The New Chrysler G37? Our tax dollars at work!
Jun 4th, 2009 | By Qualified Engineer | Category: Commentary
I love the styling of the Infiniti G37 sedan. A beautiful, unique Japanese sports sedan. A car which has an unmistakable silhouette and flourishes with uncompromising performance. I am also a fan of the amazing website Car Walls. Imagine my utter shock and dismay when my eyes fell upon what could only be described as the Infiniti’s evil doppelganger from Detroit, the Chrysler 200C EV.
Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with a copy cat design. But when you consider that my US tax dollars were pumped into producing this feeble attempt at originality, it is no wonder the collective team at Qualified Engineer sighed in a concerto of disappointment.
However, As an engineer it brings different questions to the fore.
In this economic climate, should all your designs be driven by creativity or do you just try to keep up with the Jones (Japanese)? In the case of the entry level luxury sport sedans, the competition is stiff. Even the likes of Lincoln have offerings which rival the Europeans in exterior styling (quality TBD). With access to government funds and with the very future of you company hanging in the balance, is it wise to reverse engineer the success of others or try to carve out a new niche for yourself? Despite its lackluster interior, the Chrysler 300 was original. It would behoove Chrysler to demand that same level of creativity.
[...] but I follow an engineering blog tham wrote an interesting piece on the G sedan and Chrylser. The New Chrysler G37? Our tax dollars at work! Is this author off [...]
I think you are being a little too critical of GM. The car pictured is not intended to save the company, but instead get people interested again.
The American companies are in need of 2 things:
1. Fuel efficient vehicles.
2. A comsumer belief that American cars are good vehicles.
The first one is easy but we all know it is hard to change people’s perceptions and so much of the car market hinges on this. American cars have a bad history that lingers like the smell of old gym socks in your bag. In foreign markets where this history is less prevalent American brands are respected because modern American cars do compete favorably to their Japanese counterparts. If there is a perception that American cars are inferior then that affects initial sales and resale value. Filing for bankruptcy certainly does not instill any confidence in the consumer (which GM is trying to instill through its rally-the-troops commercials) and it will be a long road ahead of them with many oil and filter changes.