On 4/17/05 8:53 PM, in article Xns963BD48F1E9B5n@216.168.3.50, "Dave Stone"
<n> wrote:

As a previous Ford guy who bought his first import (Infiniti G35), I'd say
the first thing Ford and GM need to do is make compelling vehicles.

We use GM as fleet cars where I work and all are POS's that are pretty much
done by 25k.  Be it the interior that falls apart, brakes that are warped,
engines and trans' that are already fatiguing, you name it.  Junk cars.

Look at the GTO - $35k for a friggin Pontiac that looks like every other
Pontiac?  No wonder they are not selling.

Then we have the Chevy/Saturn/Buick/Pontiac minivans that scream "COOKIE
CUTTER".  Not to mention they look like the previous Venture/Montana POS
Minivans that GM put out.  Could they spare $5 for a door handle redesign?

Looking at Ford, they appear to be headed in the right direction but God,
their cars are uncompelling.  Look at the 500 - decent car, but BLANDSVILLE.
And the performance?  0-60 in 8 or 9 seconds.  You would have thought with
an "all new" car they could have at least pepped up the Duratec 3.0 or
something.  It's not a bad engine, but destined for an overhaul (variable
valve timing or something).  Then there's the inside of the 500.  Nice
enough, but it inspires no emotion.  Every review of the 500 says "nice
enough, but no power but it has a big trunk"

The Freestyle is nice enough, but could they spare the power in that thing?

The Mustang looks great, but I wonder about the engines in it - the 4.0 SOHC
that started life in the Explorer has not been their best engine.  The 4.6
is nice, but OUCH on the price for the GT.  There's so much better out there
for $30-32k than the Mustang (it's what led me to the G).

Not really feeling the "freshened" Focus.  That was the car that could have
been.  It had it all - great looks, sporty personality, but it was plagued
by initial quality.

Ford needs to bring back cars that people want, cars that stir emotion.  I
remember the Taurus SHO.  It was a car that people wanted, a car that took
your boring family hauler and turned it into something fun to drive.

I remember the Escort GT - decently performing econobox that was a fun to
drive.

The Contour SVT - a car that handled and performed like a low end BMW.
Another great car to own and drive.

Even the late model Cougar - it was a sharp looking car that was marketed
poorly - should have been a Ford - people under 50 don't like to say they
drive a Mercury.  But, I hear it was fun to drive.

Cars people want to own is one area the imports have it all over the
Americans.  People are scooping up 300Z's, RX8's, Mazda 6's, Miatas,
Maximas, Tiburons, etc.  Those are cars that instill passion, not boring
cars.  You want boring you can get a Toyota (BLANDSVILLE), Honda
(BLANDSVILLE), etc.

Heck, I bought my G35 because it instilled passion -  a 4 door 350Z with a 6
speed and all the toys.  None of the Americans builds a car like this - the
last was the Contour (or the Taurus MT5, but it was a wimpy 4-banger) and it
died a long time ago.  I didn't want an Accord (Snoozeville), the Maxima was
in the running, but I much prefer RWD.

So far, after 1.5 years I'm loving it - fast, maintenance free, and puts a
smile on my face whenever I drive it.  I couldn't say the same about a
Malibu, G6, 500, 300, etc.

The problem with the Americans is they forgot how to build cars that instill
PASSION.  They are building BLANDMOBILES.

Build it and we will come back.

I agree, a constant battle to see who can build the best car can only
benefit the customer.   Something I don't understand is why G.M. is
called Vauxhall, here in England, Opel in Europe and Chevrolet in Egypt.
Oh and Nissan and Renault are married.