Quote:
Originally Posted by 1999 White C5 Coupe
I am 55 years old and when I began driving at age 16, many cars were sold that were basic cars without many options (such as power steering, power brakes, a/c, automatic transmission, radio, etc.). My first car was a used 1965 Chevrolet Malibu 2 door with no options. Cars then without the advanced safety equipment and design of today's vehicles were death traps, and caused many injuries and fatalities.
Given the state of the economy, I suspect you will see a return to a decontented vehicle over the next few years. The vehicle will contain the required safety equipment, but many convenience features will be removed to reduce cost and weight.
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Bingo,
I think the saftey features will stay, what I propose is to start a new wave of cheap cars which are cheap, general transportation. This does not mean they need to be boring and ugly though. Roll up windows, basic radio, manual locks, no MP3/4/5 dock, no 40 gig hard drive, just a basic vehicle. ABS and so on would need to stay, but otherwise, offer a truly basic car, and it will catch on. Power seats? Power mirrors? Who really needs these things? If you cut out all the unecesary stuff and put it in a nice package, it could become an icon, like the original beetle. I say keep a radio because if I can buy a head unit at Wal Mart for 25 dollars, GM can make one or buy one for less. Adding 15 dollars to a 7k vehicle is not going to break the bank.
Does GM need to make expensive small cars? That is a horrendous formula. If they make cheap good looking cars that are cheaper than the competition and look better, they could potentially sell millions.