I don’t know when it happened. It’s almost like I woke up one morning and realized that the U.S. doesn’t make cars anymore. Trucks? SUVs? Most certainly, but not cars; not anymore.
It seems like the minivan thing was just a couple of years ago. Now they’re all but gone, having been all but replaced by SUVs. Pickup trucks, those American bred and borne vehicles, have been around as long as the car itself. In the last twenty-five years they have achieved a popularity that couldn’t have ever been imagined. Cars, however, have done just the opposite. I guess I realized that fewer car models were being offered every year, but it still caught me by surprise.
I counted the following car models by U.S. manufacturer:
Buick – 0
Chevy – 3 Spark (made by GM in Korea), Malibu, Corvette
Cadillac – 2 CT4, CT5
Ford – 1 Mustang
Chrysler – 1 300
Dodge – 2 Charger, Challenger
That’s nine models, counting the GM Korean Spark. Nine! Chevy alone used to have this many models. Have domestic automakers ceded the car market to foreign automakers? It would almost seem so.
Sure, the pickup truck and SUV parade will continue for some time, even in the face of emissions and mileage regulations. What comes next? I have to admit, we were forced to buy an F-150 to pull an RV that my wife lived in for while working at a new job out of state. I’d drive that truck any day over my Thunderbird! I just hate to see U.S. manufacturers pull out of a market. I realize you have to make what your market wants, certainly. I just hate to think that maybe in my lifetime, the U.S. will have given up every part of the car market except Corvette.
