The MINI at one year

One year into owning my MINI, I must admit I like it more now than ever. It is a great car for what I need, it is as simple as that. Would other cars be as great? Maybe. And those cars may have been cheaper to buy, too. But I still really like my car for these reasons:

• It drives really well. It is fun on the road, and it doesnt matter what kind of road. The highway, back roads, city streets. There are only two problems with the driving so far: Potholes that a Buick floats over are felt pretty strongly. I don't mind for me, but I worry about the undercarraige of my poor baby (the MINI that is). The second is that this winter there was a lot of snow, and I ended up driving in alot of it without incident. The only problem was very nearly getting stuck at the bottom of a long unplowed driveway. Several attempts to get out were needed before we gained freedom. Lesson learned.
• The sport seats are exceptionally comfortable. There is plenty of adjustment for me, and the quality of the leather is great. The white piping is a great touch.
  
• Mileage. With a mix of highway and city, I get 37+ MPG. If I stick to the highway, I break 40 with the cruise control set at 75. If I slow down, I do better.
  
• 99.5% of the time, it is big enough. I had two occasions where we used the other car to haul more people or things. Two. The back seat works for adults if you are just zipping across town. I wouldn't want to make someone stay back there longer than 20 minutes, because the creases might not come out.
  
• Fun. Yes, I think it is a fun car to own. It makes me happy to see it, to walk up to it, and to get in. I like looking back over my shoulder as I walk away.
  

Ok, I admit, like any car there are flaws:

• The damn controls are confusing. They didn't have to be. The concept should have been to keep things simple, but it got away from them. I would rather have a couple of well marked buttons than fumble with the end of the light switch stalk. And with that huge speedometer, there could have been a bigger display for the settings.
  
• The sunroof shade screen could be more opaque, ie more shade producing.
  
• The radio on/off switch. Impossible to understand why they put it where they did.
  
• The oil dipstick. Impossible to read.
  
• Sometimes, the hatch doesn't close all the way, and you get a warning as you are driving off. I'd like the hatch to close easier, and/or the warning to come on before I drive off.

Expensive to own? I think not. I spent $29 for my state inspection, and a few bucks for oil (see above). And with the mileage what it is, I figure I spent about $850 for gas that took me 11,000 miles. And there has been nothing to complain about, quality-wise. The only trip back to the dealer has been the first year check in, and that was free. They took care of the inspection, and gave it a wash.

I doubt that many car companies can provide all that for under $23K, as well equipped as my little one year old.

Honda = Not So Ugly

No photos here. Just pop yourself over to the Honda Site. While the Accord sedan is somewhat big these days, and the styling a little over worked, the coupe is quite nice in a "girl car" kinda way. I actually like girl cars, so I mean that in a good way. The Civics are good no matter how many doors you want. The new Fit is looking quite up to its name. Now, do they still make Pilots and Timberlines? 

(I saw a guy with a very dark colored Timberline today (do they come in light colors?). He had the car, the hairdo, the blond babe in the passenger side. Wow, I thought, that is so pre-recession! Although I am not sure if or when that particular hairdo was in style.)

The Element was supposed to be sorta ugly, so it hits the mark just fine. I even like that they are offering it with painted body panels, rather than so much black plastic. A little color never hurt anything.

Lessee, what else is there? Oddessy, whatever. No fun talking about mini-vans. The CRV, now that is a POS. Never understood what the point was. Can't really go off road. Gets crappy mileage on the road. It is dead for me. Same thing with Toyota RAV4 (logo looks more like RAVA. Check it out). And all those other things that are high, short, and look more like children's toys than actual cars for driving. 

And of course, lets not forget the S2000. Nothing wrong there. Nothing at all.

Nissan = Ugly

I have only a few words on this subject: Nissan Altima Coupe, Nissan Rogue, and yes, the Nissan Maxima.

Maybe it looked okay in the renderings, but it lost it when it became a real solid object. The volume of the rear window as it fades into the trunk, the character line that runs down the side, and the mash up angles within the rear facade all conspire to say this baby's mom was thinking about all the options in her early months.

Ok, can we start with the headlights. Not good. Generally speaking, barbed things are painful. This is no exception. Moving on, the protruding grill section of the front is quite the opposite. It looks like it was designed to absorb any incoming pedestrians, light poles, or buildings the car might happen on. Plain. Ugly. Acres of sheet metal with nothing to do.

Speaking of nothing to do, this piece of Japanese American Cheese is about as tasty as it sounds. There is no good angle from which to view this vehicle. None. You can throw three separate grill treatments at it, and it still has too much sheet metal up front. The designers let the wheel openings dictate the shape of the front of the car, which worked on the VW New Beetle, but not here. Must I go on?

The bright spots at Nissan? The Cube because it is so odd. The Z. And as I have said before, the Sentra still looks like a nice, tight package to me. And I look forward to the Versa update, if there is one.

One's affections are not logical

This weekend, I got a chance to fire up the Falcon, and in the process of doing so had to jockey the rest of the fleet around in the driveway. 

Sounds simple, you say, but the problem is the Volvo has been a bit off lately. Seems ever since we had the brand new ($500) radiator put in by the local garage, the throttle has been a bit sticky, especially in the cold weather. That means when you start it, it just might be stuck full open, roaring to life as never before. Further attempts have shown it to rev very high when you merely tap the pedal, or get stuck full on, even if it starts out OK. 

So it was with some trepidation that I approched the Volvo with key in hand. But on this relatively warm weekend, it started up OK, and proceeded to just be a bit revvy, not really sticking but going a bit beyond what I expected. I warmed it up, and got the car moved out onto the street where I can park it while toying with the wagon.

While I fully enjoyed taking out the Falcon, I also seem to have rekindled a long lost affection for the Volvo. The solid feel of the door. The rolling brick shit house drive quality, apparent even when just re-parking the car. 

So maybe we will keep the old Volvo. A while longer. Sure is cheaper than buying Mr. Domestic Partner a new ride. At this point, the throttle cable has been fixed for $32, and the car successfully delivered us and friends on an outing of some 75 miles. She rolled over to 250,000 miles enroute. I even filled it up with "something in the middle." 

Yes, the old girl is back in the good graces again. 

(the Volvo in that picture is not our car, but a reasonable facsimile. No, we dont have those funny plates here in MA. And the wipers on our headlights are more out of joint than those in the picture. I don't think I have a picture of our car. I have pictures of the Falcon and the MINI though. Maybe I will get the camera out this weekend.)

2010 Mazda3: I'm Cryin'...

Well, that is too bad. I had seen some pictures of the 2010 Mazda3 5 door, and was not too worried. But more and better pictures have shown up on the Mazda site, and it is a bit worrisome. Is there any way to only buy the back 2/3 of the car? That part is working, but not much of the front is working at all.

First there is the big smiley faced grill, which is really mostly the bumper in disguise. Disgusting. Then there are the side grills, fashioned to look like air intakes for the brakes or some such thing. Well, they look fake. Sorry.

Not only are there some ridges that run up the hood just inboard of the headlights, but there are big shoulder ridges around the wheels. Seems they borrowed those from the new beetle. One or the other of these ridges might have worked, but to try to get both in there makes a mountain out what was a pretty nice mole hill. 

Moving further back, things settle down, but there is that ridge that starts on the driver door, down low, and ends in a kick-up. It kinda mimics the smiley-grill, but brings to mind the Toyota Matrix. Not in a good way either. This car should never remind you of a Toyota Matrix.

Oh well. There are enough of the original model of the Mazda3 out there so that one should be able to find a clean low mile example for some time to come. Until they fix this one, that is what I will plan on doing when the Volvo finally bites the dust.

A New Era of Malaise Mobiles?

Everyone has fond memories of mid- to late-'70's domestic cars. These over sized and over wrought barges were ugly when new, and are ugly still. Case in point:

Anything with stacked rectangular headlights, opera windows, half vinyl roofs, or painted in colors like "jade" or "burgundy-fire". These things often started out as fairly well designed cars that through both regulation and economic factors, kept getting stuff added on, like big bumpers, and gigantic grills made to emulate Mercedes.

Well, the automakers face severe challenges, with limited resources to develop new product, and will certainly beforced to clamp ever more "features" onto existing designs. What do you see as the Malaise Mobiles of the new century? 

Here are my suggestions:

The GM crossovers. These just dont do enough to get people out of their current SUV and into something alot more efficient. They look better than the lumpy older SUVs, but there will be no money to improve them, so look for them becoming dated, added to with more techy veneer and flash.

Ford 500/Taurus: They are simply too big, boring and non-descript. The new design tries to breathe life into the car, but it falls short looking rather gimicky. Same old car with new stuff bolted on, the perfect malaise recipe.

Chrysler: In general, Chrysler. It seems unlikely they will have anything new to offer for a while, and will have to tweak existing product for a while. A long while.

Wagons, Wagons, Wagons!

Well, I just cant hide my excitement. The Detroit Auto show brought us no less than 4 new wagons and/or hatches to drool over. Sure, most were announced before hand, but seems like enough are on the horizon to keep things exciting.

 

Probably the most beautiful is the Audi Sportback. Not only does it look great from the side and rear, but they finally worked out something with that grill to make it look almost OK. 

Cadillac is still moving forward with the wagon 

version of the CTS. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I am glad to see it come along.

Another high-end mark, Lincoln got into the mix with its C concept. Looking more like a Renault than the usual FoMoCo offering, it is something that suggests luxury and aggressive futuristic design can go together. Love to see this on the market.

On the other end of the spectrum, Chevy was showing off the tiny Spark, which looks a bit more fun than a Fit. Ford is just brought out the rather humongo Flex, which comes with a supersized serving of MINI-envy. I am waiting for a Focus wagon type variation, or at least a low-rider Edge. Chrysler might end up as the American marketing and distribution arm for Fiat, bringing a whole range of Alpha Romeos and Fiats, including the new 500. All in all, not a bad outlook. 

Except for that whole economy thing...

Mitsu Hatcheroo

Well, it is time to get back to the blog, and what better way than to celebrate a new 4 door hatch coming our way from Mitsubishi. Now I generally like the looks of this thing, but the work out of the hatch seems a bit klunky, as you can plainly see the 4-door sedan that existed before the new addition out back. No wagonish cargo area window, no sir. But a window, or a larger hatch would have helped work out the huge space between the rear door and the hatch. 

My only other complaint concerns the inverted Audi grill. It looked bad on Audi, and it looks pretty bad here too. No one or thing should have such a big mouth. It really could have been nice with the bumper extending across the front, and a small thin grill set above it to visually connect the headlights. Under the bumper could have been a second air intake roughly the size of what's there and you could call it a day. Drop in a discreet Mitsu logo and go home. And ditch the hood scoopy things too.

Probably the better looking car along these lines is the Lexus IS300 SportCross from 2002.

MINI E recruiting

As if they will have any trouble at all, MINI sent out an email today to recruit folks who might want to lease an all electric MINI Cooper Hatchback. Count yourself out if you don't live in LA or the New York/New Jersey areas. Don't expect to carry much more than a few bags and your best pal, as the entire back seat (such as it is) is sucked up by the batteries. And don't plan on going more than 60 miles from home. You have to make it home to recharge, and 120 miles will be pushing it. In an emergency, you can plug into a conventional wall outlet, but you will need to run the cord from your motel room as it takes 24 hours to charge it up without the home charger, getting dirty looks from the motel manager the whole time. 

So, the take home message seems to be: go ahead and lease the car, if you don't really need a car. I hope they actually get some real world information, something more than yes, you can in fact run down to the seven-eleven for a jug of milk in this thing. 

On the positive side, it sounds like it is fast. The site hints that the acceleration needs some getting used to, as in, don't look now, but you are already there. And it is very quiet. Don't run over any unsuspecting kids or elderly folks who were expecting you to be making noise! Handling: as good or better than the conventionally propelled MINI. Could be that the morning commute just got alot more fun.

My guess is that MINI buyers will be lining up. And that is the bet the folks at MINI are making too, to judge by the FAQs at their site. "What if my MINI E dies, do I get a new one?" Sorry, no. "Can I keep it past the 1 year lease?" Sorry, no. Oh well, can't hurt to ask...

Design Theory 1: Small Is Where the Action Is

Theory:

Look at the designs from any manufacturer, and I find that their smaller cars are better looking. And by that, I mean more fun, distinctive, and a pure expression of a design theme. And yes, I think fun is important. Cars should be fun. Fun can be serious too, as in serious fun, as in what is probably the best looking car ever: The entire BMW 6 series. Even the new ones with that funny business going on out back. But my real favorite:

Evidence:

Toyota - Yaris looks better than a Corolla, Camry or Matrix.

Honda - The Civic is a more pure, clean design than the overly busy Accord.

Chevy - The Malibu sure is better than the Impala. (sure the Aveo and Cobalt are dogs, but there has to be some exceptions)

Caddilac - Their relatively small CTS looks better than any of their other beasts.

MINI - The regular Cooper, over the Clubman any day. I can't even look at that SUV prototype.

Mazda - The getting long in the tooth 3 is still better looking than the new 6. The 7 over the 9.

Ford - Fusion has a more aggressive look than the 500, I mean Taurus. And again, look no further than previous posts to find me railing against the Focus.

Nissan - I even like looks of the much maligned Sentra over the overworked Altima and Maxima.

BMW - I am a sucker for the aforementioned 6 series, and the Z4 coupe. I like the 1-series hatch, but the 3, 5, and 7 series all look way overworked to me. 

Audi and VW - All of them look pretty bad in the past few years with that huge gaping grill. It looks equally bad on the big ones and the small ones. Although, I could come around for an A5. Nice looking car, grill and all.

Mercedes - I confess: I cant tell them apart. Between confusing letter number combos, and so many models, I gave up a long time ago. There are some nice looking 2 door hardtops out there though that are pretty slick. 

Volvo, Lexus, Infiniti - All better in their smaller models. Period.

And then there are companies who dont make any good looking cars, big or small. Chrysler, I am looking at you. You too Saab, Lincoln, and Suburu.

Corollary:

When setting out to design a smaller car, there isn't as much room to put in a lot of bad stuff. The resulting design is more pure, and when well done, can be more powerful. And more fun!

Toyota = Ugly

Now, I don't want to get all mean, but what is going on at Toyota? Sales are down, and the cars, well, I wouldn't want to lay claim to authorship.

Have you seen the Corolla? It went from a bland kind of somewhat ugly, to an overworked, "look-at-me" kind of really ugly. They seem to have tried to fit each and every one of the Camry's curves and bumps onto the smaller car, and it looks like it just barely survived. And sibling Matrix was never much of a looker. Poor thing.

Not that the Camry was such a great thing to try to copy. It so badly wishes it was born a BMW it hurts. In the end, the design is not bad, but seems more scatter brained than its arch rival, the new Accord. And languishing off to the side is the Avalon. Not getting a whole lot of attention now that Prius and Yaris are stealing the show.

I don't even want to start on the CUVs, SUVs, and trucks. Not that I am much of a fan of any of these sorts of vehicles, but if I was needing to teeter up high in some sort of cart-wheeling, leather padded cell, well, I'd look for one that I didn't feel sorry for.

The bottom line: Toyota's sales are down at a time they should be taking off. Toyota is mighty happy it isnt GM, but if they had cars that looked like something you'd want to wake up to in your driveway, they'd be in an even better position.

Big Things In Small Packages

Well, the New York Times is reporting (you have to register on to view) that more people are optioning up their small cars as they trade in the SUV. That should be good news for car makers. For Detroit, it is mixed news, as how many people want a loaded up Aveo? How about a Cobalt GTI? Caliber S? Focus M?

Well, Detroit just doesnt have anything to compete in the premium compact segment. There is nothing that can come up against a MINI, Audi A3, or even a New Beetle convertible all tricked out. Nothing that is fun, sporty, or can be made to be so. Nor anything on the way, that I can see. Ford even just cut out some of the better versions of the Focus.

Oh well...

Who is square now?

I am a big fan of the VW Squareback. As a variation, or "Variant" of the Type III, it was introduced in the US in 1965, about 4 years after its German debut as a notchback. During that time, they developed the Squareback (the name Variant was too close to Valiant) and the Fastback. 1968 saw the introduction of electronic fuel injection, a first for a production economy car inthe US. And around 1970 ushered in a slightly larger update.

Using the platform of the bug, this car brought a modern sensibility to the VW stable of cars. Providing 30 mpg, and 30 cubic feet of cargo space, it was cheap to use and versatile. While no letters were written home about blinding acceleration (this was the 60's and there were other cars for that) the Squareback surely gave over 800,000 owners practical and dependable transportation.

One of those owners was my brother. Around 1968 he came home with a white Squareback, which provided him the ability to haul equipment for his garage band gigs. He didn't seem to have it long before he traded it in on an Austin Healy, causing our father to be at no loss of words. The two cars were a Dr. Jeckle/Mr. Hyde thing, and I guess my brother had to go through both sides. Within a year, he had settled into an older Volvo sedan which led to a long line of practical and dependable vehicles.

While my brother undoubtably misses his Austin Healy, I am sure he also has a soft spot for his Squareback as well. The Squareback definitely belongs to the class of small wagons I hold dear, for being modern before their time.

Waiting...

Well, am I all alone on this? It kills me that Toyota is the only one with a really viable, profitable hybrid. Where the hell are the technology leaders, our German friends at BMW and Mercedes?

BMW has a "concept" hybrid that is based on the no-one-can-quite-figure-out what-it-is-for X6. They have some "efficient dynamics" features that are on the corporate site, but not on the USA site. And the features there are not listed as features on US cars. They have also created a small fleet of some 100 hydrogen cars, in their largest, luxury model mode, and are having them driven by invitation. Hardly getting real world use. This is all nice and good, but, we wont transition to hydrogen overnight, and so what we need are all the steps to get us there. Hybrids.

Mercedes is even worse off. Visit their site, and you can get more information about their classic car program than any new efficiency technologies. I honestly dont think anyone is going to get excited about Blue tech diesels. Diesel isnt running efficient enough to overcome the price gap.

I'm not impressed. These guys make GM look good.

If only GM could make a car that looks as good as the BMW 1 series hatchback...

Nissan: Hot or Not

Well it has been a little while, but I've been thinking about this subject for a while. Nissan is a company that not only has a great 6 cylinder engine, has a good design department. But they dont always hit it just right. Take the Maxima, thier top of the line sports-y lux-o sedan. This model has been around for a long time, through the years has kept up with the times technologically, even been a leader. However, the design of the car has had a varied degree of success. Early generations in the 80's and early 90's looked pretty good, but had an obvious Japanese look to them, especially compared to the American behemouths drifting around them on the road. But consider the more mature iterations:


1992-1994 (3rd Generation):

Hot. With an overall clean look, this car really seemed show Nissan was getting its design team in place. While this looks pretty generic now, I remember being impressed by the clean design where nothing appeared out of place. At a time when Pontiac as slathering their cars with ribbed cladding, scoops, and other unmentionables, this stood out as a better way to go.


4th Generation 1997-1999


Not too Hot. This gen brought in a more full body styling, with a more full look to the hood, the fenders and the roofline. At first I did NOT like it, but over the life of the body style I got to like it pretty well. I warmed up the generally muscular look, which wasnt over done.


5th Generation 2000-2003



Not. This iteration of the car just looked overweight and bulbous. It lost alot of its sporty look due to the high appearance of the roofline, and awkward treatment of the window shape around the c-pillar. The big random blob theory of design seems to have inspired the headlight and grill shapes as well. Take off those sporty wheels, and you have a gawky sedan.


6th Generation 2004-2008



Hot: This more recent design brings the Maxima back into good graces with a solid modern design that is not overly fussy. Certain details were fixed in the later years to help improve the original design, inculding removing the chrome nose guard in the grill, and subtle changes to the headlights. The one odd detail that always gets me is the tail lights (suprised?) that take me right back to a 1958 Impala.


7th Generation: 2009-?



Maybe... Am I alone on this? Did they go overboard? Those headlights just can't be for real. That alone makes me doubt the rest of the design. The ridges down the hood. The somewhat sinister looking grill shape. It seems odd. But the treatment of the doors and rear fenders looks promising. I'll have to wait to see it in person.


Need more? Consider the Sentra. This humble model held down the entry level spot for years, before being undercut by the Versa. But this model has a cinderella story all her own.


3rd Generation 1995-1999


Not so Hot. Not too bad, but no standing out in a crowd with this vehicle.


4th Generation 2000-2006



Definitely Not. What the hell happened. The Random Blob School got control of this redesign, and did not let go. While it may have grown and gotten some new upgrades, just do not look at this car or you will turn into a pillar of greehouse gasses.


5th Generation 200x-present



Hot. This model shows what a little transfusion from France can do. Ooo-la-la. Nissan is back in the saddle. We have family resemblance, style and a fun looking clean little car.

Tail lights Aglow

You might think me fixated on tail lights, but these days they are almost all too big, too similar, and add very little distiction to the design of the cars they grace. I remember as a kid, riding in the car at night and being able to ID the cars going the other way by the tail lights. Forget about trying that these days.

Here are a few schools of design in the current crop of tail lights:

1) Completely Random Shapes: I think Infiniti really got things going in this department with the G35 Coupe. But others have jumped in, notably BMW, and Honda (Civic sedan). A large subset of this school is the random intersecting blobs, a fine example of which grace the back of Toyota Avalons these days. What is that stuff doing on the trunk lid? Why are they that odd shape and size? Did they shrink in the wash?


2) Tail light as fender: Initially part of the Completely Random Shape School, this movement has broken off with designs pioneered by Lexus and Toyota. Currently, Nissan takes the prize at this with the new Nissan Altima Sedan. The entire top and much of the side of the fender is part of the tail light, aft of the C-pillar. Why not build the whole car out of plastic?


3) Clusters Under Glass: These are almost passe now, but were cool when Lexus did them on the RS400 crossover. Once again, the Nissan Altima Sedan seems to have the biggest, most over the top example.

4) Anything LED: Caddilac got this going a while back (who'da thunk it) but now Audi, Land Rover, and BMW are getting on the bandwagon, and with a dollop more creativity than the guys at Caddy ever thought to use. I saw a Land Rover LED light cluster just today, and its pretty cool. You cant tell in the pic below, but the top lens is both the brake light, with red LEDs clustered in the center, and the directional signal, with yellow LEDs circling the edge. I think the bottom lens is the backup light. I like the understatement, alot.



So, you may ask, anything else good out there? Well, I like the HHR solution. Oddly similar to the Land Rover, but about 10,000 times cheaper. The '97 Toyota Camry had slim, horizontal red bezels that were simple and elegant. That was just before they moved towards the Completely Random Shapes school of thought. The current Honda Civic Coupe has tail lights that are not too big, fit their context, and work to reinforce the identity of the car. Anything else? Ummmm.... lets see now.

At least LEDs have a lot of promise of bringing more elegant, svelte solutions to tail lights. Lets hope it happens.

Inside Scoop

At The Truth About Cars, a recent question of the day asked if car interiors are important. I had to comment on that one...

But, it got me thinking I really do weigh the success of a car's interior on how I feel about the overall design. The themes on the outside have to show inside, and there should be some delight involved. After all, you are in your car, going some place, and it should make you happy.

Can I just say two words about color: More Please... Monotone interiors must go. Give me seats in one color or two colors, lighter tones on the dash, darker carpets, and door panels that bring it all together. You might say my ideal interior is this:



This beauty, an early '60s Pontiac, doesnt just have a red interior, no sir. It has 2 shades of red, plus the white of the exterior to create a composition that brings alot of delight, and 40 years into it, it looks fresh and progressive.

Here are my other guidelines for you budding car interior designers:

• Banish all overly luxurious interiors that make you think that it would be a good place to sleep. Cars are terrible places to sleep... even if you are not the one driving.
• Interiors should be interesting, express the point of view of the vehicle, as well as provide a functional space to control the car, the music, and the temperature. The seats have to adjust, as do the steering wheel, and I think the pedals too.
• Intuitive controls (ie, something close to what people expect) are a must... I dont want to have to think too hard about where the horn button is, nor do I want to spend too much time changing the radio station.
• And lastly, anything I touch or see should not have a creepy injection mold seam running up the side. I am quite bummed out that my new car has door pulls with a seam running up the back side (the side in contact with my hand, but not in view). Every time I get in and pull the door shut, I feel this little bit of cost cutting.
  

Branding Debates

I have been thinking about branding alot lately. At work, we struggle with our 3, or is it 4 now, brand lines to keep them distinct. It is a real challenge to take what you do well, and roll that out into multiple brands that share certain qualities, yet maintain certain distinctions. Maintaining and improving these distinctions while improving each brand means we're always aiming at a moving target.

Same goes for car companies. Most of the voices out there call for paring down the number of car brands, and giving each one a more distinct personality seems right. The particulars of what people are calling for now are probably different than what they were saying 2-3 years ago. Gas prices, world economics, and buyouts change the symptoms, and thus the prescription. But clearly, there is an overcapacity, and the energy situation is requiring change.

While the economy is down, while there is a good amount of uncertainty, this is the perfect time to do something drastic. So please, let the US auto industry make some big changes now. Kill off divisions. Share platforms from other companies. Be leaders in reforming how health care is paid for in this country. Bring us real alternatives to how we fuel our cars. And even give us better ways to choose to leave the car at home.

Mazda: Using Design to Sell Cars

I really like Mazdas. I almost bought a hatchback Mazda 3, and still might if the Volvo dies suddenly (but not unexpectedly, after 240,000 miles). Apparently, I'm not alone, as this is one car company that is seeing sales heading up (at least in 2007) while so many others are wilting.

But, when you look at it, they don't offer anything anyone else doesn't, with the possible exception of the soon to be discontinued Mazda6 wagon and hatchback -- oh, and that funny rotary engine thing. Their cars get decent mileage, but not incredible -- again, except that rotary engine thing, which is addicted to gas. Interiors are nice, but again, not run away leaders in the pack. Reliability is also pretty good, so that doesn't hurt. But their shared platforms with Ford products mean you can pretty much get the same thing elsewhere. Even their "zoom-zoom" ad campaign is kinda lame. And aside from the Tribute hybrid, the only possible thing remotely green is the paint.

What Mazdas do have going for them is their strong design. (GM, Ford, Chrysler: please note that people actually do look at the exterior of cars.) Mazda's cars and cross overs look really good, and all have a corporate semblance so that you recognize each as a part of the corporate stable. There is a great aggressive sportiness, and a grace that goes into each model. Even the RX8, quirky as it is, is pretty charming. The only ugly duckling is the Tribute, a rebadged Ford. Mazda smartly uses design as the thing that makes them different, and different in a good way. And the progression of each model over time, especially notable with the Miata, and now with the new Mazda6 coming out, the picture just keeps getting better.

I only hope that they end up bringing the Mazda6 wagon here after all. It is really sharp looking. Maybe hook it up to a hybrid drive train. And put a big-ass sunroof in it. Throw in an interior that isnt a huge solid expanse of grey while we are at it. Bu-bye Volvo...

GM Hybrids: +2 MPG!

Poking around on AutoBlog Green, I saw that your nice new Chevy Malibu (and its fraternal twin, the Saturn Aura) both are offered with hybrid technology. Cool, I thought.

   

What is not so cool, is that for a $2500 upcharge on the Malibu, or $3500 on the Aura, you can look forward to an improvement in your gas milage of exactly 2 MPG. That is awesome. No wonder Toyota, Honda, and even Ford are actually selling hybrids. They actually deliver some benefit to the owner, and the planet. Even Nissan is getting into the act with a limited number of Altimas, with parts bought from Toyota. 

If GM is going to bother, they should be able to do better than a hybrid system that gets you 32 MPG vs. 30MPG delivered by their 4-banger. 

Hell, I've said it before, but my '95 Volvo gets 30 on the highway if you treat it nice. If you really want to save money, you can buy an older (and I mean ~1997) Volvo sedan with 100K miles (that means another 100K miles left in it) for about 2 grand. Get the wagon if that makes your pants tight. Think of all that metal and other resources you'd be re-using. That in its own way is pretty "green". And, you save some green on your next car purchase. 

If you want to save the planet, well, thats not so cheap. Just don't throw money away on GM hybrids.