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Jim,
I recently read an Automotive News article and found some pretty bizarre comments from John K. Teahen Jr., the senior editor.
The editorial is titled “Auto Industry is singing a new song” from the August 11th issue, page 16.
Here are a few of his quotes:
Quote 1: “Small cars are the darlings of today’s U.S. market. If you have them, you’re in clover. If you don’t, you’re out in left field, peeking around the fender of an unwanted SUV.
Quote 2: To sell a small car, a dealer calls the first name on his waiting list. The big pickups and SUVs sit forlornly off to one side. Nobody wants them. Nobody buys them.
Quote 3: I guess it’s bad for a columnist to say: “I told you so. You should have listened to me.” Bad form or not, I’m saying exactly that. For years, I’ve written that the truck boom would end and automakers had better have something else to sell their dealers. General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC paid no attention. They ignored cars and kept building big pickups and SUVs that have become a drug on the market.
Perhaps you have already seen the article. If you have, hopefully you are as puzzled as I am why a “senior editor” of an automotive magazine could make such blanket statements. While his point of building and selling small cars is valid, has he ever considered that many Americans don’t want a small car? He stated that nobody wants SUVs. The last time I checked, SUVs and pickups are selling. For example…I recall seeing the Chevrolet numbers for June ’08 and the national sales numbers were off no more than 20% compared to June of ‘07 on the trucks and SUVs Mr. Teehan says “nobody wants”. The North Central Region was up over 26% for the Silverado, Suburban and Tahoe for the same period.
My point is this…when people such as Mr. Teehan write articles with absurd comments; someone representing the manufacturers should speak out and let these guys know that articles with blatant negative exaggerations are not helpful to our industry.
Glenn
I recently read an Automotive News article and found some pretty bizarre comments from John K. Teahen Jr., the senior editor.
The editorial is titled “Auto Industry is singing a new song” from the August 11th issue, page 16.
Here are a few of his quotes:
Quote 1: “Small cars are the darlings of today’s U.S. market. If you have them, you’re in clover. If you don’t, you’re out in left field, peeking around the fender of an unwanted SUV.
Quote 2: To sell a small car, a dealer calls the first name on his waiting list. The big pickups and SUVs sit forlornly off to one side. Nobody wants them. Nobody buys them.
Quote 3: I guess it’s bad for a columnist to say: “I told you so. You should have listened to me.” Bad form or not, I’m saying exactly that. For years, I’ve written that the truck boom would end and automakers had better have something else to sell their dealers. General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC paid no attention. They ignored cars and kept building big pickups and SUVs that have become a drug on the market.
Perhaps you have already seen the article. If you have, hopefully you are as puzzled as I am why a “senior editor” of an automotive magazine could make such blanket statements. While his point of building and selling small cars is valid, has he ever considered that many Americans don’t want a small car? He stated that nobody wants SUVs. The last time I checked, SUVs and pickups are selling. For example…I recall seeing the Chevrolet numbers for June ’08 and the national sales numbers were off no more than 20% compared to June of ‘07 on the trucks and SUVs Mr. Teehan says “nobody wants”. The North Central Region was up over 26% for the Silverado, Suburban and Tahoe for the same period.
My point is this…when people such as Mr. Teehan write articles with absurd comments; someone representing the manufacturers should speak out and let these guys know that articles with blatant negative exaggerations are not helpful to our industry.
Glenn