), Volvo (Ford), Mazda (Ford)...Mazdas kick ass, and SAABs and Volvos are nice cars (pricey little bastards, but still nice).

The manufacturers' flagship marques don't make those kinds of cars as their showpieces. Ford's only got like three cars out there--the Focus, which is a good small car, the Mustang, which is...well, a Mustang, no real competition there...and the boring Five Hundred. Ford built a car that's a perfect replacement for the Taurus, which means they traded one fleet car for another fleet car. Who the hell dreams of buying a Taurus, or a Five Hundred for that matter? I see a Taurus going down the street with anyone less than 90 years old behind the wheel, I figure there's a cop in it. Chevrolet has the same problem--except for the Corvette, which comes with a list of chiropractors in the back of the owner's manual, Chevrolet's cars are all boring.

Chrysler has the only American cars on the market people actually WANT to buy. Which is why the Japanese, Koreans and Europeans are doing so well--the boring cars are cheap (and not all that boring, either), and the expensive cars are the kind you'd want to own.