New York International Auto Show Highlights Drastic New Trends (photos coming soon)
It has been a long time since there has been a drastic change in the automobile. There have been steady evolutionary changes and the occasional radical upstart vehicle, but this year marks a watershed moment in automotive design. We are suddenly feeling a bit of collective guilt over our carbon emissions and their effect on global warming. More importantly, we are feeling the pinch of a tight economy and skyrocketing gas prices.
The result of this has been stunning. Virtually every manufacturer represented at the Auto Show highlighted some sort of alternative technology designed to save gas. Whether it was hybrid technology, bio-fuel, clean diesel, hydrogen fuel cell or a combination, “green” technology was the catchword of the industry.
Among the standard gas-combustion vehicles, there was a tremendous shrinking effect designed to boost fuel efficiency. For the first time, we're seeing truly small cars getting into mass production. These tiny little cars will be zipping around our streets before we know it. Much like the compact cars of the early eighties, we will learn to accept them.
As if to compensate for the diminutive exterior, there is an emphasis on aggressive design in many of these cars. Hard angles, straight lines and stylized design are meant to both give interior roominess and a degree of masculinity and sexiness to fuel efficiency. Americans raised on muscle cars have been trained to equate fuel efficient with effeminate. Now, fuel-efficient will increasingly be seen as urban, hip, masculine, cool and sexy.
As I explored the New York Auto Show, I was struck by how many vehicles were driving in the shadow of the Toyota Prius. The Prius began the “green car” revolution by outstripping expectations. At a time when most car makers were investing in luxury cars and SUVs, Toyota dropped the hybrid onto the scene. Without warning, demand for a “green car” was so great that Toyota could not keep up. Used Prius' were sometimes selling for more than new Prius' because of tremendous demand. Far from being a passing fad, Prius sales are limited by production capabilities rather than demand even today.
"Our volume on Prius was up 67% last year (in 2007)," said Toyota General Manager Bob Carter. "That was a supply-restricted 67% increase. That's 181,000 cars. We can't repeat that, no way, even though the demand may be there. We just can't keep up. So you will see much more moderate growth because of the supply." The popular second-generation Prius hit the market in 2004 and the rest of the industry has been scrambling to catch up ever since.
It's important to note a fundamental difference between the current obsession with fuel-efficiency and past trends. After the gas crisis of the 1970s, there was a flood of small cars on the American market- Toyota, Honda, and Datsun (now Nissan) suddenly blossomed as economy cars flooded American highways. Even the American car makers rushed to produce economy cars- Ford Escorts, Plymouth Horizons, and Chevy Chevettes. These were inexpensive cars that targeted the lower end of the economic spectrum. [Editor’s note: pricier cars also became smaller on the outside and much more efficient, but these came later.]
The new trend is the reverse. The hybrid technology is being marketed to the affluent car buyer. For example, the Yaris is much cheaper than the Prius and gets comparable fuel efficiency. It only takes a moment in a Yaris to realize that it is the economy car, while the Prius is much more comfortable and far better equipped. From the Prius, hybrid technology has worked its way upwards into the Highlander SUV, the Camry and now Lexus. “Green cars” rule the roost at the New York Auto Show, lead by hybrid systems. In fact, the biggest disappointment at the New York Auto Show was the absence of the next generation of Toyota hybrid technology- the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Prius, the Toyota 1/X concept and the A-BAT concept hybrid pickup truck.
Some vehicles are moving towards fuel efficiency by becoming smaller. Everything about the New York Auto Show was smaller. The Toyota Yaris capitalizes on its smaller European namesake, but it's not quite as small. This year, we see the beginning of true miniaturization of the automobile. Leading the pack of available vehicles is the Smart Fortwo, produced by Mercedes.
Smart auto makers have been trying to shrink their cars in anticipation of this trend. Some are ahead of the curve; others may not survive the change. Take the Goliath of passenger vehicles, the Hummer. The H1 Hummer had a curb weight of 6,814 pounds, while the H3 has dwindled to a mere 4,700 pounds. Toyota SUVs have been getting smaller as well. The popular Sequoia has a curb weight of 5,680 pounds; the Highlander is 3,516 pounds and the crossover Venza will be roughly 3,500 pounds. Don't be surprised if the heavier weight translates to lower sales for the mighty Sequoia.
Among passenger cars, curb weights have been steadily dropping for new vehicles (though within the same vehicles, weights have skyrocketed). The Camry is 3,680 pounds while the Matrix is 2,865 pounds and the Prius weighs in at 2,765 pounds. Smaller still, the trendy Scion xD is 2,625 pounds; the xB is 2,395 pounds and the economical Yaris is a mere 2,321 pounds. Contrast that to the Smart Fortwo, tipping that scales at a meager 1,650 pounds. What does the future hold? Smaller still, with the Toyota 1/x concept vehicle weighing 926 pounds. That can be lighter than a table for three at a fast food place.
Automakers are compensating by giving cars aggressive styling. Several of the small cars at the show seemed as though they had borrowed their style from the Hummer, shrunken down to a useful size. The American car market is still dominated by masculinity. Certain cars enjoy a certain level of popularity with a feminine image, but in order for a design to maintain popularity, it needs to ooze machismo. Sports cars, trucks, and expensive luxury cars attract buyers through a very masculine image. They are not generally sensible, especially in an urban environment. In the city, small, fuel-efficient vehicles make sense. Auto makers are cloaking the sensibility of the product with a rebellious attitude - an attitude that is shaped like a box.
The boxy cars that are being introduced now are, frankly, ugly. At least, that's how we perceive them. We forget that boxy cars were once the norm on American highways. Windshields were all straight, perpendicular glass. Curves and aerodynamics were virtually unheard of. Those of us who grew up with the muscle cars had difficulty adjusting to these little cars with their sleek designs. They were unnatural and didn't fit our preconceptions about cars. Now, we've become so accustomed to them that we are having difficulty readjusting to boxes on wheels. I suspect that a Model T driver would feel more comfortable with a Scion Haku Coupe than a Camry. Like most style, it's so vintage, it's become contemporary.
