Below is a reader’s response to my critique of Lee Iacocca’s tenure at Chrysler (go here and here). Anybody can be a Monday morning quarterback. Yes to a degree I agree HOWEVER the minivan was […]
(UPDATED FROM 6/26/2020) The Saab 99/900 proved to be the box that crushed the tiny Swedish carmaker. I grant you that this platform was hardly an immediate failure. Even so, the design of the 99 […]
My essay about Lee Iacocca elicited some interesting pushback, so I would like to offer some follow-up thoughts. Some commentators have pushed back against my criticisms of Iacocca by pointing to things he did well. […]
(UPDATED FROM 5/1/2020) American automakers have always had a penchant for extravagant designs that can look overwrought compared to imports. Of course, this has been changing of late as foreign automakers — particularly the Japanese […]
(EXPANDED FROM 3/4/2015) The 1993-2003 Chevrolet Camaro is a paradox. It sold so poorly that it was discontinued. This was a doubly painful failure given that the fourth-generation Camaro had a more modern body than the Ford Mustang’s. […]
(EXPANDED FROM 7/17/2020) One of the hazards of any kind of writing is that you can get too close to your subjects. In anthropology this has been called “going native.” Because we are human, we […]
“The US auto industry has been perhaps the best example of a sector falling into a rut and doling out progress at the minimum possible rate for at least 30 years. It’s criminal IMO that […]
“Even some auto executives and engineers complain that media comparisons of off-road driving capabilities have put pressure on them to design ever taller vehicles with ever more expensive four-wheel-drive systems that almost nobody needs. In […]
A recent Automotive News editorial (2020) flatly declared that the planet “is warming at a dangerous rate, and the global auto industry has a major role to play in fixing the problem.” Another unsigned editorial […]
Andrea Hiott has written an engaging and nuanced automotive history that transcends the usual “car guy” narratives. Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle offers a wealth of background about the political, economic […]
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