Building The Right Car At The Right Time

Doug DeMuro
by Doug DeMuro

As you know from my previous post, I recently attended a Nissan LEAF drive in Nashville. This was lots of fun and impressively quiet.

On the drive back from to Atlanta, I encountered a very unusual sight. Somewhere in north Georgia, I was passed by a green Honda Accord Crosstour with an Alaska license plate. This person drove more than 4,000 miles to get to that stretch of highway, crossing through much of Canada, the Upper Midwest and half of the South. And my first though upon seeing it was: Someone bought a Crosstour?!

The Crosstour is an unusual car. It was created to rival the Subaru Outback, which had been running away with the “all-wheel drive wagon” segment since its 1995 debut. The Crosstour would also placate everyone who abandoned the brand after the 1997 model year, when Honda dropped the Accord wagon. (This included a total of 19 people, all of whom lived in the Portland area.)

But in creating the Crosstour, Honda failed to understand what made the rival Subaru Outback so successful. The resulting car wasn’t a brawny SUV alternative, but rather a bizarre cross between the Honda Accord sedan and a flat-brimmed baseball hat, with its size borrowed from a three-bedroom split-level in West Des Moines.

This isn’t the only time Honda delivered us the wrong car at the wrong time. Obviously, there’s the Acura ZDX. But how about every time they come out with an all-new Legend, or RL, or RLX, and we beg Honda to create a rear-wheel drive V8? They decline, arguing things like: we know it hasn’t worked the last four times. But this time … we have super handling all-wheel drive.

Honda isn’t the only brand who has trouble with timing and market demands. One of my favorite examples of this struggle was Audi’s inability to create a luxury SUV. In the late 1990s, there were luxury SUVs from Land Rover, Mercedes and Lexus. BMW came out with the X5 in 2000, the Acura MDX was out in 2001, and Porsche and Volkswagen – Audi’s own sister brands – were players by 2003.

And what did Audi give us? The Allroad Quattro. The only bigger failure than Audi’s understanding of our market was that car’s suspension. It wasn’t until 2007 – a full decade after the M-Class debuted, that Audi finally rolled out the Q7.

Doing It Well

So what brands notoriously build the right cars at the right time?

To me, BMW is one of the best. I know what you’re thinking: there’s no right time for the 5-Series GT, except possibly 6pm on the last day of the quarter at a BMW dealer who’s two units short of its target. And that’s true, though I would submit it’s also the perfect choice for a German state funeral. But beyond the 5-Series GT, BMW seems to have it down.

The X6, for example, led the charge in the highly-competitive Upscale SUVs That Won’t Get Let Over in Traffic segment that’s now populated by a wide range of vehicles, all of which are leased. The 1-Series came out after the Audi A3, but somehow managed to convince us that we all need compact luxury cars. And the X3 was the very first luxury SUV small enough to attract sorority girls, not just their moms.

Generally, Cadillac is pretty good at understanding what the market wants. (Pretend, for a moment, you live in a world where the XTS doesn’t exist.) In the 1990s, you and I would never have bought a Cadillac. Back then, only two types of people were buying them: wives of Cadillac dealers, and parents of General Motors employees. In the business, this is called “The Buick Reatta Strategy.”

But in the heat of the SUV craze, Cadillac created the Escalade, satisfying virtually everyone except for other road users. In 2003, they came out with the CTS, which was actually a decent rear-wheel drive sport sedan. And the next year, the CTS-V borrowed its engine and manual transmission from the Corvette Z06 for the enthusiasts. All were highly successful, especially at convincing Cadillac dealer wives to instead consider Buick.

Cadillac’s had even more hits in the years since. The current SRX is rather popular, though they don’t seem interested in doing a V version no matter how many letters I write begging for it. The ATS is a capable sport sedan. And the XLR was a great example of providing exactly what the brand’s customers wanted. Unfortunately, it was a failure because most of those customers died before Cadillac could bring it to market.

So, TTAC: you have my suggestions. Now it’s your turn. What automakers do you think build the right cars at the right time?

Doug DeMuro operates PlaysWithCars.com. He’s owned an E63 AMG wagon, road-tripped across the US in a Lotus without air conditioning, and posted a six-minute lap time on the Circuit de Monaco in a rented Ford Fiesta. One year after becoming Porsche Cars North America’s youngest manager, he quit to become a writer. His parents are very disappointed.

Doug DeMuro
Doug DeMuro

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  • Daveainchina Daveainchina on Apr 30, 2013

    Just going to list a few. Original Corvette Pontiac GTO Mustang 1970 Muscle car of choice (I think 1970 was THE year for all manufacturers) Firebird firechicken Burt Reynolds car BMW 2002 Honda Super Cub(do motorcycles count?) Honda Accord Honda Civic Dodge K-cars Chrysler/Dodge Minivan Dodge Dakota (collapsed the small pickup category and moved the entire category to midsize trucks) Viper Model T Original 300 Cab-forward dodge/chryslers New 300 Cadillac Escalade Original Dodge Dart Audi Quattro Subaru WRX Celica GT Cobra Omni GLH-S The list goes on and on of great successful vehicles that redefined the company or redefined the market. Any Harley Earl design post WWII. Which car had the original rumble seat? First car with power steering?

  • Lezier Lezier on Jul 24, 2013

    If you are planning to construct a car the best thing that you will do is to call an expert in order for you to minimize your expenses as well Rover v8 Engine Parts as for your safety and protection.

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
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