Date: Mon, 03 Sep 2007 22:00:04 GMT From: "Walt Kienzle" <wkienzlenospam.com> Subject: Re: What killed this group?
"still me" <wheeledBobnospamo.com> wrote in message news:jnp8e35vggohrq5s7pubpglsg01beb8hq8nospamcom... [snip] > I have to acknowledge that I haven't driven all that many later > American cars, but the ones I have driven have never failed to leave > me disappointed or reenforce my belief that I still want to drive > foreign (non-American) cars. The problem is that American cars are > still designed for the "average American" and the average American > doesn't understand engine, suspension, or brake performance and > accepts sub standard components and design with a smile. > I think it is worse than that. I firmly believe that GM in particular designs their North American cars with car rental agencies as their target market. The rest, mistakenly bought by everyone else, is just a bonus to their sales figures. On the other hand, the last European GM product I drove - a new 2002 Opel Vectra rental car - seemed designed for the target market of the junk pile, proving that GM knows how to sell junk across most parts of the globe. (in my humble opinion) BTW, a survey indicated that 80% of the US drivers responded that they can't/won't drive a manual transmission. In my opinion, that means only 20% of the US drivers actually know how to drive. That also explains why there are only about 5 GM models that offer manual transmission in the US.
