Seen but not photographed: Passat TDI

They're trying again! Will it pass smog?

Seen but not photographed: Skoda Ute

For those of us in the United States, that's the Skoda El Camino or the Skoda Ranchero.  This was a blue one that went by a couple of weeks ago. Even the bed is small.  It's smaller than the last car/truck thing VW sold in the early 1980's.  It's an urban pick up for people who don't have to carry very much. At least they're trying something different.

Seen but not photographed: Jetta Wagon 2.5, Mitsubishi iMiEv, Tesla Beverly Hills

Both looked about the same as they always do. The Jetta was the most puzzling, because the 2.5 is supposed to be going away.  Often, however, cars that are a few years old are used to test new engines.  I have pointed out in the past that the only reason displacement is written on the outside is because you wouldn't have any idea otherwise.  In this case, nothing in the way the car was driven indicated anything about the engine.  Whatever they're testing is just like everything else.

Seeing the Mitsubishi was interesting, just because they're not dead yet.  Their electric car hasn't caught on, and I doubt more testing will help. 

Tesla is falling behind stylistically.  Their dealership is a squat box painted flat black with a sign done in polished aluminum letters.  They are just in time for the rat rod trend.  Will their cars have wide white walls?

The Mexican Car Market: A short series that's too long.

Welcome to Volkswagen do Brasil!  Mexico has lots of cars from there.  Here are the Gol (Portuguese for "Goal") and the Crossfox.  I talked to one Gol owner who is very happy.  These cars capture what Volkswagen should be, better than anything does from Germany.  They're cheap, fun and practical.  Both of these qualify as people's cars.  On the other hand, cars like the Phaeton make you wonder if the egos in Wolfsburg are capable of understanding their own language.

Seen but not photographed: Yet another VW Bug

More people drive Volkswagens than any other appliance.  That's a variation on an old joke, but it fits.  I saw what looked like a silver Bug, parked at night with manufacturer plates.  It had a black metal (Or plastic.  I didn't bother to stop.) strip along the bottom that looked like the place where you would put the switches.  Maybe it was supposed to recall the running boards, but it looked like a low slung toaster or an electric tea kettle.

The Mexican Car Market: A short series that's too long.

How did Detroit blow it?  There are two problems with their mindset.

The first is their idea that America is a foreign country.  The "Imported from Detroit," Chrysler ad that rocked America a while ago was old hat to Californians.  Before the rest of the country was foreign, we were.  Ads from the (then) Big 3 tried to appeal to all of us hippie surfer dudes who could see that they were cool too!  Hey hey, would California like something imported from Detroit? No, we just wanted cars that ran.

Fast forward to 2013, and America is so foreign that it doesn't occur to them to make a small pick-up truck.  Look at the automotive fora.  Lots of people need small trucks for their businesses.  They mention that they're not stonemasons.  Many carry large, but light loads.  The funnier posts mention that there is no need for anatomical compensation.

The two small pick-ups pictured here are from VW and GM in Brazil.  They're good sellers.

Their second problem is their idea that Korea is Japan.  Ever since they got burned by the Japanese, they have been looking to align themselves with the next Japan.  They are as pathetic as the old colonizing Europeans looking for India.  Place names with variations of the word still exist all over Asia and the Americas.

Here are two pictures of Detroit at its laziest.  The Dodge Attitude has most of its Hyundai badges left on.  I didn't photograph their Verna, but that's even worse.  I also photographed the Chevrolet Chevy.  This Daewoo brings to mind old Monty Python jokes about crossing things out and writing over them in crayon.

At times, Korea beats Japan, but they do it on their own terms.  Hyundai and Kia are part of the home team.  GM not only uses Korea to alienate Mexicans, but Koreans as well.  Incredibly, they had the temerity to throw away the Daewoo name and heritage everywhere, even in Korea.

Other foreign companies in different places have managed to achieve home team status.  VW did it in Mexico and Brazil.  Ford has done it in much of Europe.

Meanwhile, the penny-wise search for greatness continues.  The Germans have found that Eastern Europe isn't Germany.  VW is paying a ton of money for the second time to find out that the US isn't Germany.  Honda has joined many other companies in finding out that China isn't Japan.  Suppliers have also learned that China isn't the US or Germany.  In 2011, Tata found out that England isn't India.

The ruse is always the same.  One country looks exactly like another, but without the disadvantages.  Short-sighted executives fall for it every time, and bad products result.

Seen but not photographed: The Giant Kia Spectra

 It looks like it could be the next Dodge Charger*.  The D3 (Formerly the Big 3) is prone to making bold statements without learning the language. Chrysler tends to be the worst. Also, it looks like a riff on the Charger they have now.  It's an outsized, bulbous thing, that looks most like a Spectra Coupe.  I believe all the Spectras sold here had 4 doors.  Anyway, the tailfins of the 80s are poised for a comeback!  Yes, this car doesn't just have a spoiler, but a giant table on the trunk raised high, waiting for a matching set of barstools!  I would have noticed it, even without the disguise job from the Here-Comes-A-Prototype!® car camouflage company.  This time, it was a wrap of swirling black and white lines, which can only be described as a techniblackandwhite yawn.  Painting it in a real color will help, but not very much.

*Of course, at the rate car companies copy each other, it could be a car from anyone.  By going into the SUV business, Porsche spectacularly forgot their language.  Volkswagen parodies theirs and chases Ford with the Amarok. Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti have all made the same disturbing transition from sought after to vulgarity.

Lost Europeans

These pictures were taken in Arizona.

The D3 automakers aren't the only ones helping the shift of the Latin American market to Europe. Here is a SEAT from Spain and what I think is a VW Polo.

Volkswagen Jetta TDI Wagon

Here's another Volkswagen from Puebla, Mexico.  I wonder if this is unusual for a prototype, or if things are shifting. While Mexico is an important market, I can't help but remember auto shows in the past.  Suzuki imports from different places, but their show cars were always from Japan.

The VIN decoders I find are always out of date by a few years.  The fourth digit indicates a sedan or base model.  Having ruled out that it's a sedan, I doubt it's a base model. Prototypes are made to test everything possible, and they are made to impress. Similarly, the best I could do for the fifth digit was a 2 liter Golf GTI engine rated at 115 hp. So much for 2006.

Although I like VW styling, I don't know it well. I wonder if this is a mule with, with something other than a turbodiesel under hood.  Also, I wonder how much of their product development has shifted out of Germany.