What Were The Best And The Worst Automotive Ideas Of 2009?

What Were The Best And The Worst Automotive Ideas Of 2009?
Desperate times require desperate measures, as the saying goes, and 2009 was about as desperate as it gets in the auto industry.

Companies sometimes do the most interesting things when they're desperate - and that maxim seems particularly relevant to auto companies. Because their products are so visible, with such potential emotional impact. Because their executives and designers and engineers are in charge of the process that creates those products.

Desperation in 2009 - as defined by coming up some 6 million sales short of the industry's glory days of just three years ago - generated products and strategies that ran the gamut from ridiculous to sublime. Some ideas were inspired; some were just tired.

Here are a few of the best and worst ideas from the auto industry in 2009:


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jselljsell - 12/29/2009 2:28:30 PM
+4 Boost
the Beak ( or corporate grill....or power plenum...or whatever you want to call that thing)



V-8 NSX HSV


pennfootballpennfootball - 12/29/2009 4:02:06 PM
+1 Boost
OMG thank god someone said it the beek is hideous but this company solves that problem egclassicsinc check it out!

http://www.egclassicsinc.com/inventory/item.php?itemid=771


Threepoint1415926Threepoint1415926 - 12/29/2009 3:31:31 PM
+2 Boost
Paperless owners manuals are a bad idea. Reduced paper owners manuals with supplementary digital book are a good idea. Here is an example as to why: Resetting the the maintenance schedule on my Mercedes is a complicated series of buttons and key positions. As I dont have a computer to read my CD in the car nor do I want to go to the office and search the disk that will inevitably get lost in my office, then print and then throw away the instructions, it's much easier to have them in the manual in the trunk or glove box. Or how about if my sunroof stops functioning right as I'm closing it because of rain? Let me just pull over and whip out my desktop computer and find out how to get that closed manually. How about I'm at the quick-e-mart and need a fluid top off. I sure hope that the fluid recommendations aren't in the electronic version. A dash light comes on while driving that I've never seen before. Just like all modern cars, it shows some meaningless picture. Is my car safe to drive? Is it warning me of impending doom or just to see service soon?

I agree that the majority of an owners manual need not be accessed on the spot, but as more and more cars these days begin ditching the paper manual completely (as is the case with my significant other's Altima), accessing information when I really need it becomes almost impossible.



PlanBPlanB - 12/29/2009 4:15:43 PM
+1 Boost
I think there's room for both a hard copy and disc copy, knowing that it costs them significantly less to have the discs mass produced, the real reason for the switch in the first place IMO.


pennfootballpennfootball - 12/29/2009 4:19:04 PM
+2 Boost
BAD automotive idea No Spare tire!
Good automotive idea....FULL size spare tire in my Jeep wrangler Rubicon


WhelanWhelan - 12/30/2009 7:27:56 AM
+3 Boost
Where is the Honda Crosstour, it should be under Bad Idea.
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