Why American manufacturers have it all wrong.

Yeah, just when you think Ford might have it by releasing the Italian designed Mustang, they announced 3 weeks later that the Mustang will come in sedan and wagon variants....IDIOTS!!!

I try to love American cars, I really do, and some of them are alright (mostly trucks/SUVs), but Ford is not making it easy for themselves...and GM is doing better, but they still aren't far behind Ford on the downward spiral.

NARunner - I dont really think that Ford will do that. If anything they will build a sedan and call it something esle...at least I hope not.

American cars doesnt really have the appeal for me , however if they build better cars in the future that may change. But for now i will stick with Japanese and germans.

I hope American manufacturers are reading this site.

I think GM is really trying to turn things around, their new products are leaps and bounds better than the old ones like Saturn's Aura, Sky, Outlook. If they keep improving their interiors I think they will compete nicely, since their quality is also getting much better now. I like Cadillac because their design is very unique and very American. You can't say that they copy anyone, they have their own design language not other manufacturers that have great cars but looks similar to this and that.

the aura is an opel, the sky is basd off an opel which in turn is based off a lotus, the outlook is the only american one you list.
cadillac tests some of its cars at the nurburgring (the cts was designed for european tastes), gm is definitely more european than most people think.

the aura is not an opel. it has some design elements from opel; however, it is on the epsilon global platform which underpins the g6 and malibu.

not sure where you got that the sky is based on lotus....but since the sky has been described often as a mini-vette, i'd say it has an american design.

cadillac may have european-ish driving dynamics; however, it's design is purely american. to say a car is trying to be european because it was tested at nurburgring is foolish....i'm sure all cars are tested at multiple locations.

i'm sorry, i thought the sky was mid engined and based off the opel speedster.

ok fine my entire comment is wrong. cept the caddy thing, it was the first caddy to be tested there. and it was designed for europe, it was cadillac's first model here.

"Although, Cadillac design is not for me, other American OEMs should follow this example."

So other "American OEMs" should follow a design that this author personally doesn't like???

Isn't Opel own by GM? That makes it a GM.

Kart1, no I think what he meant was that be original and let your designer loose, you don't have to hire Italian designer to design Amerrican cars.

so are european cars trying to be an American-wanna-be car by adding numerous cupholders?

so are european cars trying to be an American-wanna-be car by adding SUVs to their lineup?

This article is just fluff. Anyone can have an opinion about anything, and say it on the web. As seen in this article, the poster isolates a single event, and attributes that to "Why American (car) manufacturers have it all wrong."

Consider this as an alternate perspective: American car manufacturers have tried to be all things to all people, and in the process, have lost any inkling of branding or positive image.

Lexus is known for their low defects, and high level of apparent luxury. This is true in spite of their arguably staid styling.

People buy Lexus when they want a luxury car that does not break down often. BMW is known for their sport sedans. People buy BMW when they want 4 seats, very respectable sporting performance, and they are willing to compromise in terms of defects and arguably styling. People buy Hondas for their reliability, strong value proposition (you get a lot of good car for your dollar), and pretty okay looks.

So why do folks aspire to buy a GM, or a Ford, or a Chrysler. Why do they ache for that specific American brand? In most cases, they don't. In America, the Big Three compete largely on lowest price and a long feature list. The problem with that approach, is that many Asian cars have a more reliable, better looking car for around the same dollars, but maybe with a shorter feature list.

It seems to me that the American manufacturers are largely saying "Our vehicles are defect prone, they don't look too good, and they handle okay, but hey, we give you a lot of stuff for cheap!" Are they making cars for people who can't afford better, or who don't know better? I am not sure.

Id say that was a pretty good Evaluationof the current situation with the American Manufacturers

It not a quality thing, there are many US cars that perform very, very well on quality rankings. If you ask me, it comes down to looks, interior mateials quality, and the aura of owning something "foreign". People just think they're doing something special when they buy something foreign.

There is absolutely nothing wrong in hiring an italian designer to design your cars. The japanese and korean car makers have done this at one time or another and it was kept secret.

Amen! I bet you if BMW hired Pininfarina to style their cars, a lot more people would be buying BMWs (in spite of the defects), and a lot fewer people would be complaining about them being hard on the eyes.