Most Underrated #5 - Subaru
In ball-and-stick-sport-crazy North America, who would hire a cyclist to speak on your behalf? But then Subaru has always gone its own way. Resolutely well engineered and durable, with the new Legacy, Subarus are just now starting too look, well, kinda sexy.
It says something when The General comes calling and puts the squeeze on to borrow a platform (Impreza) to bail out one of its "premium" brands (Saab). The only question is what the service techs in the Saab dealerships do now with all this free time on their hands?
Most Overrated #4 - German cars
German car makers are now chasing sales figures with expanded product lines in unseen-before segments (BMW X3, Mercedes B Class, come on down!). Inevitably, dollars that used to be spent on engineering the finest cars in the world has migrated to the marketing and design of the burgeoning lineups of niche products.
The result is its now hard to tell the difference between a BMW and a Pontiac from 50 feet , and Jeep products outrank Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the latest JD Power Vehicle Dependability Survey.
Most Underrated #4 - Chinese cars
Following up from the hype created at last year's Chinese auto show was the announcement that our old friend, former Subaru and Yugo importer and eponymous car manufacturer, Malcolm Bricklin, will be importing the first Chinese-made cars to North America. Bricklins' Visionary Vehicles LLC will ship over a lineup of vehicles that will be made by state-owned Chery Automobiles.
Despite questionable success in the past, only those who thought the first Honda Civic or Hyundai Pony were passing fads are questioning his judgement this time around.
Most Overrated #3 - General Motors Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz
The 2005 Detroit show will be the third anniversary of the appointment of The General's new product czar. Mr. Lutz certainly has hit homeruns with the resuscitation of Cadillac, stuffing V-8s into various Pontiacs, and the new C6 OEVette.
Trouble is when you're always swinging for the fences, as The General's eroding marketshare is forcing it to, strikeouts are inevitable. Like gluing Saab badges onto any available vehicle that's standing still. Or how about doing a "Cyrano de Bergerac" on its decrepit minivans and calling them "crossover sport vans"? Or dropping tried-and-true model names (Regal, Grand Am, Cavalier, etc.) like a dizzy juggler?
Most Underrated #3 - Ford Chief Executive Officer, William C. "Bill" Ford Jr.
After sacking former feisty Ford CEO, Jacques Nasser, and taking his title, life at the top for Mr. Ford has settled down nicely for the man whose name is on the building.
Sure, Bill still has lots of work to do to give the domestic brands something to sell other than SUVs and pickups. But within the Ford brand empire Volvo is making money hand-over-fist, Mazda is the "family man's BMW", the Discovery-replacing LR3 is the best Land Rover ever, and heck, there's even a Porsche 911-fighting Aston Martin coming to those of us who aren't necessarily "licensed to kill".
With this momentum, fixing Jaguar should be a breeze, right Bill?
Most Overrated #2 - Ultra-luxury Sedans
Having already tapped out the rap star and professional basketball ranks, Mercedes and BMW are moving only a fraction of their ultra-luxo-barges
You could blame the slowdown in the global economy, Al Queda, or killer bees, but the reality is the state of drunken greed with the carmakers. A Range Rover, Bentley GT, BMW 7 Series, or Mercedes S Class, can provide 90 per cent of the function of these land-yachts at one-third the cost.
In ball-and-stick-sport-crazy North America, who would hire a cyclist to speak on your behalf? But then Subaru has always gone its own way. Resolutely well engineered and durable, with the new Legacy, Subarus are just now starting too look, well, kinda sexy.
It says something when The General comes calling and puts the squeeze on to borrow a platform (Impreza) to bail out one of its "premium" brands (Saab). The only question is what the service techs in the Saab dealerships do now with all this free time on their hands?
Most Overrated #4 - German cars
German car makers are now chasing sales figures with expanded product lines in unseen-before segments (BMW X3, Mercedes B Class, come on down!). Inevitably, dollars that used to be spent on engineering the finest cars in the world has migrated to the marketing and design of the burgeoning lineups of niche products.
The result is its now hard to tell the difference between a BMW and a Pontiac from 50 feet , and Jeep products outrank Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the latest JD Power Vehicle Dependability Survey.
Most Underrated #4 - Chinese cars
Following up from the hype created at last year's Chinese auto show was the announcement that our old friend, former Subaru and Yugo importer and eponymous car manufacturer, Malcolm Bricklin, will be importing the first Chinese-made cars to North America. Bricklins' Visionary Vehicles LLC will ship over a lineup of vehicles that will be made by state-owned Chery Automobiles.
Despite questionable success in the past, only those who thought the first Honda Civic or Hyundai Pony were passing fads are questioning his judgement this time around.
Most Overrated #3 - General Motors Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz
The 2005 Detroit show will be the third anniversary of the appointment of The General's new product czar. Mr. Lutz certainly has hit homeruns with the resuscitation of Cadillac, stuffing V-8s into various Pontiacs, and the new C6 OEVette.
Trouble is when you're always swinging for the fences, as The General's eroding marketshare is forcing it to, strikeouts are inevitable. Like gluing Saab badges onto any available vehicle that's standing still. Or how about doing a "Cyrano de Bergerac" on its decrepit minivans and calling them "crossover sport vans"? Or dropping tried-and-true model names (Regal, Grand Am, Cavalier, etc.) like a dizzy juggler?
Most Underrated #3 - Ford Chief Executive Officer, William C. "Bill" Ford Jr.
After sacking former feisty Ford CEO, Jacques Nasser, and taking his title, life at the top for Mr. Ford has settled down nicely for the man whose name is on the building.
Sure, Bill still has lots of work to do to give the domestic brands something to sell other than SUVs and pickups. But within the Ford brand empire Volvo is making money hand-over-fist, Mazda is the "family man's BMW", the Discovery-replacing LR3 is the best Land Rover ever, and heck, there's even a Porsche 911-fighting Aston Martin coming to those of us who aren't necessarily "licensed to kill".
With this momentum, fixing Jaguar should be a breeze, right Bill?
Most Overrated #2 - Ultra-luxury Sedans
Having already tapped out the rap star and professional basketball ranks, Mercedes and BMW are moving only a fraction of their ultra-luxo-barges
You could blame the slowdown in the global economy, Al Queda, or killer bees, but the reality is the state of drunken greed with the carmakers. A Range Rover, Bentley GT, BMW 7 Series, or Mercedes S Class, can provide 90 per cent of the function of these land-yachts at one-third the cost.