READER MAIL

Please click here to send us an email. (We do not publish email addresses.) Be sure to include your initials and hometown! -WG



2030?

WE bailed the unmitigated morons out in 2008 with less due diligence than required for a car loan. Then they moved as much production as possible to slave-wage countries only to ship that shit right back here so we can purchase the overpriced garbage. Take "Lincoln" for example. I have been seeing those "cars" on flat beds, broke down on the side of the road and with a ridiculous number of recalls. Plus, the five models for sale only sell less than 30,000 units per year. Remember the Wixom (MI) plant where "Lincolns" used to be built when they were actually Lincolns? Back when they were wrecking Lincoln, they were also planning to move most Ford production out of the United States. Ford took advantage of the 2008 debacle, closed Wixom and quit building "Lincolns" as we knew them. Then, they tore it down insuring that no more union workers would ever build Lincolns again. A perfect example of destroying a business model and then tearing down the plants so that no more union workers would work there again.

As for 2030? About 100 years ago, a car guy said that all car companies were 1.5 years from bankruptcy. He figured if you didn't have new models every 1.5 years, your customers would go somewhere else. Now these unmitigated morons said 20 years ago that "driverless" cars were right around the corner and that we would be on the moon in eight years. They also said that the entire industry would be electrified by 2024. Unless the American auto industry can survive by supplying law enforcement with $120,000 cop cars, none will even exist by 2030.

Ptg0
Highland Park, Michigan



NEO-NO.

NEOLUN is a mashup, excuse me, a portmanteau consisting of NEO: Greek for new and LUNa: latin for moon, and was inspired by Korean moon jars, according to AI. Sounds like a concoction that Jimmy and Sonny over at Fu-King Motors would come up with, and the car makes about as much sense.

Chris Blanchard
Prescott, Wisconsin



GM.

Great Rant today. While I agree that Washington is doing no favors for the domestic auto industry, I want to mention a YouTube video that focuses on Detroit's own shortcomings. The commentator listed a few choice decisions by Mary Barra of GM. She oversaw the rise and expensive collapse of Cruise; the massively expensive program of going all-in on electrification and writing off billions even though the American people didn't ask for it; and the collapse of GM in the largest auto market in the world... China.

Mary Barra's response? "I have no regrets."

A) What's up with GM's board?
B) GM was doing a fine job destroying profitability all by itself, even without the poor decisions from Washington.

I realize I've written nothing new and that Peter and his readers already are aware of the above, but I wanted to vent.

Thank you.

Hal Griffiths
Detroit, Michigan

Editor's Note: Yes, Peter has covered these subjects extensively, especially the serial incompetence of GM's Board. -WG



The Little 3.

The folks at the "little 3" predicting great and glorious new products "any day now" had better bend to the task of getting their assembly quality and vehicle durability issues resolved and fast. If they don't, they can predict anything they like but the reality is they're not going to be able to give the stuff away let alone sell it and make a profit doing so.

DJV
Wilmington, North Carolina



How much bigger?

The reliance on giant trucks and SUVs leads to the one question I always have, and that is how do they park them? In the middle of nowhere I can imagine it's easy to find a space to park a vehicle the size of a minibus, but in cities? Surely that's going to be hard? The vehicles we have are fairly compact simply that we don't think we can drive anywhere in DC with a larger vehicle. There's got to be a point that this, along with the high prices, leads to a contraction in size?

PaulG
Silver Spring, Maryland



Questions, questions, questions.

Have the marketing geniuses at Ford discovered a “Fathom” demographic hiding in plain sight yet invisible to the other manufacturers??? Is this a discovery that rivals the original Iacocca addressable market gold mine that underpinned the Mustang product construct in 1964? Does anyone know the boundaries and parameters of this newly addressable market segment that will respond to the “Fathom” moniker? How does the name extend a priceless legacy of Ford truck product identity dominance? Obviously, Ford is trying to reach for and sell something more than a truck that will translate into future mega profits. Has the era of the pickup truck finally ended and will testosterone now be a controlled substance? Hopefully, the answers to all these questions lie Somewhere West of Laramie.

Dr. John
Phoenix, Arizona

Editor-in-Chief's Note: The entire rationale behind the "Fathom" is directly attributable to Jim "I'm a genius just ask me" Farley. Ford's all-knowing and all-powerful CEO/potentate; you know, the guy who lost $19 billion on the company's EV debacle a little less than one year ago and then followed that up by delivering the fourth-worst quarter in company history has set expectations for the "affordable" pickup incredibly high. But remember, he also said that the Ford Lightning would be Ford's modern-day "Model T" moment, too. And contrary to popular opinion in some very small circles, the Ford CEO is incredibly disliked by the company's employees, despite the calculated "smarm" offensive that follows him wherever he goes. So, the expectations have indeed been set high, but the trepidation and hand-wringing in Dearborn over the whole endeavor are growing more intense by the day. Needless to say, it's a giant "We'll See" by every possible measure. - PMD



Deja Vu all over again.

The trouble with 2026 is that it's 2008 all over again. I just did a quick glance at the local dealers’ webpages for the little three, and ai found all of them slapping down $7.5k to $10k in discounts, cash back, whatever, on the hoods of the trucks in stock. While many more are listed as in transit. Yup, nothing to see here, move along, move along.

DG
Berwick, Maine



Hanging by a cup.

Driving home from a recent vacation, my wife spotted a Ford Freestyle on I-75. A rare sight today, and a reminder of just how many new car flops Ford has built recently. I’m old enough to remember the promises of Ford 2000, and the cars that Ford introduced to transform the company. None ever accomplished that goal. Cars that found early graves and replaced with new nameplates and new promises. The one constant has been Bill Ford. His current leader has been an abject failure. Like the one before him. And the one before him. See a pattern yet? The F150 has supported the company through all of it. You can’t stay relevant producing one successful vehicle in one country. So far, it’s the one cup of coffee they haven’t fucked up. I hope I don’t see the day they do.

JRR
Plymouth, Michigan



Cars under Glass.

I visited a local Hagerty Garage for a Cars and Coffee. The BMW M3 CSL, the Lexus LFA and a few others were sad. Brand new... With plastic on the seats. Never registered. Why? Likewise, a 911 has climbed out of reality into the investment vehicle department. A visit to the Porsche Experience showed for most it is a companion to the fancy watch. Kids aren't buying enthusiast vehicles because you need space and some spare money. Heck, they aren't getting married or having kids for the exact same reason.

Casey Raskob, Esq
Green Leafy Burbs, New York City



Deeper issues.

The statement about how many for sale signs at the Woodward Cruise is a symptom of a deeper problem: it was once said about the Baby Boomers that they were like a huge meal working its way through a snake. The snake being a symbol of the economy at large.The Boomer generation peaked about 10 years ago and are becoming less and less influential, politically, economically, socially and, in the car world, ownership. There is nothing replacing them and the birth rate is declining rapidly. The only thing keeping the prices of those cars up are scarcity and the systematic inflating of the Dollar.

Philip Hackett
Los Angeles, California