General Motors Closes Car Plants

[imthanick_a]

With more and more people being brainwashed by this CUV crap those numbers are sad but not surprising... like I said, have you seen the T-roc and T-cross? Those will soon replace the golf and golf wagon, and the jetta, and whatever other crap CUV they can think of will replace everything else that's not a CUV

I live near the factory that made the Cruze in Northeast Ohio and for the past few years, the lot has been full with THOUSANDS of stagnant Cruze's that dealers weren't buying.

 

[Hoon]

I just did a quick count of the cars at work, and 60% of our employees drive unibody CUVs.

10% full frame SUVs or trucks, and 30% cars.

Wasn't kidding when I said everyone around here is buying CUVs.

 

[The Fed]

Now that I think about it, even the old people in my area are buying SUV's. Hardly any big sedans anymore, and the ones I see are old so as they buy new vehicles they buy SUV's. I can tell you in my parent's day they always bought a Grand Marquis because it was "safer".

 

[TheWombat]

Just about any parking lot (averaging, as I'm sure there are plenty of outliers) is full of row upon row of nearly identical SUV/CUV type things, in bland colors, with bland looks, and pretty much exuding blandness. Hell, my Golf, while it fits in mostly, still seems flashy among the throng of Subarus, Hondas, Hyundais, and Tootyas.

 

[Charlotte.:R]

My wife had two 7 passenger SUVs--Acura MDX and Explorer Sport. When it was time to replace the Ex, she went test driving by herself


After driving minivans, cars and SUVs, she came away saying she preferred the handling and maneuverability of cars. While she just has a mundane sedan--Accord Touring--I'm much happier driving it on occasion than the runner up RDX, even though the latter had AWD and a few extra bells and whistles.


I think marketing has done a lot to advance the SUV craze with the whole 'I can see better' and rugged, cargo hauling ability.

 

[vj123]

Shifting from sedans to SUVs is only a part of their decision. People are buying more SUVs and those vehicles brings in more profit to the OEMs. This case its a win win situation for both parties. Other part is the fact that GM wants to divert their funding towards autonomous and electric vehicles. Many OEMs and even Tier 1 suppliers are planning to disinvest from their engine and transmission divisions as well.

FCA and Ford did the same move in the recent past. IMO becucase of government bail out during recession, GM’s issue is being blown out of proportion. I am not justifying GM’s action but at the end they are answerable to their shareholders and have to show better profits.

 

[Sumfuncomet]

Face it, most people are frightened to drive enthusiastically and would wet themselves if they rode in my Alltrack or GTI. My other car is. A Mini S convertible, all six speed cars. But, I am and always have been a car guy, motorcycles , street rods, pro street car etc. there are the vast multitude for whom cars are merely an appliance.
Then there is all of us, people who take pleasure in driving a performance oriented vehicle. My wife has had Explorer, X3; Honda CRV etc, but we have owned two minis in all that time(since07), they are summer cars, she is always thrilled to put the SUV away.......but this time she traded the X3 for a 2018 GTI, with studded snows it’s not bad, for real crappy days there is the Alltrack.
I drove a friends loaded new Suburban......what a waste of sheet metal, drove like a loaded barge! Awful!

 

[anotero]

I was in NYC for Thanksgiving and rented a Crosstrek. All bells and whistles. I could not wait to be done with the rental. My wife's 2015 Beetle is more pleasurable to drive than that cheap-on-the-inside raised AWD station wagon (not bashing the GSW, I would definitely get THAT if I had use for it). But yeah, for most folks driving is a chore, so it's not difficult to make them believe a CUV is the best option.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[Tsi7]

As I read this thread, the ad at the bottom is this



This car has to be the most useless piece of shit I have ever seen. There is absolutely nothing functional about it... My buddy's mom used to have this car and one day we took his car to go out and I remember him opening the trunk and then me not being able to stop laughing because you couldn't even put a briefcase in their... 12.4 cu in of space in the trunk... For reference a golf has 17.4

How do people manage to buy these things?

 

[JC_451]

Lots of people are sheep.

Dum dum box tells them what to think, what to like, what to want.

In the commercials they show people ripping up the roads and having a blast in their "Sport" model CUV. Then in reality you get 55 year old lady driving her F-Pace S type at 57 in the left land and getting scared and honking at me when I roll past in the middle lane going 60.

Lots of these people would be perfectly happy in a sedan, but they don't make their own choices anymore. People at work tell me they need the SUV for when it snows but then they call out when it does.

Some of the ridiculous little cross-overs out there are just compact hatches with lift kits but no actual increase in ground clearance. And they ugly as hell too, looking at you Buick Encore.

 

[anotero]

As I read this thread, the ad at the bottom is this



This car has to be the most useless piece of shit I have ever seen. There is absolutely nothing functional about it... My buddy's mom used to have this car and one day we took his car to go out and I remember him opening the trunk and then me not being able to stop laughing because you couldn't even put a briefcase in their... 12.4 cu in of space in the trunk... For reference a golf has 17.4

How do people manage to buy these things?

Man, I moved my stuff and my wife's stuff during our move from Atlanta to California. Granted it looked super ricey with the rear sagging. But hey, the mk7 has a crapload of cargo space, it's a thrill to drive, and it's a beautiful car inside and outside. Beats me why anyone would buy a crossover.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[anotero]

Lots of people are sheep.

Dum dum box tells them what to think, what to like, what to want.

In the commercials they show people ripping up the roads and having a blast in their "Sport" model CUV. Then in reality you get 55 year old lady driving her F-Pace S type at 57 in the left land and getting scared and honking at me when I roll past in the middle lane going 60.

Lots of these people would be perfectly happy in a sedan, but they don't make their own choices anymore. People at work tell me they need the SUV for when it snows but then they call out when it does.

Some of the ridiculous little cross-overs out there are just compact hatches with lift kits but no actual increase in ground clearance. And they ugly as hell too, looking at you Buick Encore.

Great point about ground clearance. I've noticed that too.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[Tsi7]

Lots of people are sheep.

Dum dum box tells them what to think, what to like, what to want.

In the commercials they show people ripping up the roads and having a blast in their "Sport" model CUV. Then in reality you get 55 year old lady driving her F-Pace S type at 57 in the left land and getting scared and honking at me when I roll past in the middle lane going 60.

Lots of these people would be perfectly happy in a sedan, but they don't make their own choices anymore. People at work tell me they need the SUV for when it snows but then they call out when it does.

Some of the ridiculous little cross-overs out there are just compact hatches with lift kits but no actual increase in ground clearance. And they ugly as hell too, looking at you Buick Encore.

I had a really good laugh reading this because it's so true

 

[Tsi7]

Man, I moved my stuff and my wife's stuff during our move from Atlanta to California. Granted it looked super ricey with the rear sagging. But hey, the mk7 has a crapload of cargo space, it's a thrill to drive, and it's a beautiful car inside and outside. Beats me why anyone would buy a crossover.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Yep, the mk7 golf is as practical as it gets for a so called "compact hatch"...

 

[Shane_Anigans]

I'm not sure I agree 100% with all decisions being driven by market demand. Sometimes I believe that manufacturers "engineer" demand for a particular model segment by only making the items that are the most profitable, and dropping the models that they *claim* are not selling. It's easy to engineer demand-- if you stop making what people want, and only offer what they don't want, they'll buy it. Then it's easy to say, "Hey, look, everyone wants SUVs", because that's all there is to buy.

That is true, though it isn't the case here. Sedan sales have fallen off a cliff across the entire market. Honda had a 90-day supply of their all-new 2018 Accord gathering dust at the rail yards, because the people who bought Accords in the past decided they'd rather have a CR-V instead. Nissan Altima year-on-year sales dropped 50% back in April. Supply (or lack of it) isn't the issue here, it's just that an increasing percentage of the American public prefer a tall station wagon, for whatever reason(s). I like a car that doesn't require me to slow down when turning corners, while others prefer a car that carries more stuff and rides comfortably.

Also, lets not forget about the elderly; as the average age of the population rises, sales of vehicles that are easier to get in and out of are going to increase.

Now, by the time I'm ready to replace my 2017 GTI, your post probably will be the truth, as everyone will have stopped making anything but CUVs.