Just kind of curious what everyone thought is on this. I was watching American Muscle Car and never realized that Ford sold 400k Galaxies back then. Even though the Galaxie wasn't a 4dr, I'm guessing that it was in the same class seeing how the Charger has "evolved ".

I been wondering if Detroit can sell 200k, or so, RWD sedans. Do you think that they could take away 200k units from Camary and Accord and sell 400k units? I would think that they would have to overcome the fear of RWD and bad weather.

Jeremy

 

If it is a great, distinctively American product like Chrysler's LX cars, I don't see it being a problem.

 

I think they could, but I don't think it is going to happen.

 

Unequivocably.... YES. They can do it.

But it would take doing some things in today's market that the carmakers don't want (or refuse) to do.

IMO, either one of two different approaches can do it in today's market.
1) They could go for the economical family unit. This car would have to have extraordinary design, and would require something unique that gives it either an advantage to the eye, or an advantage to the daily life. Something similar to the Taurus back in the early '80s (except RWD or AWD this time). It must utterly REAK of value and quality - now that doesn't mean it has to be a perfect luxury car or cost a ton, but it needs to be assembled well, no squeaks and rattles, and it can't fall apart after 100k miles. Key point in this vehicle MUST be value, and that includes pricing. If the manufacturer would eat their pride and keep the beancounters in a steel cage, and put this car on a dealer's lot for 10-15% above cost, they would sell like $.50-hot dogs and $.50-beer at the World Series. I'm talking about a car that will compete with Camry, Accord, Impala, Five-hundred, Altima, and the like, but at a considerably lower MSRP. Think Hyundai Sonata, but American-made.
Imagine a semi-stripped AWD Five-hundred for $14k, or a similar RWD Impy for $13k!?!? Can you say "fleet sales"? Can you say "every 3rd family has one in the driveway"? I could see this as a runaway success, but because the carmakers earn big money on options and loaded vehicles, and also because the pricing is so regulated by a market's ability to pay instead of by cost-to-produce, nobody wants to tap into this forgotten segment.

2) They can also go for the sporty/economical segment. It simply amazes me how many people out here still want wheels, a motor, and a seat - nothing else. My boss, who makes $150k/year or more, just bought a Saturn Ion Monday night, and he was complaining about all the "bells and whistles" on the car that he didn't want. He wanted a car to drive to work, the store, and home...period. He also bought a new Lincoln LS back in March - loaded to the rim. Two different cars for two different tasks. What about the racers, the commuters, the college crowd? They don't want/need all the HUD, NAV, exotic interiors, power remote mirrors, heated seats, etc. They simply want to get from A to B economically and safely. Anybody have a clue how many Mustang IIs were sold in between '74 and '78? The Monza? The Pinto? The Chevette? Sunbird? There were some cool-looking little cars with rooflines and trunks back then - even if they didn't have big V8s, and they were EVERYWHERE! The last Cavy, the ZX2, Focus, and the Cobalt are good examples of this type of car - but they are trodden with FWD. I'd personally love to see a new, modern sedan design with the RWD underpinnings of the old Monza, Pinto, and Chevette. The Cobalt, Cavi, Focus, and Escort all had recent sales figures in the 200k range, so the market is there. It would simply be up to the designers to make a sedan that offered the right space and styling, then produce and sell it at a price that is competitive with the coupes and FWD units being offered today. Again, go after the Civic, Corolla, and such and do it with spirit and style, and conviction, not with 3-cent screws as opposed to 10-cent ones or with tape stripes.

On a side note, the old Galaxies (and Impalas) were the hot cars of the day back in the early 60's. My dad bought a new '62 Galaxie 500XL that came with the 406 - 3x2V and a 4spd. He fabricated a set of break-away headers for it, rigged a switch to bypass his brake lights, and a few other things, and dragged that car constantly for 3 years, run after run, track or street. That barge routinely was in the 13's, and hit the occasional high 12's when conditions were right. There were some WICKED family cars back in the days before the "musclecar" was given a status of it's own. 7-Litre Galaxies, 409 Impys, 427 Fairlanes and the like are not cars to play with - even in todays performance cars! And yes, they DID sell 300-400k units/year, but you also have to note that there were only 20-30 different offerings available to the public back then, as opposed to the 100+ different models available from all over the world today. That makes a difference too.

 

DCX is on target to sell around to 250k LX cars this years (all three nameplates combined), so I think that makes the answer a "yes".

 

Welpers, one brand in particular could do it fairly easily... and we all know who that is.

The issue would be lost sales due to a non-FWD option, and whether they ruin the business case for the vehicle.

My guess is that a robust FWD/AWD system would probably sell better in a high-volume sedan platform.

 

Agree with Pacer. For Large/Large volume - FWD/AWD.

 

Ford alone sells about 200,000 RWD sedans between the Crown Vic, Towncar, LS, Grand Marquis.

GM sells over 100,000 RWD Cadillac Sedans a year.

DCX will sell about 250,000 RWD LX cars like R377 said.

 

As many here have already stated, the LX will go seriously high-volume this year. It'll be interesting to see if suppliers can keep up with the demand.

What I don't understand is why this is surprising to anyone.

 

Are we talking about a general chassis or one specific model?

 

I was talking about one specific model. While it is nice to see a the LX vehicals doing so well. I think the Magnum is already over 35k this year, nice to see for a "niche" vehical.

 

In my opinion? absolutely.

It may take some education for those in the snow belt.......but look at the numbers of car buyers in states and areas where there is no snow!

As an aside, you really can't compare the 60s to now......it was a different world back then........the big three were .....Chevy/Ford/Plymouth. Honda built motorcycles.......Nissan was Datsun.......and on and on and on............

(and there I go giving my age away AGAIN!..........)

and....(someone please correct me if I'm wrong and my old brain is addled...) Chevrolet sold over 1 million Impalas/BelAirs/Biscaynes in the 1965 model year alone!

 

you're up late tonight Red.

 

I'm not quite old enough to remember that , but I do recall reading that Chevy's full-size offerings got up around the 1 million mark for a few years. Of course that was obviously a very different market back then, not nearly as fragmented. And FWD was something silly little French cars used.

I think FWD is going to remain the dominant layout for family transportation for the forseeable future. There's just too many advantages in terms of cost and packaging efficiency over a RWD car. And since the laws of physics haven't been repealed yet, FWD is still desirable to those of us who experience more than one season per year.

But with continued fragmentation of the market and technological advances that are closing FWD's inherent advantages, there's certainly room for a few factories' worth of RWD sedans. Many consumer preferences in the automotive market tend to be cyclical and we just happen to be catching the upswing on the RWD bandwagon.

 

and (someone correct me if I am wrong) Chevy was the #1 selling brand in America every year in the 50s, except for one yr, 1955 or something, when Ford became #1 for a yr.