First Chrysler announced the Dodge Demon sports car will be based on a FWD Chinese platform (from Cherry who's currently inundated with lawsuits from BMW and Mercedes for design copyright infringement:toilet: ).
Then today Isuzu announced it was ceasing all US sales operations effective January 2009 (not that anybody even noticed they still existed in the first place).
Is there anything to look forward to that will be affordable?
I dunno, seeing Isuzu finally die seems like good news to me...
...but then I'm biased - I worked on the frickin' things for six years...
The Chinese stealing designs? I'm shocked, shocked!
LOL at both comments :hick:
This one is for you Carm :hick:
(http://img211.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-7780/loc161/47666_logoFORD_122_161lo.jpg)
That was weird it disappeared...
http://img211.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-7780/loc161/47666_logoFORD_122_161lo.jpg
Edit again, they deleted it!
the whole auto scene is agitating to say the least. Depressing is more like it. Hopefully time will come for us to trade freely with canada and mexico while pulling the chocks on the china market. They do not play by any written rules. Too bad we owe them so much money now though.
I saw an isuzu canyon.... It freaked me out. I haven't seen one that wasn't a rodeo in so long.
I thought all the Isuzus on the market right now were just rebadged GM vehicles anyway?
Does that mean they won't be selling Duramax diesels to GM anymore?
Ah well, you all know the definition of Chinese R&D..."Receive & Duplicate"
I actually think hearing about Isuzu's death is good news one less Chinese/puppiesanese auto maker selling their on American soil.
(http://img211.imagevenue.com/loc161/th_47666_logoFORD_122_161lo.jpg) (http://img211.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc161&image=47666_logoFORD_122_161lo.jpg)
They're not stealing the Demon. Dodge is going to have it built by Cherry.
And as for the Duramax, I don't think we'll be seeing these for long anyway. GM is now working on a smaller Diesel V8 for their trucks, and I'd guess a full size replacement for the DMax is in the works. The mystery to me is will they continue to use Allison Transmissions now that they've sold their stake in the company.
well the way i see the market ford or chevy needs to make a car that is afordable to the american public. thats the way i see them regaining control of the market. Lets face facts, the average american buyer can't afford a $50,000 car payment ontop of there already crazy morgage. So basically the auto makers need to see that and say hey lets make the car or truck affordable again. and on top of it making it fuel efficient. but thats how i see it. and yes im sure its a pipe dream. But also with any auto maker trying to bring back the mucle cars of the 60's and 70's there really isn't a huge market for it.
Well gm already said there cars are goin up in price,soon.
There already are, and have always been, affordable cars on the marketplace. The Chevy Aveo, for example, starts at under $10k.
Problem is, people don't want 'em. They want their cars to be rolling living rooms with all the features of a Lexus but with the price of an Aveo.
'Nuther problem is that bottom-feeder cars provide plenty of volume but little profit. Any carmaker would rather sell a half million SUV's at $5k/vehicle profit than sell a million econopoopsters at $500/vehicle profit.
As for GM saying they're going up in price: Don't count on it. on China all you want, but when they start selling cars here the other manufacturers (including puppiesan and Korea) will have to keep their prices in check or they'll lose sales. It's one thing to drive the price of something up because people have no alternative (such as with gasoline), but it's another to jack your prices up when the customer need only walk across the road to a China, Inc dealership and get a lower price. As for quality: We Canadians know how a company can come up from the abyss, quality wise. You guys only THINK the Excel was Hyundai's worst car. You've never experienced the Pony or Stellar. We also know just how badly a company can make cars and go out of business if it doesn't improve (the Russian Lada).
For those of you who have no idea what a Hyundai Pony is, I present exhibit A. Think of it as a Korean Chevette, but without the technology or build quality of a real Chevette. Powered by a Mitsubishi 1.6 OHC engine fed by a carb with manual choke (and a manual heat riser valve - you had to get under the hood and flick it to WINTER or SUMMER mode), sparked by a points-type distributor, channeled through a 4-speed manual (later were 5-speeds) or 3-speed automatic to a live rear axle.
Power windows? Nope. Power locks? Nope. A/C? Roll the windows down. Want a radio? The dealership can install one for you - they'll just contract it to the local stereo shop, then double the price.
My ex-girlfriend had one. The headlights stopped working so I started troubleshooting. Every single wire in the car was either white, yellow, or blue. A 2-inch-thick bundle of wires in the dash, all the wires the same colours. I ended up installing a toggle switch in the dash.
And now, I present to you, Hyundai's first brave attempt at the North American market nearly 25 years ago, available in Canada only because there was no way it would have met US emissions and crash requirements, the lowly 1984 Pony:
It gets better! Ford is selling Jag and Land Rover (we all knew that right?)
Guess who the buyer is?
Tata!
That's right Tata, the Indian company who makes the $3000 new car.
Guess what else? Ford is selling them 100%! (Instead of just a minority share like Aston to Prodrive)
Yay!
Oh, come on. Tell me you're not dying to go to a dealership and say to a saleswoman "So.... show me your Tatas" :tetas:
I am :D
I just don't want it to be at a Jag dealer :(
Have you seen the new Malibu? Astra? Vue? All very much under the $50G mark, and all very good cars.
Carmen, that's probably the nicest '84 left, too. :toilet: That's awesome. I've always called them Korean Chevettes as well. :D
AM, Jag and LR have been up for
complete sale since they first sold Aston Martin. It's just taken this long to wittle down the contenders. Personally, I can't see anything more ironic than to see the Colony owning two of the most iconic brands of the Empire Motherland. It would be like Ford being bought by a company in Panama, or Vietnam. Crazy. Did you know that Ford tried to sell Volvo last year, but no one would take it from them? Not even Volvo's Heavy Equipment manufacturer, who split from Volvo cars when Ford bought that division.
...and yet Volvo is one of Ford's few bright spots. Volvo is actually making money, and right now Ford is using so many Volvo chassis, especially in Europe, that I don't see HOW Volvo could be split off...
Being in the truck industry, hearing about Isuzu sales being stopped is actually shocking. Isuzu trucks are some of the most affordable, durable, and easiest to maintain, especially for the small business owners. Hopefully they were only talking about automotive sales.
Isuzu hasn't sold cars in 14 years. So yes, they're talking about truck sales. It's a 100% pullout.
Shawn is talking about Isuzu NPR's, commercial and fleet trucks. I bet they kill off the Colorado looking thing but Isuzu commercial vehicles are all over the place.
I forgot about those. Interesting question, the press releases all say complete pull out (including paying off the Isuzu-only dealers) but they don't mention the NPR or anything commercial.
Are they even the same company anymore (like how Hyundai's heavy equipment and car divisions split but both kept the name)?
I read an article that Isuzu is only pulling out of the light truck market. Considering there hasn't been a "real" Isuzu truck sold in NA in years it's not a big shocker. According to the article I'd read, Isuzu is sticking around in the light commercial and medium duty truck markets, as well as the diesel market (which means GM will continue selling Duramaxes)
Actually, as much as I hated working on them, Isuzu used to have some pretty interesting vehicles. The AWD turbo Impulse (those things were FAST), the V6 2-door soft-top Amigo (never sold in Canada, otherwise I'd own one as a woods toy) and the last generation Trooper were actually pretty nice vehicles, and the VehiCross was weird but neat. Even the first-gen Rodeo was alright. For a shiznitbox, the turbo I-Mark was alright as well. Lotus did the suspensions for all Isuzu cars, so they handled like they were glued to the road.
Isuzu, like Mercury, was orphaned in Canada years ago. Unlike Isuzu, though, you can still get parts for Mercury cars here.
It's no wonder Isuzu never caught on up here in the Great White North. We never had dedicated Isuzu dealerships - Isuzu came to Canada in '87 sold under GM's "Passport" name (along with a Daewoo-built car called the Optima, identical to the American Pontiac LeMans) In '92 they were moved to the Saturn/Saab/Isuzu franchises (Saturns didn't come here until '92). In the early 90's GM had another identity crisis and created the "Geo" brand, which became the franchise for the only Isuzu car left, the Impulse (called Geo Storm). Then another mid 90's identity crisis, and the car was changed to the Asuna Sunfire (sold alongside a rebadged Sidekick called the Asuna Sunrunner).
That makes a lot more sense!
And yeah, the whole barely-rebadged GM trucks were just sad, I'm glad Mazda quit that awhile ago.
That's what you call "Full Circle". In the beginning Ford, GM and Dodge all sold rebadged puppiesanese trucks as their own (Chevy Luv = Isuzu, Dodge D-50 = Mitsubishi, Ford Courier = Mazda). Now it's the other way around. Mitsubishi = Dakota, Mazda B-series = Ranger, and Isuzu = S-10/Colorado.
Funny how the Mitsubishi truck looks ten times better than the Dakota, while the other variants look like pooh.
I agree. My father's got an '05 Dakota 4X4 V8 Club Cab, and I think it looks like ass. The Mitsu version looks MUCH better (but it's unavailable with a V8). The Dakota interior is absolutely horrible. It's cramped (there's more room inside my regular cab F-150) and the plastics are all hard and cheap. It's probably a legal thing, but there are head rests glued to the back window, making rearward visibility non-existent.
;)
Okay, that has to be nominated for "Quote of the Year". Hats off to Thunder Chicken!!
I'm pretty sure I'd read in one of the car magazines that the V8 is no longer available. Mitsubishi's own website doesn't have any info on 2008 models (at least as far as the Raider is concerned), so I can't tell from that.
On a related note the Dakota's 4.7 V8 has been upgraded to 300 horses this year. It needs them. My father's truck is a dog.
most of the suv's today look like they are made for pavement alone, no real clearance anymore.
That screen cap is from today.