2008 Camry Vs Accord Vs Malibu/ Quick Drive

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2008 Camry Vs Accord Vs Malibu/ Quick Drive


2008 Camry Vs Accord Vs Malibu/ Quick Drive Video

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Detroit 3 work to reclaim support of American families with new sedans
MARK PHELAN

November 12, 2007

BY MARK PHELAN

FREE PRESS AUTO CRITIC

The family sedan made Detroit's automakers great, but can they ever build another great one?

The answer is yes, but it leaves General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC facing a tougher question: Can they persuade Americans to buy their family sedans?

The three domestic automakers face that challenge with widely varying strengths and weaknesses. However, the greatest hurdle is common to all three: a bone-deep skepticism rooted in the poor cars foisted on the public in the 1980s and '90s.

Customers found themselves betrayed by brands they had trusted unquestioningly all their lives.

GM, Ford and Chrysler repeatedly let them down.

They really meant it this time, they promised; this was the car -- the Ford Fairmont, Oldsmobile Ciera, Chevy Lumina, Chrysler New Yorker -- on which they'd gotten it right and matched Honda and Toyota's quality, reliability and fuel economy.

Today, some of the family cars the Detroit Three offer are as good as anything on the road. Convincing buyers of that is a formidable task, however.



"People have very, very long memories," said Michelle Krebs, editor of AutoObserver.com. "They had bad experiences with domestic cars in the '80s and '90s.

"Things have changed, but they are reluctant to believe it. There's an anger and sense of betrayal."

That's why just 20% of the 2.7 million people who shop for family cars every year have a domestic brand at the top of their list, said Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager.



Another 20% are "import neutral," GM's research says.



The rest -- 60% of all Americans looking for a family car, 1.6 million buyers a year -- range from mildly opposed to actively hostile to the idea of buying a car from a U.S.-based automaker.



That's how bad things are for the Detroit Three. The Honda Accord and Toyota Camry -- which together could reach 1 million sales a year soon -- are the default options for more than half of car buyers.

Good isn't good enough

After a generation's work improving their quality and fuel economy, Detroit's automakers face an inconvenient truth: It's not enough.


Cars like the Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Impala regularly get top quality ratings from respected neutral judges such as Consumer Reports and J.D. Power, and Chevrolet has burned a hole in the airwaves advertising that it has more 30-m.p.g.-plus models than any other brand.


But to get traction against strong, established competitors, you have to shake people up.

Chrysler managed that with the looks and performance of its acclaimed 300 sedan, then failed to deliver a follow-up hit.

"It takes not one great product, but a consistency of great products across the board" to change buyers' perceptions, Krebs said. "The domestic brands have had a home run here and there. They need consistent excellence."

Each of the Detroit Three is a leader in some vehicle type: Chrysler minivans; Ford and GM full-size pickups and SUVs and the growing segment of car-based crossover SUVs.

Those vehicles account for millions of sales a year, but continued failure to build equally good and desirable cars is not an option.

"The family-car market is a giant part of the business," said Jim Hall, vice president for industry analysis in the Southfield office of consultant AutoPacific. "You cannot get by with a car that's simply OK."



GM's growing strength

The 2008 Chevrolet Malibu, which just went on sale, is the poster child for GM's effort to become relevant to car buyers again.

The car is armed with fuel economy as good as or better than the Accord and Camry, an attractive exterior design and a good-looking, comfortable and quiet interior.

"You have to give people a reason to reach for their wallets," GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said. "Part of the appeal must lie in appearance: We need people to look at it and say, 'Wow. What's that? A Chevrolet? I'll take a look at that.' "

The interior is equally important, Lutz said, so GM worked hard to make the Malibu's cabin look and feel like a more expensive car, using materials that are soft and knobs and switches with the precise, high-quality feel of the controls on an expensive camera.

The car has won raves already. Chevrolet advertising is to include the following one-liners from marketing heaven:

• "It's like a Super Accord, but from GM" -- the New York Times.

• "Camry beware" -- Car and Driver.

• "With its handsome Audi-esque design and good engine choices, it's the next big thing in midsize cars" -- Motor Trend.

"The Malibu can get GM back into the competitive set" with the Accord and Camry, Krebs said. "It's generating tremendous buzz" compared with other domestic sedans on the Internet car-shopping site Edmunds.com.

Edmunds' data show that a surprising 21.5% of Malibu shoppers compared it with the 2008 Honda Accord.

That suggests the Malibu already is attracting some of the customers Chevrolet wants, but 11.6% of shoppers at Edmunds compared it with the brand's best-selling car, the Impala.

Chevrolet designed the Malibu to attract import-oriented buyers. If it steals too many of the Impala's domestic-leaning owners instead, the Malibu will have failed.

The new Malibu and Saturn Aura midsize sedan that went on sale last year put GM on the road to success, Hall said.

The Aura has sold more slowly than many expected, but offering a decent midsize sedan was a total departure for Saturn. It will take the brand at least two years to get buyers to think of it as a source for cars larger than the inexpensive compacts that built its reputation.

"GM has lots of opportunity here," Hall said. "They need to market the Malibu properly. ... If the Malibu fails, it won't be the car's fault."

Ford: Good cars, lousy marketing

Ford has several very good family cars, but poor marketing, so-what looks and other fumbles have kept the cars from breaking through.

The Fusion and Mercury Milan win raves for their quality and reliability, while the larger Taurus and Mercury Sable offer vast interior room, good fuel economy and top safety scores.

The 2008 Taurus -- a revamped, more powerful and renamed version of the car Ford previously sold as the Five Hundred -- is vastly better than the Five Hundred. But it hasn't caught on with buyers, selling fewer cars than the old model did last year.

"It's an incredibly improved car," Hall said. The Five Hundred was widely panned for boring looks and inadequate power, but Hall said Ford's biggest problem was "an almost classic example of how not to launch a car. They needed a national advertising campaign for a year to make people aware of it, but they stopped too soon."

Ford does have a potential difference-maker in Sync, a breakthrough system it developed with Microsoft.

Sync lets drivers control a mobile phone and MP3 music players with spoken commands. It is, by far, the most advanced and user-friendly way any car offers to enjoy electronic devices and reduce driver distraction.

Ford launched Sync on the 2008 Focus. It is to be available on the Fusion, Milan, Taurus and Sable soon. Ford will be the only automaker with Sync for at least a year, and that may be its opportunity to attract electronics-savvy customers.



Chrysler: Opportunity lost

Chrysler had the decade's biggest hits when the powerful and stylish 300, Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger went on sale in 2004 and 2005.

It squandered that momentum with the string of average-to-poor cars that followed, however. The reception to its Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger sedans this year has been lukewarm, at best.

Failing to cash in on the 300-Charger phenomenon was a serious mistake, Hall said.

"The Sebring was an incredible missed opportunity," he said. "Chrysler had a potential design icon in the 300. The Sebring should have been the car for the person who aspires to a 300, but can't afford it, or wants front-wheel drive."

The Sebring and Avenger also suffer from sub-par interiors, he said. "They have some terrific features, like the cooled glove box drink compartment" and heated and cooled cup holders, he said, "but they use too many parts from low-rent cars."

Unexpected help

Even the best of Detroit's new family cars faces an uphill fight to attract buyers who never have had reason to regret buying an Accord or Camry.

Style, quality, fuel economy and unique features are nice, but it helps to get lucky.

That may have just happened. Recalls and a public tongue-lashing from Consumer Reports may have dinged Toyota's reputation for bulletproof quality, and Honda's new Accord has taken some criticism for its looks and interior noise.

"If you're in a footrace and your competitor stumbles, it's providence," GM's Lutz said. "You take advantage."