Sometimes there's more to be learned by something that doesn't happen than by something that does. Like that Sherlock Holmes story, Silver Blaze, where the clue to the mystery was that "the dog didn't bark."
At the New York Auto Show, back in the rear of thePontiac exhibit area, there's a blue G6 Pontiac convertible. It's not on a stand, there are no lights or models prancing around it, and there was no press conference about the car. I've known about this convertible for four years. General Motors has been talking about it for years. But it didn't come out when the G6 sedan was introduced in fall 2004. It didn't come out in spring of 2005, or last fall, either, and here it is spring of 2006 and there have been no press previews and there was no celebration at the N.Y. Auto Show for the coming convertible.
My conclusion? They can't build it. The car has a metal folding roof. I figure that GM, which hasn't built a convertible with a back seat in North America since the old Camaro - I'm not counting the three two-seat roadsters, the Corvette and the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky - and just can't get the roof to work right. Maybe by Christmas?
Here's another thing that bothered me. I went to a Suzuki party and saw the XL7 SUV. That's the Suzuki version of Chevy Equinox. It's to be built at the joint GM-Suzuki plant in Canada, that now builds the Equinox and the badge-engineered Pontiac Torrent. They carry this old V-6 engine built in China. But the new Suzuki will carry a V-6 overhead cam, 250 horsepower - the high-feature V-6 engine GM brags about. Suzuki will build it under license for its car. This engine should be in the upscale Pontiac Torrent to give it that Pontiac edge. But it isn't in the Pontiac. It's in the Suzuki.
A GM person said I should talk to a particular official who could explain why Pontiac suffers as Suzuki gets the good engine. But I don't want to hear any more GM explanations. I'm sick of explanations for ineptitude. I want someone put up against the wall.
Saturn did have some new and future vehicles, which will help next year: the Sky roadster, the Aura sedan, and the Outlook crossover SUV. What I wondered is why someone didn't stop the Outlook early on and tell the designers that it looked like something that could have been hot in 2001 but would look dated as a 2007 model? Ah, well. Nobody is giving GM Design any medals for creativity, are they?
Nissan was strong in new models for the New York show, the Altima family sedan and the smaller Sentra for this fall, plus the still smaller Versa coming out soon and a new Infiniti G35. Here's the problem. The Altima and the Sentra are the volume cars. No one would want to bring them out both at the same time. It's hard enough getting potential customers to notice one new car, let alone two, so you blow a good part of your introduction effort if you bring them out together. What happened? The Sentra is a year late, that's what happened. It should have come out last year. Good luck Nissan.
Ford's stand was full of future models, like the coming crossovers and Navigator. I asked the head of North American operations what was going to happen to the Lincoln Town Car - would it die when its factory, at Wixom, is shuttered? He said he couldn't talk about future plans, which was foolish because that is all they do talk about. So we can figure the Town Car is dead when Wixom shuts. Otherwise he certainly would have told me, and reassured customers that there will be a future Town Car.
Chrysler is stretching out a version of its rear-drive 300 model, so that probably will take the profitable limousine business from Ford when the TC goes. That Town Car used to earn $1 billion a year, but heck, what does Ford care about money?
VW, as you know, is renaming the Golf, calling the U.S. model to come the Rabbit. A name change; that will certainly solve VW's problems. Still no minivan, still no pickup, and still no low-priced SUV, but we'll rename the Golf. Hurray! That is as smart as the new VW advertising campaign. Have any of you seen it? You have to wonder, where do these people come from?
Mazda showed its new CX-9 and there was a CX-7 there and a 5, too. The 5 is a small minivan with sliding doors. The CX-7 is a minivan with regular doors, or a crossover, take your choice, and the CX-9 is as larger model, again with regular door and three rows of seats. They are all different, built from different platforms. But they looked alike to me. I'm sure they are all wonderful, but why have three different models?
As I wrote earlier, sometimes you learn more when the dog doesn't bark.
;)
