15 Years of Truth - A Message From TTAC's Managing Editor

When I first joined The Truth About Cars in April of 2015, I made it my mission to catch up on TTAC’s illustrious history. I marked a date in my calendar: November 14th, the date of TTAC’s first published post, which makes today TTAC’s 15th anniversary.

TTAC has done a lot in 15 years. It’s offered up honest, informative, and entertaining reviews, which many in the industry still describe as “brutal” — a descriptor we wear with pride. We’ve kept an eye on the Detroit Three before, during, and after the massive bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler. We’ve kept Silicon Valley and government honest. And we’ve launched the careers of some of the industry’s most trusted critics (and others who completely sold out — you can’t hit a homerun every time you step up to the plate).

It’s easy to look back on 15 years of history with a romantic view, but it’s infinitely more difficult to predict and anticipate the future.

That’s why I come before you today.

We’ve followed some obvious themes as of late: a strong but softening sales environment; rising incentives; America’s (and the rest of the world’s, really) rekindled love for SUVs and trucks during a time of low fuel prices. We’ve also tried to eschew politics more so than many other outlets, though that will change as the political football is about to be thrown in the direction of auto manufacturing and free trade.

Conversely or complementary, we’ve attempted to pivot our content more toward enthusiasts and in-market buyers looking for advice, to be the guardian of your dollars, to give you a leg up against the salesman.

Yet, with all this effort, we are still a blog. Our sole product is content. Our main focus is enticing you with a headline so you’ll click through to read our words. Unfortunately, that seems to be the only thing we’ll be able to bring you for the foreseeable future.

Here’s some truth: TTAC is 15 years old and the current iteration of its website is coming up on its seventh birthday. We’re the Dodge Journey of automotive websites — new trim packages now and then, but the bones themselves remain, long amortized and profitable but showing age. We operate under one of the tightest budgets in media and see little to no investment. We’d love to give you more — but we can’t. There’s no plan for TTAC to evolve, to change, to become an authority. Our hands are tied and the rope becomes more taut by the day.

But there’s hope.

I believe great solutions are born from adversity. Look at Alan Mulally, for example. The ex-Boeing executive quite literally mortgaged the farm after he joined Ford. Now FoMoCo is reaping the benefits of his decisions over eight years later. He didn’t do that by throwing down edicts today so common in corporate America. He listened to his advisors, to his employees, and to Ford’s customers.

In that spirit, instead of breaking out the beer and congratulating ourselves on a job well done, I’d like to ask you some questions: What is TTAC to you? What would you like to see more of? Less of? What would keep you coming back? What drives you away? Be honest. Be brutal. I expect nothing less of you, because you expect nothing less of us.

I also want to take this moment to thank you. We are nothing without you, so thank you for sticking by us for these 15 years and I ask you to stick with us for 15 more. We’ll do our best to make it worth your while.

Mark Stevenson