Cassandra Watch: Steve Cropley Edition

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: October 14th, 2008

Autocar‘s Steve Cropley doesn’t discuss the US market much, focused as he is on European happenings. But the man who called Rick Wagoner’s take on ethanol “crisp and lucid” (and blacklisted our own Robert Farago from Autocar’s pages back in the day), now agrees that a US automaker will almost certainly cease to exist. Unfortunately, his belief in this inevitability is borne not of clear-sighted analysis of Detroit’s predicament, but of a deep and abiding love for all things GM. Speculating on rumors of a possible GM-Chrysler hookup, Cropely suggests that Chrysler should go down and be subsumed by the General. “My own impression,” writes Cropely, “is that, even when times are as tough as this, a GM led by Rick Wagoner and the fine teams that he’s assembled, stands a better chance of making the cars we’ll need tomorrow than what I’ve seen of the modern, Cerberus-controlled Chrysler. All GM needs is time to implement its bold plan followed by some faith from car buyers.” But Cropely’s analysis is not all GM fanboyishness. “The Chrysler marque itself stopped meaning very much to me 20 years ago,” intones Cropely. “I mean, who cares if the Voyager and PT Cruiser live or die?” [Note to Steve: they are dead, and nobody cares.] Picking Chrysler to go belly-up is hardly a bold claim at this point, and arguing that GM is the firm to fix it is beyond absurd. Still, add another post-Detroit Three pundit to the Cassandra list.

Edward Niedermeyer

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Psarhjinian on Oct 14, 2008
My own impression,” writes Cropely, “is that, even when times are as tough as this, a GM led by Rick Wagoner and the fine teams that he’s assembled, stands a better chance of making the cars we’ll need tomorrow than what I’ve seen of the modern, Cerberus-controlled Chrysler. Please. That's like saying a dead raccoon left out in the sun for two days is less foul than a dead skunk left out for for a week. No comparison to Ford, left alone Toyota or Honda. Gee, I wonder why? All GM needs is time to implement its bold plan followed by some faith from car buyers.” And all I need to become a millionaire is a million dollars. All GM had to do was diversify it's product portfolio back when it was still making money. Or better yet, learned from the Vega debacle over a quarter-century ago. Note: they didn't. Wagoner alone had, what, eight years to change the direction of the ship and he still ran it into the iceberg. “I mean, who cares if the Voyager and PT Cruiser live or die?” [Note to Steve: they are dead, and nobody cares.] To be fair, the European-market Voyager is just a nameplate slapped on what we call the T&C. They still sell it, I think. I still like the PT, and it could still stand a chance if Chrysler updated the mechanicals and remarketed it as, say, a low-floor crossover like the Rondo or Mazda5, but with more style. There's a real niche here, and only Mazda and Kia--neither of whom have Chrysler's dealer network--have chosen to exploit it.

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Nicodemus on Oct 15, 2008

@ no_slushbox : "Ha! British advice on saving a country’s auto industry." Firstly, I don't see how being British per se nullifies any insight or opinion an individual might have. If anything a Brit might be eminately qualified to comment on the demise of a nation's car makers and how to prevent it. Secondly and more importantly, Steve Cropley is an Australian!

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Jgh on Oct 15, 2008
"All GM needs is time to implement its bold plan followed by some faith from car buyers." Did I miss something here? What plan?

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Joeaverage on Oct 15, 2008

So will ethanol even have a purpose with consumers now that gas is back down to $3 a gallon? I have already heard a few folks considering larger vehicles the next time around. Yes they are short sighted souls... Does anyone expect gas to race up past $4 a gallon next year?

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