actuall,y i read on detnews.com that the cavilier this year with some tweaks is selling pretty good..

 

I'm the only one who drives a 4th gen in my school! Its filled with Neons, Cavaliers, Sunfire, Civics, Mustangs and rusty cars.
Even my friend drives a 2002 Neon. I don't get those people.. I'd rather drive a $2000 Camaro than a brand new 4 banger...

 

GM will never capture the sport compact market. The whole ghastly trend was started by freaks whose budget or parents required them to buy Hondas. A Honda was the obvious choice at the time because of superior reliability compared to early 90's GM's. Then these goofballs wanted a little more speed. Where things went awry is when these guys started thinking that their Civics were fast now. It also helped that Japanese engines had different specs, which sounds exotic to the less intelligent. So people started changing to Japanese spec parts and all of the sudden: WOW super exotic! Unfortunately, the new generation of sissified young American sheeple jumped on the bandwagon, sneering at all American cars. Especially the mighty General Motors. So Honda became the standard. Not Toyota, not Nissan. Certainly not GM or Ford. Imagine how we would sneer if Honda built a half a**ed rwd V8 car. Same thing as the Z24. As far as the F - body, when I was in high school a few years ago Mustangs were all the rage. It seems people don't like to be different, so everyone wanted a GT or Cobra. Mustangs are cheaper by far, which doesn't help matters. What GM needs to do for a 5th gen is improve body design so that a driver can halfway see the corners of the car, update features ( man those power windows are slow ) , and ADVERTISE! They need to leave sport compacts to the crowd that thinks rock and roll sucks and pants hanging off the **** are cool. GM needs to fire a whole lot of idiot designers and engineers, basically.

 

I wouldn't fire any designers or engineers. Someone tells them what to do and that's where the problem is. The designers want to express themselves & the engineers would make vehicles depenable as tanks if costs weren't a consideration. But you had the lowest common denominator mentality at GM for some time. The cheapest to produce vehicle, assembled in the fastest way possible, that offends as few people as it can. That's the recipie for dull, low quality cars which was GM. And because of it's massive size, things don't change easily.

The view that American cars are inferior didn't start with the early 90's Honda, but in the late 70's, and continues to this day. Parents wanted to buy a cheap, reliable used car for their kids, and Hondas were all the above and dirt cheap to insure. As for the fox Mustangs, there were seemingly millions of them, so anyone with a part time job could find one cheap.

Then there's the aftermarket. F-Bodies are good, but there are literally dozens of enthusiast magazines for Hondas, Mustangs, and small imports of almost any brand, advertizing a ton of aftermarket companies. That's what being young and having a car was always about, getting one cheap, and customzing it to your taste.

There is probally alot more tuned imports out here than elswhere, and though it isn't what I'd have, I like what some of the kids have done to their cars. They brag too much (which at times bugs me), but then again, we all had the kids who did the same when we were in high school.

 

The facelifted 2003 Cavalier is what I would call an "Ugly American." The 2002 model certainly racked up a decent sales tally, but if you take away the heavy incentivization and the CAFE offsets, this loss leader would have dissappeared in a heartbeat.

The Honda Civic is the entry level car to beat, hands down. The twentysomething buyers that are making that first buying decision are drawn towards the Civic, and rightly so. These cars are mechanically bullet proof, have good resale values, and even a credible image.

Guess what? The Civic doesn't need huge buyer incentives. People actually want these cars, unlike the Cavalier, which is often forced upon customers by the omnipresent "Special Finance Manager." People typically drive away in a new Cavalier because of financial and credit circumstances - compare that with your average Honda buying experience.

 

Who needs huge buyer incentives when you have a good image & crappy transmissions?

http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caran...i_warrenty.xml

Hondas are overrated nowadays. Their quality, dealer service, and now their transmissions leave more than a little to be desired. :P

Besides that ugly restyled front end & a lack of real power, I'd say Cavalier isn't too much of a loosing proposition (unless you are a GM accountant).

 

http://www.auto.com/industry/iwirg21_20020921.htm

Honda finished second to Toyota Motor Corp. in the most recent J.D. Power & Associates study of initial quality, an auto industry benchmark. Between 1990 and 2000, the most recent year for which full statistics are available, Honda had 32 safety recalls, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. General Motors Corp., the largest automaker, had 334 in that period , the agency said.

 

I've come across alot of people who were unhappy with the way they were treated at Honda dealers. The common theme seemed to be to the effect of the dealers acted like they were doing the customer a favor. Maybe that's just in Cali.

At any rate, while I was makeing my lame defense of Cavalier, it seems Saturn is the one to really watch: http://autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?p..._code=01341292 .

A 200hp Saturn coupe is just what GM needs to get into the tuner market!

 

I've come across alot of people who were unhappy with the way they were treated at Honda dealers. The common theme seemed to be to the effect of the dealers acted like they were doing the customer a favor. Maybe that's just in Cali.

At any rate, while I was makeing my lame defense of Cavalier, it seems Saturn is the one to really watch: http://autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?p..._code=01341292 .

A 200hp Saturn coupe is just what GM needs to get into the tuner market!

 

Whoo Hooo!! Tuners, LOL, whatever.