… and the Avalon is being discontinued.
Sedans are a dying breed.
I really have not kept up so really don’t know what they are doing or why. I do know that often we are at the mercy of what the marketing folks decide to produce. We cannot buy what is not produced. So as the question goes, is it the dog wagging the tail or the tail wagging the dog?
Yes I have both so can evaluate. Wife likes one and I like the other. Smaller, fits in the garage, etc. Now if the seat is folded down, I can fit an 8 foot 2x4 completely inside the car. A 10 foot will stick out a little. Total cargo space is a little more with the SUV if packed to the ceiling. As far as general utility though, a sedan fits the bill. Neither on can carry a sheet of plywood. MPG are similar and I find the ride a lot smoother than the SUV. The other thing is, a sedan is a lot less sheet metal to wash and wax, and is a little more sporty.
Like my law professor used to say “there has never been a law passed that someone somewhere did not want”.
While true it didn’t apply to or appeciate the overall sociatal and presonal economic outlook.
i.e. Illegal drugs will probably always be available at a high price and high risk for those who need it but for mainstram society it’s simply not worth the economic cost.
Translation, for the majority of society when relative the cost of gasoline fuel becomes excessive they will look for cheaper alternatives and if the Government continues to offer EV rebates and continues to offer a de facto exemption from fuel gas taxes that transition will accelerate.
So leaving aside any performance or environmental advantages, if I’m a new car buyer and seeing gasoline prices fluctuate from $2 to $4 a gallon while electric prices remain reasonably stable what would I buy?
My opinion is that gasoline will continue to be available for the forseeable future but as EV uptake accelerates and as gasoline demand decreases we’ll see a shift in demand and cost.
Long term do I see gasoline to be a cheap power sourcce and the answer is no. and to quote a Suaudi Oil Minister, “Oil is too valuable a resourse to simply burn up”.
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Same mistake made over and over. The price of gas is only one factor when making a $50,000 plus purchase decision. Additionally especially when “our” as in works for us, government causes artificial carrot and stick incentives.
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Marketing people look at market trends and bring in focus groups (you and me) to help them predict what will sell. They don’t really tell us what to buy, but offer us a variety of choices that they deduced is what we want.
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Edsel, Cimeron, Volaire? Lots of flops that missed the market. Then of course with mustang and falcon they got it right with much gashing of teeth.
The Edsel would be worth something if fully restored because they didn’t make many
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They apparently missed the mark judging by new EV take rate.
I’m not anti-EV. I am anti getting a tax bill for the infrastructure that’ll be required and anti not being able to leave if the power goes out for a while. I’ve been without power for 2 weeks straight before.
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Were these airplanes or motorcycles?
Oh boy, back to the edit key.
There were 132,499 Cadilac Cimarrons sold during a seven-year production run. It seems to me that the effort for Cadillac division to meet corporate average fuel economy by selling compact cars was somewhat successful. Others at Car Talk feel that only BMW and Mercedes should sell compact cars.
The Plymouth Volare replaced the Valiant, I didn’t research the sales numbers, but it was a common vehicle years ago much like the Ford Granada and AMC Hornet.
If your smart you have 15 years before ICE vehicles will no longer be sold. And that’s NOW. It can easily changed. Look at Real-ID. It was signed into law that all states would issue a Real-ID by 2005. It’s been pushed back at least 5 times. And I don’t think all states still have Real-ID. Then after the last ICE vehicle is sold there will still be gas stations for at least another 10 years while the existing ICE vehicles are on the road. I think a good realistic estimate is 30-40 years (at the earliest) before you can’t buy gas anymore. I suggest you start planning now.
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Those mistakes and others gave rise to the more sophisticated market research tools I mentioned. It costs a ton to set up an assembly line and all the backup manufacturing to build a car that doesn’t sell.
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It’s part of the game every manufacturer in every sector goes through. Many times technology will drive the market. Look at smart phones. We didn’t even know we needed them until they were invented. Market research had nothing to do with that. But once established then you really need market research to keep from making too many duds.
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I’ll get right on that.