What kinds of Cars DO Americans want?

I tend to store things up, then get to the keyboard and rant. This is one of those times.

Earlier I was listening to the NPR station in Phoenix. The lady was repeating the oft asked question, "Why don't the American carmakers build cars Americans WANT?"

That's about the thousandth time I have heard that. The fact is, American carmakers seldom do more than react to what they see as a possible trend. When "Ahnold" was presented with the first HUMMER off the line, people with too much spare money wanted one. Then other folk wanted the same thing, but with a little styling. Thus was born the SUV rage. That was 1996. When gas prices went through the roof last year, NO one bought SUVs; they all demanded fuel-efficient smaller cars. Oh, that was until gas prices collapsed, and the small fuel-efficient cars were left wanting on the lot. The main reason SUV sales didn't shoot up was there wasn't much bank-owned money to lend to people.

Go back to 1972 and to 1979 when the Arabs reset the pumps. Both times, people whined that they needed more mileage out of their cars. Jimmy Carter (remember 13% inflation?) coined the term "gas-guzzler" and created a fine, although he called it a tax, for cars which didn't deliver - I can't remember - 16 miles per gallon? Is that close? Both times the industry began offering VERY small cars, many foreign-built and imported under a domestic nameplate. However the domestic manufacturers continued to make their muscle cars, hedging the bet that the fuel-efficient car market would be temporary both times. it was.

In 1979 I was working at a radio station in Boston, and we expressed a certain indignation that a gas station down in Charles Circle had the gall to charge a dollar a gallon. But if you think about it, every time, with the exception of summer of '08, when fuel prices have spiked, if they leveled at something reasonable, we got used to it and accepted it. Humorous sidebar: I had a Cadillac, and people accused me of driving a "gas-guzzler." So with 13,000 miles and 11 months on it, I traded for a smaller Pontiac something. The Cad gave me 19 mpg; the Pontiac gave me 17 mpg. But people stopped calling me names.

Manufacturers, in order to meet the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, imported more and more cars. My wife's ex-truck, a Mitsubishi, was imported as a Dodge Ram 50. The carmakers could continue to build the big ones as long as they met the CAFE mandate by selling enough of the little ones. That's called "eyewash"; as long as it looks good on paper....

So now the government is going to mandate a much higher average mileage. If the American public really wanted little cars, we would be awash in Smart4Twos. That, as far as the American public stands, is a true novelty. The Prius, which in its fifth year last summer was such a hot item, could be found in rows on lots this past winter. "Gotta have a hybrid!" The US manufacturers answered the problem by bringing out its own versions of hybrids, including the VOLT, a plug-in car. Do you see the continuing trend? React; don't innovate.

My Mercedes 300D is 24 years old. It has been serviced regularly, had things replaced as needed [I have now spent more on maintenance than the car cost new] and driven carefully. I get 28 mpg. I own it. There are now diesel cars which are cleaner and get even better mileage than the hybrids. There are gasoline cars which get even better mileage than the hybrids.

In 1957 (for those of us who can remember 1957) the Chrysler Corporation unveiled its new car lines by saying, "Chrysler is three years ahead!" Remember that? Seeing the doldrums which were settling in in the auto industry, they threw out three years of design changes and mods and brought out the 1960 lines as 1957. Ahhh, yes. TAILFINS. Within two years GM was lousy with... TAILFINS. And lotsa chrome.

Personally I do not want a little lightweight car which I can plug in and get 40 miles on a charge. (Oh, THAT'S convenient.) I want a car I can get into and drive to the mountains up toward Flagstaff, or drive over to Vegas, or drive to the foot of Santa Monica Pier. If it requires hydrogen fuel cells, let's develop those. If a solar array on the roof of my car can help it, let's get going. If I could have a gas turbine which I could light off once on the freeway, one which would power electric motors for the front and rear axles [gas turbines are most efficient if operated at a constant vehicular speed and RPM], then why not?

This country has been based on the internal combustion engine forEVER. No amount of legislative demands is going to change that.