Detroit Embraces Simplicity. For Now.

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Holy Mother of Malaise! As the bad news keeps coming for Detroit, the reactions are becoming increasingly agressive. And now word comes from the Detroit News that US automakers are “taking a cue from their Japanese competition” by reducing the number of trim options on their vehicles. “The industry has way too many brands, too many models, too much choice, to be efficient,” Mike Maroone, president and COO of AutoNation, tells the DetN. The import approach of limiting options to trim levels “may not serve every niche but it’s a much more efficient business model.” But despite Detroit’s apparent acceptance that less complexity is a good thing, they still lag behind. Sure, Ford has cut the number of available configurations for the new Fusion from 2,600 in 2008 to 104 in 2009. But GM has only “streamlined” its Malibu and Cobalt to four main trim levels, while Chrysler can brag only of trying to cut its Sebring configurations down to 1,000 versions. On the engine simplification front, Ford is out ahead of its Detroit rivals as well.

Ford is announcing plans to offer a four-cylinder version of every car and crossover it makes by 2013. According to Automotive News [sub] EcoBoost turbocharging technology will allow Ford to double four-cylinder engine volume, and possibly even offer one for its F150 pickup. “We’re all about the smaller displacement as a way to drive significant fuel economy without sacrificing performance,” says Ford product development VP Derrick Kuzak. EcoBoost V6s will begin to debut this summer, as V8s are phased out from all Ford products but F150, Mustang GT and large SUVs. Four-pot EcoBoost engines should debut in 2010 with a new generation of Focus.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Psarhjinian Psarhjinian on Feb 17, 2009

    You can pick two of the following: a) Any car you want, with b) any combination of options you want, at c) a price most people are willing to pay. Again, pick two.

  • PeteMoran PeteMoran on Feb 17, 2009

    For a time there was a "virtual tour" of the new BMW 1-series plant. Can't find it on the web now - maybe it's been taken down. Throughout assembly, the customer config travels with the chassis. Assemblers can manually check, and are shown at their station the config they should be assembling as the chassis passes by. It's all done with RF serial numbering. It's the same at VW's South African plant, most of Toyota's newest (Thailand, even Australia, all Lexus plant). Even Hino. At VW South Africa, they can build a Golf/Rabbit for 16-20 countries in over 1200 variations with each one completely different. From memory the junk rate was pretty close to nothing, and mostly they were recoverable into other customer cars. (Forgive me, the numbers might be out slightly).

  • RetardedSparks RetardedSparks on Feb 17, 2009

    I think that one way to look at this is to keep it simple until you are good at it, THEN you can add complexity. Detroit is like a kid who finds himself in college never having finished 3rd grade. Go back, learn how to design, manufacture, sell and service a limited number of good vehicles well. They never really learned that, and it shows.

  • Anonymous Anonymous on Apr 13, 2009

    [...] http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/detroit-embraces-simplicity-for-now/King Bojack, would you really be pissed if you wanted a base version of a car and had to suffer with alloy wheels, key less entry, abs, 4 wheel disks, etc. Why do all those have to be options? If you want a sunroof you are stuck with the …. Surely, we can do better than this by presenting the correct parts to the assembler at the correct station. My father did this manually in 1940 when he got a summer job Flights from Sydney to Phuket at a facility repairing Spitfire fighter planes outside Oxford … [...]

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