It would be a stretch to say that the auto industry has weathered the storm, though brighter days to seem to lie ahead. Surprisingly, this round seems to have been won by Ford Motor Company. They seem to be making all the right moves, picking up both North American Car and Truck of the year, announcing 1,000 new jobs, and higher stock prices than in a long time.
Thanks to government help, GM and Chrysler have survived for another day, though both will look drastically different in coming years. As for Chrysler, it's hard to even predict what Fiat's plans will be. GM on the other hand has Saab, Hummer, Saturn, and Pontiac (RIP) all with one foot in the grave awaiting the dirt to be thrown on top. GM is now a much leaner/stripped down version of what it once was. On the bright side, at least both companies are still with us.
Onto the point, I am feeling much more excited about the upcoming years regarding factory performance. There is no denying the hybrids and electric cars are coming. Though there is still a spot left for the Mustangs, Camaros, and Challengers. Not only is there a spot, but as stated in another entry, the Mustang gets a bump to 5.0 liters and 412 hp to better run with it's competition. The Camaro in the mean time gets it's Z28 badging back, and with it, an approximate 556 hp supercharged engine to take on Ford's top Stang. Chrysler, for the time being, has it's SRT8 as it's top dog with 425 hp. Though notoriously overweight,I was happy to see that Chrysler does offer an optional 3.73 gear, which has gotta add some extra "oomph" off the line.
The Mustang and Camaro are both also available in "body in white," (though the Camaro is actually yellow) for those in the racing circuits. While the Challenger doesn't offer the same, they do offer drag race ready Challengers known as the "Drag Pak." Though not street legal, and not a strip down version to be built for any racing application, they do have drag racing somewhat covered.
The future for the Challenger is also looking much more promising. I believe I read somewhere that rumor was that the Viper was going away, though could have mistaken that for when the Viper brand was forsale. Secondly, Fiat recently announced that Dodge Rams would become their own devision known as "Ram." Chrysler would focus on cars, sharing technology/platforms with Fiat, while the Dodge brand would be reserved as the performance division. That, in my eyes, says that the Challenger will prove to have the staying power to keep it around for awhile.
Though the Challenger with it's extra heft and somewhat dated V6 aren't exactly fuel friendly, the Camaro and Mustang have recognized the need to offer a high mpg version to help fuel sales to the folks who aren't after the higher performance V8. Both Chevy and Ford will soon offer 300 hp V6 versions that get 29-30 mpg respectively. If Dodge chooses to leave itself to the performance enthusiasts, perhaps the V6 will simply go away. With a few V8 variations, and perhaps a V10 option, being the lone powerplants. Ford has even hinted that the twin turbo V6 powering the Taurus SHO and Lincoln MKX could find it's way into the Mustang. With little help, I'm sure Ford could easily get over 400 hp out of that engine. The question remains, will diehard Mustang enthusiasts embrace a twin turbo V6, or do they long for their tried and true V8's?
Any way ya cut it, the future looks much brighter for gearheads than it did in 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment