Neal Freiman
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Finally, Chrysler is planning a small car that will, quote, be beautiful and fun to drive and aspirational, according to its CEO.
A sedan comeback would truly be unbelievable, given how hard they've crashed in the past decade and a half.
As recently as 15 years ago, passenger cars accounted for about half of new
vehicle sales in the United States.
Last year, that fell to just 18%.
In the sedan's place, trucks and SUVs have captured American hearts, minds, and market share.
They've proven popular with consumers and automakers because they're far more profitable to sell, but perhaps they've become a victim of their own success.
Car buyers are getting sticker shock from SUVs that regularly cost more than $50,000 and are looking for more affordable alternatives.
This could be the sedan's time to shine.
And that may be the justification if I'm an automaker CEO and I'm saying, well, should I roll out a sedan or not?
Maybe you could think of it as a loss leader and get people hooked on Ford focuses or exports and then hope that their next car will be a $60,000 Explorer Expedition or F-Series truck.
So that's one way you could think about it.
What's happening now is reminding me a lot of what's happening at McDonald's.
Because last week McDonald's reported an amazing quarter because of their insistence on value.
They rolled out a McValue menu and that really led to booming sales because they were just dialed in on affordability.
And that's what automakers are trying to do or thinking about right now.
It's not as easy to flip a switch and create a cheaper burger as it is to make a cheaper car.
But what's happening both in the fast food and auto industries and honestly across the entire economy is companies want to meet consumers where they are, which is they need to make more affordable things.
the cars are very expensive to make and it's not as easy as just saying, let's build a sedan and sell a sedan because they can't make a lot of money on it.
But it does seem to be that, you know, this is where the trend is going.