Ford and GM cook up 300C killers
Newswheel staff :: 30 May 2005 :: Filed under Saloon, Chrysler, Chrysler 300C, Ford, Ford 427 concept, Lincoln, Lincoln Continental concept, US,
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New mid-range sedans to save US auto-industry's bacon?
Our favourite car-enthusiast, red-neck rant-shop, Autospies, has a thin but nevertheless intriguing story on a pair of mid-market sedan concepts due for unveiling at the 2006 Detroit show from GM and Ford. The details are slim to none, but it’s expected the concepts will be thinly disguised production cars designed to take on Chrysler’s smash-hit 300C. Both companies have plenty of recent show metal to draw inspiration from. Ford in particular has enough compelling and classy concept cars in the bank (think Ford 427 and Lincoln Continental) to easily match the distinctive, if rather unsubtle, Chrysler 300C. The company also has the excellent D2C platform, as used on the new Mustang, Jag S-Type and Lincoln LS, ready and waiting.
As for GM’s 300C killer, picking the hardware underpinnings and styling influences is a little trickier. But with Cadillac, GM has at least proved its product planning department isn’t entirely comatose.
Whether either car can turn around the fortunes of Americas Big Two is another matter. Financial analysts, highly paid wonks and the pink-paper press are keen on highlighting the crippling pension and union-related burdens GM and Ford are currently buckling under. For sure, the thousands of dollars such issues add to the cost of each vehicle manufactured must be seriously painful. But the fact that both firms knock out some hilariously undesirable kit surely doesn’t help. And it will take more than a pair of heavy-metal sedans to save them.
A Chrysler 300C this morning
Linkage:
Autospies story/rant
Posted 31 May 2005, by John
That Ford concept looks hideous, so Americans will probably love it. You make a good point at the last, which is particularly reflected in that GM's vast majority of sales are heavily discounted fleet packages. Nevermind their cost structure, consumers just don't want to buy their cars.