Detroit Needs Your Help, Are These The Top 10 Cars They Should Copy?

Because Volkswagens are cool and Toyotas are not.

why are you always the first to respond to every post? get a life...

Everything on this list is flop. Does the author hate America? Why else would he suggest copying these?

"I like to drive this car and when I am bored I pull over somewhere and surf the internet. I bet you are really jealous now"

Why should anyone be jealous when you admit that you get bored driving your dad's Lexus?

Don't get sucked-in by david969.

david969- my poor friend you need to really read those credible sources like JD Power that you quote.

The latest VDS scores indicate VW has 2.6 problems per car over 3 years, so round that up to 3 problems (You can't really have a .6 problem).

A "reliable" Toyota on the other hand has 1.2 problems. Using the same logic you end up with 2 problems for the Toyota over the same time frame.

To me and most of the public 1 potential problem isn't enough of a factor to call a VW unreliable.

two things you failed to mention in your arugment.
1st. not all problems are equal. a rattle or a transmission failure all account for one problem in the VDS study.
2nd. the cost of fixing them.

I agree with Agent009. This reliability mystique Toyota has been capitalizing on is starting to wear thin. Unfortunately JD Power and the likes have created a business out of these studies and have brainwashed the unsuspecting public into taking them as gospel.

for starters, we all agree that GM, Ford and Chrysler make competitive cars today. now folks on autospies likely won't personally buy them but we are a small community. no need to copy anyone else's cars!

the issue is their cost structure - fixed plant costs and healthcare. That's what they should focus on! figure out how to build what they build at a profit and cut healthcare costs and they could be profitable. They don't need to be number one, just profitable would do today!

NEVER copy. You will always be seen as the come from behind. The domestics need to focus on what works, and they are on track. They need to be consistent and responsive. Thats it. Simple.

Four Characteristics to Copy: Quality. Reliability. Design. Value.

10 Cars to Copy: Toyota Prius. Honda Accord. Toyota Camry. Lexus RX. BMW 3-series. Honda Fit. Mazdaspeed 3. Mercedes S-series. Nissan 370Z. BMW Z-4.

How many Miatas does Mazda sell? Why would you copy anything from VW? The Mazda 5 is the most practical vehicle on the road. My 5 gets 25-30MPG and will out handle alot of so called sports cars it also out sells the Miata. VWs also cost more to mantain with synthetic fluids that no one else uses. The Infiniti EX is not that small and I've never seen one on the street. Both Ford and GM build cars like the Fit but never thought they would sell here.

TurboSpyder, to have a reputation of making safe cars you need to have a history of making safe cars, you can't change VW's reputation in two or three years, today many other cars have the highest crash test ratings also. To change reputation always take (for every automaker, in every aspect) time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW1-Qz42JMM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fsptl3_Oes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSBLlh7m-eI&feature=related

Everbody I know who has bought a VW has had to back to the dealer several times in the first year of ownership. Even Car and Driver who did a long term test of a GTI said they loved the car but were disturbed by some of the issues they had over 40k miles. If your going to copy vehicles I would think from a business stand point you would want to copy vehicles that sell. VW is the USA does not sell that many vehicles.

Also shouldn't they copy cars that sell like the Camry and Accord?

Dear GM/Detroit:

Produce a crash worthy five passenger sedan with a trunk. Zero emission vehicle (ZEV) 100% electric or otherwise. Price: anything between 20K to 40K with tax incentives. Range after full charge: No less 100 miles regardless of average speed driven. Charge time: No more than 100 minutes. Max speed: no less 100 kilometers/hour. Release to market in 100 days. Such car will be purchase by consumers in great numbers even if uglier than the Prius. Stop f**king with us, or Tesla will beat you to it.
Yours truly;
American car buyer.

Oops, sorry to late.
Toyota already produced such car it was called the 1997-2003 RAV4 EV.

Really? This gets my vote for dumbest post of the week. Should of stuck with humoring us with your thoughts on labor contracts, debt refinancing and global alliances. Last thing Detroit needs is to copy another lemming.

GM has been trying to copy the foreign competition for a while now. How about they do their own thing? Without handouts.

Could have been a really interesting article if they had picked the right cars to study.

How about the Corvette? Oh wait, that IS an American car! :)

Hmm... total CROC!

1) Honda Fit - small car only really useful for small cities, less fuel efficient than the Civic. Detroit's Response: Chevy Beat, Ford Fiesta (soon hopefully)

2) VW tiquan - Detroit: 2010 Equinox, Ford Escape, Dodge Journey

3) Infiniti EX - Rough camparison, but 2010 Caddy SRX & Lincoln MKX

4) Honda Insight - Detroit: We're lacking here, sadly.

5) Audi A4 - Great car, but did the author ever hear of the CTS?

6) Mazda MX-5 - Easily the least masculine car on the market, the Saturn Sky SMOKES the MX-5

7) VW GTI - Detroit's got nothing, yet. Hopefully Ford will bring some hopped up euro spec Focuses

8) Hyundai Genesis - Sadly, Detroit's got nothing. Hey GM... get a new STS... PLEASE!!!! Do to the STS what you did to the CTS and it's a done deal.

9) Mazda 5 - Detroit got nothing, except for maybe the HHR, which hopefully for all of us gets a serious redo with the introduction of the Cruze.

10) Subaru Forester - I'll take a wrangler/Liberty/Cherokee anyday over the Subaru...

In any event, the main point is that the author just grabbed a few mostly niche cars that don't really matter in an industry where plain-jane, high quality and high volume is the name of the game.

Most important cars for GM right now, Malibu, Acadia (and its siblings), equinox, silverado, and Cruze. These are the type of cars that really matter.

Especially given the failed state of the world's economy.

Ford sells the Focus ST (2.5 Turbo) in Europe, and if Ford sold that car here, I would have bought one. I wanted a practical, fast, small, affordable 'hot hatch'.

Pity that concept is lost (or was) on the US makers here, so I bought a GTI for half the price in Europe.

To the OP, I'd rather take my chances with a new 'unreliable' VW complete with a warranty, and have a car that outdrives everything else for the price. If your passionate about cars, you'll probably understand. :)

Unless you drive one and figure it out for yourself, we can post consumer reports all day long.

I like Mazda's and Suby's but until they start putting quality interiors in their cars, I'll never buy one.

The new Ford Taurus SHO looks like a nice piece of kit, and I can't wait for Ford to bring more Euro-qse models here. Cars that are well made, handle better than anything else, good engines and have great fuel economy! :)

Those who copy are behind by definition, since copies come out after originals!!!

GM needs to innovate, and take more risks!!!