Offbeat

Surprisingly, American Companies Can Make A Good Car

The use of TARP money to temporarily bailout the American auto industry has stirred up a lot of strong emotions. The Big Three will have to work hard to repair their brand reputations after years of bad management and the firestorm of negative press brought on by union disputes.  However, the biggest accusation against Detroit has been its inability to build high quality fuel efficient cars that people actually want to buy.  Now, although I personally don’t support the auto bailout, I have no desire to push my political and economic opinions on anybody.  What I do want to do is talk about some current and upcoming Detroit product offerings to show that American car companies can in fact build quality automobiles that people want to buy.  No, I am not talking about the Chevy Volt which will require 7000 dollars worth of tax incentives to be priced competitively.

Ford Fiesta

On sale in Europe and coming to America in 2009, the value packed Fiesta has great styling, fuel economy, and a high quality interior.  Watch this slightly rediculous yet extremely entertaining clip from Top Gear to see what I mean.

Chevy Malibu

The new Malibu is a huge step forward as it makes GM competitive in the midsize sedan market against the excellent Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.  The Malibu is offered with four cylinder, six cylinder and hybrid powertrains.  The whole car just has a much higher quality feel than previous generation Malibus.

Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac CTS, Dodge Challenger

I’m grouping these three together because they are all featured in yet another great clip from Top Gear (found below).  While these cars may not be the most fuel efficient vehicles on the road, they are all well built and competitive in their class.  The Challenger is frankly the only Chrysler product (aside from the Viper) that I would ever want to own.  The Corvette, from the base model to the sinister 640 horsepower Zr1, offers the most performance per dollar of any car that is on sale today while managing to get midsize sedan fuel economy on the highway.  The Cadillac CTS is competitive with the best luxury sport sedans that BMW, Lexus and Mercedes have to offer.

Want to see more American cars that are worth buying?  Check these out.

2010 Ford Mustang (Upgraded Interior, Much Higher Quality)

Saturn Astra

Ford Fusion

Pontiac G8

Chevy Cruze (coming in 2010)

Chevy Camaro

 

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