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Revisão: 2014 Acura RLX (com vídeo)
Breaking into the Luxury market isn’t easy. Toyota has arguably had the most success with Lexus, the only full-line luxury marque sold in America that isn’t German. Infiniti gave up on trying to go head-to-head with the S-Class and 7-Series when they ditched the Q, and Cadillac has yet to have a complete and coherent strategy. Meanwhile Acura started off strong with the Legend, created a competent E/5 competitor with the all-wheel-drive RL, and then things started to fall apart. Can the RLX bring the brand back?
Why do I bring up Germans in a review of a front-wheel-drive luxury sedan? Because some folks [not everyone mind you] at Acura and plenty of fan boys would like to think the brand runs with the big dogs. In truth Acura has always been a “near-luxury” brand because they lack a full-size competitor to play in the S-Class/7-Series/A8 pool.
Competition
In order to look at the RLX through the right lens, we need to nail down the competition. Acura would like you to believe the front-wheel-drive RLX should be pitted against the rear-wheel-drive BMW 528/535, Mercedes E350 and Lexus GS350. I think this comparison has a few problems. First, the RLX isn’t as dynamic as a RWD sedan. Second, Acura’s brand position is a problem. What say our readers? Should the brand matter in comparisons? Should this all be priced based? In my mind the RLX’s drivetrain and the brand’s near-luxury image put the Acura in direct competition with the Cadillac XTS, Lincoln MKS and Volvo S80. What about the FWD/AWD A6? Perhaps, but Audi’s brand is a solid BMW/Mercedes competitor these days.
Exterior
Acura’s flagship has always worn elegant and restrained sheetmetal and that continues with the RLX. Up front we get a more muted and better integrated version of Acura’s signature “beak” flanked by multi-beam LED headlamps. The LED high and low beams are standard on every RLX and strike a unique pose as identifiable as BMW’s “angel eyes.”
The RLX’s rump is probably the best looking in Acura’s current product portfolio. I’ve never cared for the jumble of shapes on the TL’s back side, thankfully none of them are along for the ride. In an interesting twist, Acura put the RLX’s quad exhaust tips behind the bumper where you can’t see them instead of integrating them into the bumper cover as in the smaller TL. Looking at the RLX from the side it’s obvious this car has grown. The rear doors give the Acura a more luxurious look than the old RL which had a decidedly Accord-like silhouette. A long front overhang advertises the transverse engine layout in the RLX, but that’s not really a problem with our pre-defined competition since the two Americans and the Swede are all FWD platforms as well.
In my opinion, the RLX’s exterior ranks second behind the 2014 Volvo S80's clean lines. Yes the Volvo is getting old, but frequent refreshed have helped it age well. I like Caddy’s art-and-science design theme on every Caddy except the XTS where I find the proportions to be awkward. However Awkward trumps the ginormous and bizarre schnoz on the Lincoln MKS.
Interior
The RLX’s interior is one place where I can not only compare the Acura to the Germans, it’s an area where Acura excels. You won’t find a full-on stitched leather dash like the Volvo S80 or the Mercedes E350 with the “designo” package, but you can “option up” a band of stitched leather running across the cabin. Anyway you order your RLX, perfect seams and a tasteful amount of metallic trim are standard. You’ll also find perfect seams and fit and finish quality that would make Lexus blush. What you won’t find is real tree. The choice of fake wood on upper trim levels perplexes me when all the RLX competitors slather the cabin in acres of burl. (Base RLX models get faux-metal trim.) When it comes to interior styling and quality, I rank the RLX above the E350, 528i, S80, MKS, XTS, GS350, and yes, even the A6.
Front seat comfort ranks second in this quartet behind Volvo’s large and supportive thrones. Enlarging the pool only drops the Acura to third place above the BMW 5-series’ standard seats but behind the optional million-way sport buckets. Oddly however, those seats aren’t covered in leather in base RLX models. Want real moo? That’ll be $6,000 more than the RLX’s base $48,450. This may be in line with Lexus’ recent move in the GS, but the RLX’s closest competition comes with real leather standard.
Rear passengers have notably more room than the outgoing RL with legroom and headroom in line with everyone else. While Lincoln and Cadillac cut corners in the back, Acura delivers rich plastics and an attention to detail that places it first in thus class and certainly on par with BMW’s 5.
Infotainment
If one screen is good, two must be better, right? My short answer is: sometimes. The standard two-screen system first debuted in the new Accord and is tweaked for luxury duty donning the AcuraLink name. The concept as explained to me is: the lower touchscreen handles the audio, freeing the upper screen for navigation and other tasks. My beef with the system is: you still need to use the upper screen to navigate your media device as the lower screen simply selects sources and changes tracks somewhat defeating the purpose of splitting the screens. Because of this split personality, and the fact that you have to use the touchscreen, and the knob/dial controller, and the button-bank to navigate the system, AcuraLink comes across as “not fully baked.”
Since my first experience with AcuraLink, the system has grown on me, and in the RLX the dual screens are very well integrated into the dashboard rather than looking like an afterthought as in the Honda. AcuraLink is without question snappier than MyLincoln Touch or Cadillac’s buggy CUE system. I find Volvo’s Sensus interface more intuitive, but you need binoculars to use the microscopic LCD.
Two screens might be standard on the $48,450 base model, but navigation is not. Want maps? That bumps the price to $50,950. For $54,450 Acura will bump the speaker count from 10 to 14, watts from 404 to 588, add sound deadening side glass, rain sense wipers, and folding side mirrors. If you want the Krell audio and all the electronic goodies like radar cruise, lane keep assist, parking sensors, dimming side mirrors, ventilated front seats and heated rear seats that bumps the price of the RLX to an eye watering $60,450. Ouch.
Drivetrain
Acura’s only engine for 2014 is a direct-injected 310HP 3.5L V6 that cranks out 272lb-ft of torque. In typical Acura fashion peak power comes at 6,500 RPM, torque comes to a boil at a lofty 4,500 RPM and the six-pot is smooth as butter at every RPM. 310 ponies used to be something to brag about, unfortunately this is 2014 and the RLX’s mill only leads when you compare it to base engines in the competition. The problem is everyone but Acura offers a more powerful engine option. If you think nobody options up, let’s look at the numbers. Lincoln says over 30% of MKS shoppers opt for their twin-turbo V6 which puts down 19% more power and 30% more torque. My local Volvo dealer says the take rate on the twin-scroll turbo S80 with AWD (300 horsepower and 325lb-ft, 20% more twist) is nearly 80% and I’m not in the snow belt. It remains to be seen how many of the fire-breathing twin-turbo 410 horse V6s Cadillac ships in the XTS, but judging by the competition I expect them to shift a few. The Germans? Their twin-turbo V8s are in a different performance ballpark but the 443 horsepower 550i starts just $3,500 more than the top-end RLX.
Power isn’t the only area where the RLX is at a competitive disadvantage, Acura also dropped their Super Handling AWD system from their flagship. Acura’s torque vectoring AWD, capable of continually varying the FWD/RWD bias, set the old RL apart (and ahead) from the pack. Yes, there will be a hybrid AWD RLX soon we are told, but with a maximum of around 60 horsepower at the rear wheels the 370HP RLX hybrid is likely to retain a strong FWD bias. (The system will not have a mechanical connection between the engine and rear wheels. Instead there will be a ~40HP motor/generator between the engine and transaxle and an approximately 28HP motor at each rear wheel.) The less sophisticated AWD systems found in the MKS, XTS and S80 are suddenly the choice for driving enthusiasts.
Drive
The lack of AWD has a huge impact in the way the RLX drives compared to its predecessor. The old RL was a hoot and a half on winding mountain roads. In comparison, the RLX is three-quarters of a hoot. The old RL was capable of sending the majority of the engine’s power to the outside rear wheel making it corner with precision and confidence. When pushed to its limits, the front-heavy RL understeered predictably. The RLX on the other hand is probably one of the most capable front drivers on the market, easily more capable than the FWD Lincoln, Cadillac or Volvo but slots behind AWD versions of the same.
Acura’s “Precision All Wheel Steer” system (dubbed P-AWS) is the reason for the RLX’s crisp handling. P-AWS differs from other systems on the market in that it can rotate the rear wheels independently of one another allowing the car to toe both wheels in when braking. That might sound odd, but doing so keeps the RLX’s rear end from feeling “squirely” under hard braking, something usually associated with nose-heavy sedans. P-AWS is tuned to “mimic” oversteer as much as possible in corners leading to a peculiar combination of slight torque steer, [very] mild oversteer and a hint of wheel hop all at the same time. This is a confluence of personalities you will find only in the RLX. Helping out is an always-active stability control system. Unlike the stability control on most cars which only intervene when things go pear-shaped, this system is always playing with the brakes trying to “improve” the handling characteristics of the RLX. Paired with electric power steering these systems make the RLX the best handling, but the most artificial FWD sedan I have ever driven.
Our RLX was equipped with Acura’s “Lane Keep Assist” system which uses the electric power steering system to help keep you in your lane. Unlike all the other systems on the market, on a freeway the LKA system is almost always providing some level of steering assistance. Acura likens the aid to a ball riding in a “U” shaped trough, the closer you get to the lane lines, the more the system assists. I don’t know if I have formed an opinion on the system yet, but it did work as advertised and can be turned off completely.
If you’ve been keeping score, I found the RLX to be the second most attractive on the outside, have the best interior, second most comfortable seats, best infotainment system, best handling numbers, a middling engine and questionable behind-the-wheel-feel. One might assume this puts the RLX towards the top of the quartet, and perhaps a viable alternative to the Germans. One would be wrong. The RLX is unquestionably a good car, but it’s $3,200 more than a similarly configured FWD XTS, $8,275 more than the FWD Volvo S80 and $9,990 more than the FWD MKS. Things get worse when you load up the Lincoln and Volvo with the more powerful S80 T6 AWD still $5,000 cheaper and the 365HP MKS Ecoboost AWD $3,000 less expensive. Only Cadillac’s 410HP XTS VSport is more expensive ranging from $62,000-$72,000. The news is just as grim when pitted against the luxury competition with the RLX being $1,300 more than the Lexus GS350, $1,200 less than the Infiniti M37, and only a $3,000 discount compared to the E350 and BMW 535i. The result is the RLX has no “value” proposition to counter the middling engine numbers, FWD bias, road feel and most importantly: the brand image. Sadly I fear the RLX is about $10,000 away from being a great car and $15,000 away from being a game changer. Until Acura realigns their flagship’s capabilities (or shrinks the price tag) the RLX is destined to be the car everyone likes but nobody buys.
Acura provided the vehicle, insurance and one tank of gas for this review.
Specifications as tested
0-30: 2.38 Seconds
0-60: 5.72 Seconds
1/4 Mile: 14.28 Seconds @ 99 MPH
Average Observed Fuel Economy: 23 MPG over 781 miles
In Japanese Bondage: The Honda Freed Hybrid and the Mazda MPV
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Yesterday, I took a look at the Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear and the Toyota Hi-Ace, the “size queens” of the Japanese market. Today, I decided to look at the odd men out, so to speak, those mini-vans that hit the sweet spot in the market and offer seven seats in a small or mid-sized package. Sticking with that earlier theme, both of these are only available outside of the United States so, sorry, you can’t get them here. But it’s fun to see how other people live so let’s take a look.
As my young family has grown in size and number over the past few years, my in-laws have been absolutely wonderful. When we lived in Japan we saw one another frequently and even today, thought we are half a world away, my wife and her parents Skype at least once a week and we are blessed with their presence in our home usually two or three times per year. Last summer we decided to bless their home with our presence and the whole Kreutzer clan picked up and headed across the Pacific. In preparation for our arrival, my in-laws ran out and purchased a new seven seater and wisely, with an eye towards the fact that most of those seats would be empty most of the time, they went small and they went hybrid.
The Honda Freed is a “compact seven seater” with sliding side doors that is similar in size and function to the Mazda 5 we get stateside. In person it bears a striking resemblance to the most recent incarnation of the Honda Fit, with a steeply sloping nose, a long curving windshield, and a rectangular back half that ends so abruptly it looks like it was cut with a knife. As a Star Trek nerd, the little Freed reminds me very much of one of the small shuttles used in The Next Generation from the outside and on the inside, if it is not overly spacious, it is at least futuristic.
The Freed offers three rows of seating with each of the back two rows slightly elevated in a way that makes the vehicle’s cabin appear to have stadium seating. The third row is even with the rear wheels and my guess is that this arrangement was necessary to fit atop them, but the effect is generally nice and gives the rear passengers a chance to look over the front seats and catch a glimpse out the windshield. I understand that there are second row captain’s chairs available, if they can be called that, but my in-law’s car was outfitted with a three person bench seat. The back row is cramped and only offers space for two. Because the rear seat is so far aft, there is no additional cargo space and no place for a fold-flat seats. To allow space for cargo, the rear seat is split in two allowing each side can be folded and then swing up into a position where they block the rear quarter windows. Personally, I don’t like this arrangement.
I don’t spend a lot of time in Hondas these days so stop me if you already familiar with the two level dash the Freed mounts. It is an odd looking piece at first, but it fits in well with the car’s overall styling. The top of the dash incorporates the instrument bezel and a place for the car’s navigation system while beneath its rounded leading edge a second almost flat shelf comes out and provides space for the climate controls and the gear shift. It is, I think, a little odd but quite refreshing given that the alternative would have simply been a flat panel with a glove box.
Although I had the opportunity to ride in the Freed on the expressway, where it seemed to do just fine, I did not get to take the wheel until we were safe at home in Kyoto and then my trips were mostly confined to the local area. Around town it was a competent little car that handled the city streets well and accelerated without any kind of drama whenever I hit the gas. All in all, not bad.
But not all of the hybrid systems were so seamless. In order to save gas, at lengthy stoplights the engine would shut itself off if I held my foot on the brake too long and, of course, when the engine turned off so did the air conditioning. That’s a problem on a hot summer day so I began to use the hand brake to hold my position in order to keep the engine running and the air conditioning pumping. Not horrible, but annoying. The other “eco” effect I noticed was how the car acted while coasting. It seemed to me that whenever I took my foot off the gas they car would begin to slow more rapidly than a normal, non-hybrid car might and it the overall effect was that the car seemed as though it was especially heavy for some reason. That said, the effect was predictable and never caused any issues while driving even if I never quite acclimated to it entirely.
I generally liked the Freed well enough but I think there are a lot of other cars on the market I would probably go to before I actually purchased one. With four adults and three children in the cabin, the little car was quite cramped and with all the seats in action there was virtually no space for any kind of luggage. Even without the grandparents, the car was still crowded with my wife and me up front, two kids in the middle and another in the third row. To facilitate a trip to the grocery store we would have to fold up one of the rearmost seats, and I really hate the way they fold up where they block a window and create a possible problem should they somehow, say in the event of a side impact, come loose and fall onto any body parts that might end up in that space in an accident.
I like the idea of a smaller mini-van, but I think we need to acknowledge that larger families need larger size vehicles. In my in-law’s case, the Freed makes a great deal of sense as it offers good economy in a small, easy to drive package while having the extra seats for those times my wife and kids decide to head home for the summer. For daily use, however, about the smallest I would be willing to buy for my own family is another van we can’t get here in the States, the new Mazda MPV.
In the interest of full disclosure, I want to start this part of the article by stating right up front that I owned a 2002 JDM Mazda MPV with the 2.3 liter 4 cylinder for the entire three years we lived in Okinawa. Prior to purchasing it, my wife and I spent some time in the then brand new 2006 MPV and I was quite taken by it. It was that experience that sent me to my local Mazda dealer to seek out a used version and it was my inner cheapskate that caused me to end up purchasing a slightly used 2002 for a fraction of the price the redesign was fetching. Regardless of the fact that the design was already “day old bread,” I loved that van and sold it to family when I left just so I could see it when we go home.
It’s funny how the mind works, because when I was in Japan my MPV seemed like a reasonably large, reasonably well powered vehicle. Back in the United States, however, I soon saw just how small the MPV actually is when compared to other vans and the especially so when compared to the even more giant SUVs that prowl this side of the Pacific. Even so, the earlier generation of MPVs did well in the United States, but I will note that to help satiate the American’s desire for more of everything the smaller 4 cylinder was not available here and only V6 MPVs were sold on our shores.
The 2006 MPV I drove, and yes I know that Mazda still sold MPVs in the USA in 2006 and so I want to stress here that the US got the old version while the Japanese stopped selling that design domestically in 2005, was a handsome, long nosed, low profile vehicle that appeared more like a tall station wagon than a typical mini-van. They came in two flavors, both 2.3 liter four cylinders, one turbo charged, the other not and had any number of features that were typical at the time but, as one commenter who lives in Hong Kong rather astutely pointed out when I mentioned the JDM MPV in some remarks a week or two ago, lack a lot of the more modern electronic and interconnectivity features found in many of the newest vans. Our Canadian enthusiasts, who waxed rhapsodic about the previous model’s four wheel drive capability, will be thrilled to know that the current redesign also features both front and four wheel drive versions.
As those of you who have them in your cars probably know, the Mazda 2.3 liter is a smooth running little engine that does pretty well on the road. The extra weight of the MPV and a load full of passengers does affect the engine, however, and there are times when I found myself working the engine harder than I would normally like. In general, it was serviceable on the highway but I would have enjoyed trying the turbo. Around town, as with virtually all Japanese minivans, the engine was more than sufficient.
Inside, the MPV was a good combination of “get the job done” practicality and pure class. I liked that the gear selector was not on the dash next to the wheel but was located below it on a small protruding console on the lower part of the dash. Above that, the climate controls were prominent and intuitive and, topping the center stack and tucked neatly between a pair of vents, was the navigation/audio screen. In front of the driver, in a blatant display of Mazda’s Zoom-Zoom philosophy, back lit analog gauges included a large, easy to read tachometer alongside a matching speedometer. There are several seating options available and they run from the totally practical cloth covered three row bench to the highest-end full leather recliners you can get. There is no doubt in my mind that the MPV’s primary mission is to move people in comfort and style and that utility, which is still present thanks to a fold-flat rear seat and the well in the floor that swallowing that seat necessitates, comes in a close second.
On the road, the current MPV is not as easy to drive as many of the larger, taller JDM vans currently on the market. Because it is has a longer nose, the driver sits well behind the front wheels and the overall driving dynamic is quite car-like. Also, thanks to a lower greenhouse, the windows too are slightly smaller than the enormous ones available on more typical high-end JDM people movers like the Elgrand and the Alphard and that makes it slightly more difficult to see out of. Handling and the ride is good and the driving experience is reminiscent of a large, full size luxury car. I like it.
The MPV is all about compromise and, unlike many compromises I have been forced to make during my life, the trade-offs made in its design do not end up giving away all the good in favor of all the bad. The design offers seven seats and sliding doors with the handling dynamics of a large car. It gives up overall height, which is bad because it limits the driver’s view but also good because it eliminates the sail area that sends most mini-vans skittering across the freeway on gusty days. It sits the driver further back in the cabin than most vans, which I think makes it more difficult to drive in tight situations but gives an added sense of comfort and control. I think the MPV would do wonderfully on the American market and I would purchase one in a heartbeat.
It’s a shame we don’t get either of these wonderful people movers stateside. They both strike a perfect balance by being big on the inside and small on the outside and, in doing so, are exactly what a mini-van is supposed to be. To wrap up, both of these mighty minis are decent vehicles that would probably draw people into showrooms in the United States, but only one, the Mazda MPV, would make my short list of mini-vans. If only they were sold here. If only…
Thomas M Kreutzer currently lives in Buffalo, New York with his wife and three children but has spent most of his adult life overseas. He has lived in Japan for 9 years, Jamaica for 2 and spent almost 5 years as a US Merchant Mariner serving primarily in the Pacific. A long time auto and motorcycle enthusiast he has pursued his hobbies whenever possible. He also enjoys writing and public speaking where, according to his wife, his favorite subject is himself.
Dispatches Do Brasil: Small Crossovers, From A BRIC Perspective
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Derek’s recent article on the CUV “event horizon” seemed to have been misunderstood by some of the B&B. Derek’s fine analysis showed you how one type of car, the crossover, has left its usual stronghold of America and is now eclipsing other kinds of cars in other markets. His proof is the new Mercedes GLA which shows that now everybody wants in. I posit that the “event horizon” came somewhat earlier in the form of the Renault/Dacia Duster and that this phenomenon had been brewing for a while. My home country of Brazil is one place where crossovers have been steadily rising in popularity.
For those of you living in the USA, it’s easy to dismiss small crossovers. You are blessed with open spaces, cheap gas and a choice of automobiles with limits that will never come close to being tested. Your streets are, and have been, littered for decades with huge land yachts in various forms: cars, full-size pickupss, SUVs and finally CUVs. It used to be that different markets had different requirements. Not anymore. Now, with globalization the kind of car you can buy has less to do with what you want, but rather what others want, even if they’re an ocean or two away.
For Americans, the CUV can be a bit of a let down. Not as capable as the Body-on-Frame SUVs and pickups of yore, not as roomy as the completely misnamed minivans prevalent in the North of the Americas, the CUV nonetheless fits the bill and offers a tangible set of advantages for consumers in world. Stepping up from their small, simple, crudely finished compact hatches, the latest crop of CUVs offer more powerful engines, better build quality, more room (specially for your head!) and more prestige. European, Latin American and Asian consumers can and will rationalize and their new toy as a big step up from their old Ford Ka, Renault Symbol or Fiat Siena.
In markets where the population can afford it, the most successful crossovers aren’t all that different to the ones sold in North America. As Derek mentioned in his original post, the 9 of the top 10 4x4s sold in France are all on offer in the United States. I went over to Matt Gasnier’s most excellent best selling car blog to check out how CUVs in general where doing. To my great surprise there are 3 crossovers in the French Top 10. Three!!!! In France. Can you understand the significance of this? France, the country where the only truck-like vehicle that had managed to break into the top 10 until very recently, in all the history of French car sales, was the Dacia Duster. Now there are three CUVs selling in the top 10. And growing.
I see the effects here in Brazil. Some commenters on Derek’s article mentioned they had seen their first Range Rover Evoque. Here, in poor Brazil, it has been a somewhat common sight for over a year. You just can’t go to a mall without seeing at least two parked. I see them at least every other day in traffic.
You can blame Ford for this turn of events, since their EcoSport started the whole thing. Back in the 90s, somebody in Ford Brazil had the genius of seeing that the Euro Fusion of the times wouldn’t cut it here. Based on the Fiesta, the Euro Fusion was a tall wagon thingy, with a minivan-esque design (not like the Fusion you all know in America). Ford Brazil decide to butch it up and turn it into a jipe (that is how Brazilians used to call anything 4×4-like). A sort of jipe. One that was not big, didn’t really have any aptitude to go off-road or pull anything, but looked the part. Better yet, they discovered that they could raise the price over the regular Fiesta more than 40 percent and people would still buy it. The EcoSport simply doubled Ford’s market slice and improved their profits significantly. Undeniably a home run, or in Brazilian terms: Golaço! This is the formula that nearly every manufacturer is following now. Take your basic car, turn it into a CUV, make lots of money on very little investment for the improvements (raised height, cladding etc).
Then came the Renault Duster which did basically the same thing on the original Logan. Another star, another hit. Better yet, the French had the gall to take it to Europe to do battle with more refined opponents. Armed with a spectacular low price and a ride that was in no way offending, sales took off and the horizon event was reached. Like in Brazil, everybody scrambled to get a piece of the only growing pie in the market. Suddenly newspapers in their business sections and car magazines on both sides of the Atlantic started posting pictures and news of CUVs that may or not happen. The only thing you read about is the upcoming mini-SUVs. Renault Captur! Honda something or other! The Chevy anti-EcoSport was spotted somewhere int the world! VW confirms the Taigun (smaller than Tiguan) for next year! BMW will build the X1 in its new Brazilian factory! New factories are needed to keep up with demand! Sales! Money! Margins!
What does all that mean? Death to the station wagon for one. VW’s small Parati, a perennial Brazilian favorite, is dead. Fiat’s Palio Weekend has no substitute planned. In Europe, no more Clio or 208 station wagon. The really mini minivans are going too. The Chevy/Opel Meriva has already died, the Fiat Idea will soon join it.
And damn the enthusiasts. Or not. In America they talk and talk of the mythical brown, diesel, station wagon, but none buy them. In Brazil and other places outside the USA, all they want to see is that new shiny CUV in their garage. To them it’ll be a symbol of their success. The jacked up, ill-handling (comparing to a car), low capacity (comparing to a BOF SUV) will continue its sale rise.
How long? That’s anybody’s guess. I wouldn’t bet against the surging wave though. It is just gaining strength. If my wife and her friends (not to mention many of their husbands) have their way, the rise of the mini CUV will continue until there’s a least one in every family’s garage.
Editorial: Event Horizon For Compact Crossovers
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By Derek Kreindler on August 14, 2013
Normally this is something I would have saved for our “TTAC Staff” news items, but I’m the arrival of the Mercedes-Benz GLA is significant. We’ve reached the event horizon for compact crossovers and their global proliferation.
There’s long been a dichotomy in North America regarding SUVs and station wagons. Ask a certain group of car enthusiast and they’ll tell you that Americans, in their profligacy and pig-headedness, preferred wasteful, dynamically unsatisfying SUVs built on archaic ladder-frame truck underpinnings, or worse, crossovers, which had all the drawbacks of both cars and trucks. According to our wagon evangelists, Europhiles and tenured academics (oftentimes the three intersected), Europeans were wiser in preferring more efficient, car-based station wagons, which were more European and therefore superior to two-box vehicles with taller ride heights.
The past two years have turned that notion on its head. Buyers from Amsterdam to Mumbai to Zaragoza have been flocking to compact crossovers like the Opel Mokka and Dacia Duster, while those who have been less hard hit by the Eurozone crisis are flocking to the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. Even in emerging markets like Brazil, small crossovers are in demand (click here for Marcelo’s definitive explanation of why these vehicles are so well suited for developing countries). It turns out that a raised driving position, higher ride height and SUV-like styling have resonated with consumers the world over. A list of France’s top-selling crossovers shows that 9 of the top 10 sellers are available in North America as well as Europe.
Products like the Mokka, Duster, the Renault Captur and VW Tiguan are all first-generation vehicles, and the segment itself is one of the few bright spots in a dismal European car market. There is plenty of room for growth too. The Nissan Qashqai, credited with inventing the segment in outside North America, has only been on sale since 2007, but its instant success has meant that nearly every brand is readying a competitor for the Qashqai or the smaller, B-segment Juke, for sale in the next couple years.
Beyond Europe, these vehicles are also gaining ground in global markets like the BRIC countries, Australia and even America, where Buick can’t keep enough rebadged Mokkas (dubbed the Encore) on dealer lots. Globally, Range Rover’s Evoque has been an unprecedented success, with Jaguar Land Rover unable to meet demand despite building the cars literally 24 hours a day.
Consumers aside, small crossovers are a profitable proposition for car makers as well. The Encore and Mokka share the Gamma II platform with more modest offerings like the Chevrolet Spin (a low cost minivan built in Indonesia and Brazil) and the Sonic subcompact in North America and Australia. While a Sonic can cost just over $14,000, an Encore’s base price is roughly $10,000 more. And one look at an Encore will reveal that the two cars aren’t terribly different both inside and out (even sharing the same 1.4: turbocharged powertrain).
For luxury car makers like Mercedes-Benz, which is introducing a new compact front-wheel drive architecture, the GLA will serve a similar purpose as the higher margin version of a premium compact sedan. Crucially for Mercedes, it will finally have something to compete against the Audi A3 and BMW X1, rather than letting its two rivals gobble up market share. While BMW continues to build the X1 in Germany, Audi and Mercedes have chosen lower cost production sites like Spain and Mexico (for Audi) and Hungary (for Mercedes) which can help maintain profit margins while also keeping assembly costs down.
The success of these vehicles mean that these vehicles aren’t going anywhere, and current conditions will only help entrench them further. Consumer tastes, the need for ever greater economies of scale through increased volume and utilizing of existing platforms. The enhanced potential for profit through these vehicles means that auto makers will be doing all they can to sell them worldwide. They also provide a regulatory boost for many OEMs when it comes to CAFE or Euro emissions regulations, as the smaller, more-efficient compact crossovers offset less efficient luxury and performance vehicles.
Luckily, wagons aren’t going anywhere, especially outside North America. But compact crossovers are here to stay. And I was totally wrong about them.
Brendan McAleer, Canada Marcelo De Vasconcellos, Brazil Matthias Gasnier, Australia J & J Sutherland, Canada Tycho de Feyter, China W. Christian 'Mental' Ward, Abu Dhabi Mark Stevenson, Canada Clemens Gleich, Germany Doug DeMuro, Atlanta Phil Coconis, Los Angeles Faisal Ali Khan, IndiaHow Did That Get There? An Anglia In East Alabama
AppId is over the quota
By J.Emerson on August 15, 2013
As much of America redevelops in the direction of increased urbanization and strip-mall suburbia, small downtowns have either dried up or re-purposed themselves as purveyors of quaint fashion and entertainment. Such is the case with Opelika, the sister town to Auburn. Boutiques, restaurants, and antiques places have mostly replaced the hardware stores and other obsolete staples of small-town commerce. I come from a family of enthusiastic collectors of rare junk, but even I can see the occasionally sad irony of a town selling pieces of itself just to get by. A few weeks ago, however, I spotted a prominently displayed chunk of the past that defied my expectations. Instead of distressed Americana on sale, one shop had a very English relic I didn’t expect to see in this part of the country. I returned later to take a closer look.
This Ford Anglia was pulled from a field somewhere in East Alabama. The proprietress of the shop knew of the car’s British origins, but didn’t know how it came to rest in a Southeastern cow patch. She received it “from a friend” and converted it into a display piece for her downtown antiques emporium. Lodged in the front window of the shop with a couple of artfully-positioned suitcases, it’s not for sale. Its value as a conversation piece and an attention-getter clearly outweighs whatever sum someone might be tempted to pay for it. Rest assured, Anglia diehards: this isn’t one that you’d want to save. It’s pretty rotten in the floors and the sills, there’s plenty of bullet holes, and a number of hard-to-find bits are missing. Still, I’m glad that it wound up here rather than in a China-bound scrap steel container. It took me a while, but I managed to get some decent shots of the car despite it being surrounded with stuff.
Who in Alabama would have bought this car new? I’m guessing it was sold here as a new or nearly-new car because of the chrome trunk tag. Brewbaker Motors is a large multi-franchise family dealership in Montgomery that still operates today. They aren’t a Ford store, though, so they must have acquired it secondhand. I like to think that some expat British professor brought the car with him when he came to teach at Auburn in the 1950’s. He might have traded it in after discovering that English Fords didn’t have much repair or parts support in the Deep South. Or maybe some hardworking Dixie resident snapped the Anglia up as an alternative to the big Fords of the era. In any case, it went the way of all discarded cars in Alabama and became somebody else’s target. Now it serves as a reminder that not everyone wanted a Detroit land yacht in the 50’s. Editorial: Tempo para a reforma de economia de combustível
Por Derek Kreindler em 16 de agosto de 2013
A revista de combustível classificações de economia para o Ford C-Max não é a primeira vez que uma montadora foi forçada a recuar em reivindicações de economia de combustível – nem vai ser a última, a menos que a reforma significativa é empreendida para garantir que a economia de combustível figuras mais refletem com precisão os motoristas de forma dirigem seus carros no mundo real.
As discrepâncias entre os números de economia de combustível da EPA, e o que os consumidores podem esperar decorrem uma série de questões. Para começar, os fabricantes estão autorizados a suas descobertas, de auto-relato com o EPA auditoria apenas cerca de 10 a 15 por cento dos veículos à venda em qualquer ano. Existem todos os tipos de truques que os fabricantes de automóveis podem usar também. No caso do C-Max, Ford usou dados de seu Fusion híbrido para determinar a economia de combustível do C-Max, que levam ao inflado classificações. Enquanto isto pode parecer absurdo para o observador exterior, isso é permitido sob as diretrizes da EPA, como as montadoras são apenas necessárias para enviar dados para o modelo de volume de qualquer grupo de placas que usam o mesmo powertrain – mesmo que não carregam pouca ou nenhuma relação um ao outro, como foi o caso aqui.
Procedimentos de ensaio EPA também não permite o uso de etanol. Em todo o país, mas particularmente nos Estados de emissões-consciente, muitas bombas dispensam gasolina com até dez ou mesmo vinte por cento álcool, o que reduz significativamente a quilometragem. As condições de condução usadas suportar pouca semelhança com nada encontrado no mundo real. Os testes são realizados em um dinamômetro, em vez de em uma estrada real, e 48,3 km/h é considerado "free-flowing tráfego" em uma rodovia enquanto ciclos de condução cidade usam uma velocidade de rastreamento mal de 21,2 km/h. Apesar de ser totalmente separada da realidade, há uma boa razão por que os testes de economia de combustível de EPA são projetados assim. Eles não são feitos para realmente testar o consumo de combustível.
Um artigo por Consumer Reports cita um perito afirmando que os testes
"... eram originalmente projetado para teste de emissões, economia de combustível não. Eles queriam testar uma variedade de velocidades e acelerações."
Testes de economia de combustível do próprio CR revelaram discrepâncias significativas entre os números de EPA e teste seu próprios ciclos, com os maiores culpados sendo pequenos motores de 4 cilindros Turbo. Estes tendem a fazer bem em testes da EPA, desde as baixas velocidades não exigem muito impulso do turbocompressor. Por outro lado, mundo real de condução exigir o turbo a trabalhar mais quando conduzido em velocidades acima de 21,2 km/h, que é como um carro como o Lincoln MKZ, com um motor de 4 cilindros de 2.0 L, pode retornar 16 mpg no mundo real , apesar de ser avaliado por 22 mpg pela EPA.
Com os preços do gás de afiação mais alto e o consumo de combustível, tornando-se uma prioridade entre os consumidores de carro, combustível economia testes têm se tornado cada vez mais importância para os compradores. Consumidores comparar "em-xixi-gee" figuras como se eles tivesse olhado uma vez para tempos de 0-60 mph ou acidente testar as classificações de segurança e contam com os números de EPA para tomar decisões de compra. Tipos de marketing automotivos sabem disso, não é razoável supor que powertrain calibração às vezes foi projetada especificamente com os procedimentos de teste de economia de combustível em mente. Sendo capaz de atingir um número"mágico" como 40 mpg rodovia é um golpe de marketing. Mas sendo expostos como incapaz de atingir esse número na vida real é um embaraço por dez, como Ford e Hyundai que ambos sabemos.
O atual regime de testes de economia de combustível que sobrevivemos claramente sua utilidade.Se o teste de EPA realmente é projetado para medir as emissões, ao invés de consumo de combustível, que é uma forte indicação de suas orientações relevantes como realmente são. O próximo passo é, o que deve ser feito para trazê-los de volta à relevância? O processo de teste de EPA pode ser reformado? Deve haver um fim para o fabricante informou figuras? Ou vale a pena ignorar figuras de EPA de agora em diante em favor de alguém como a Consumer Reports, ou até mesmo um site auto-relato como Fuelly?
Brendan McAleer, Canadá Marcelo De Vasconcellos, Brasil Matthias Gasnier, Austrália J J & Sutherland, Canadá Tycho de Feyter, China w. Christian 'Mental' Ward, Abu Dhabi Mark Stevenson, Canadá Clemens Gleich, Alemanha Doug DeMuro, Atlanta Phil Coconis, Los Angeles Faisal Ali Khan, ÍndiaVW Brand Sales Down in July
AppId is over the quota
By TTAC Staff on August 14, 2013
The Volkswagen Group announced that global July sales for VW branded vehicles were down half a percent from last year, to 466,100. July joins March 2013 as the second monthly decline this year.
Christian Klinger, head of VW sales used words like “uncertain” and “challenging” to describe the near term situation. Sales for the first seven months of 2013 were up almost 4% from last year, with 3.38 million units sold, with strong Chinese sales offsetting the continued weak European market. Sales in Europe were down 6.8% and in Volkswagen’s home country of Germany they were off by even more, 9.1%. The Volkswagen Group’s array of cars and brands across the price spectrum and overseas growth are seen as helping the company withstand the decline in it’s European base.
Brendan McAleer, Canada Marcelo De Vasconcellos, Brazil Matthias Gasnier, Australia J & J Sutherland, Canada Tycho de Feyter, China W. Christian 'Mental' Ward, Abu Dhabi Mark Stevenson, Canada Clemens Gleich, Germany Doug DeMuro, Atlanta Phil Coconis, Los Angeles Faisal Ali Khan, IndiaFord Downgrades C-Max Hybrid To 43 MPG – Will Give Current Owners $550 Compensation – C-Max Hybrid Was Not Actually Tested
AppId is over the quota
By TTAC Staff on August 16, 2013
After facing consumer complaints and lawsuits over consumers failing to get advertised fuel economy Ford announced on Thursday that it will be downgrading the combined MPG rating of the C-Max Hybrid from 47 to 43.
The company says the discrepancy consumers have been seeing is because the C-Max Hybrid was never actually tested. Instead the Ford says that it relied on data from the Fusion Hybrid, with which it shares drivetrain components. Ford says that it will now test the C-Max Hybrid itself. Current C-Max Hybrid owners will be compensated with $550 and lessees will receive $325. Cars still on dealer lots will be relabeled with new Monroney stickers while owners and lessees will be notified by mail. It’s not clear if Ford will drop the price of the C-Max Hybrid by a similar amount. If you are a C-Max owner or lessees and have questions, you can contact Ford’s Customer Relationship Center via the web, or by phone at 800-392-3673.
Using the Fusion Hybrid MPG test results was allowed under EPA rules. Raj Nair, who is in charge of global product development at Ford, said, ”This is an industrywide issue with hybrid vehicles. We’ve learned along with EPA that the regulations create some anomalies for hybrid vehicles under the general label rule.”
Brendan McAleer, Canada Marcelo De Vasconcellos, Brazil Matthias Gasnier, Australia J & J Sutherland, Canada Tycho de Feyter, China W. Christian 'Mental' Ward, Abu Dhabi Mark Stevenson, Canada Clemens Gleich, Germany Doug DeMuro, Atlanta Phil Coconis, Los Angeles Faisal Ali Khan, IndiaNa paz, liberdade e a reputação temível do Ford Falcon
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By Thomas Kreutzer on August 16, 2013
Last week, I had the privilege of attending a Naturalization Ceremony. If you have never had the opportunity to be there when immigrants to our country take the oath of citizenship and exchange their Green Cards for their Naturalization Certificates, you are missing out on one of those special things that makes the United States of America a truly great place to be. Looking out across the crowd you can see people who began their lives in the far corners of the world sitting beside one another without regard for gender, race or national origin. It matters little where they came from, whether or not they once lived on one side of some armed border or the other, today they are Americans and the old hatreds, if not forgotten, are at least set aside. On that day, they are united in their desire to join in our great experiment, to offer their descendents to the great American melting pot in the hopes that they will blend seamlessly into the fabric of our nation in the same way that we, the descendants of so many who made that journey before them, have done.
The stories they tell are often powerful. We often think they come to our shores simply for freedom and to take advantage of the economic opportunity our country offers, but often they are here because we are an island of peace in a terrible world and because they have endured horrors that would keep most of us awake at night if we spent too long thinking about them. At the ceremony I attended the speaker, a young man from Rwanda, told of his childhood experiences hiding in a thorn bush to avoid being murdered and of walking over corpses so thick on the ground that he could not avoid stepping on them as he sought to escape his war ravaged land. Other people have spoken to me about poverty, hopelessness and, worst of all, what happens when your own government institutes a reign of terror and people begin to vanish. Such was the case in Argentina in the mid 1970s and, although the reign of terror is now ended and the situation improved, one icon of those times still strikes fear into the populace whenever it appears: the otherwise unremarkable Ford Falcon.
In 1961, Ford sent two examples of their recently introduced Falcon to Argentina in order to help their factory in La Boca set up a production line. Argentina was booming then and the newly emerging middle class finally had enough discretionary income to afford new cars. Naturally, the Ford company was hoping to put that country on wheels and the rugged and reliable Falcon seemed to be perfect for the task. The car was introduced for the 1962 model year and was a hit from almost the minute it went on the market. Argentines took to it as though it were their own Model T and made it the bestselling car in their history. The Falcon thrived and by 1973 had received several updates and was almost entirely built of locally sourced parts. But even as the Ford Falcon flourished, the nation was headed towards Chaos.
In 1976 the Argentine military seized control of the country and most of those who actively opposed its rule were murdered shortly thereafter. The military followed up those first murders with what is known as “The Dirty War,” a war they waged against their own people between 1976 and 1983 and during that time an estimated 30,000 people went missing. What happened to most of these people remains a mystery to this day, but one common thread to their disappearance is that many were last seen in the back of a dark green Ford Falcon.
Why the Argentine secret police chose the car is simple. The Falcon was already a proven police vehicle in service all over the country where it wore more-or-less standard black and white police livery so the secret police knew the car would be reliable. Why they decided on dark green is less clear, perhaps it was intentionally chosen because they hoped the dark color would elicit fear or because there were so many others around in that color and they thought it would blend in better, who knows? The end result, however, is that the dark green Falcon soon became feared on the streets and whenever one of the cars was spied cruising slowly along the block, people knew there was a good chance that someone in the area would likely not be returning home that night.
Those days have passed but live on in the memories of those who endured those horrific events and what should be a golden legacy for the Falcon has been tarnished by its fearful association. To many Argentines, the Falcon is simply an old car, one that their parents and grandparents may have owned, one that they may have ridden in during their childhood. To others they are a symbol of oppression and fear. For those people, the memories of what they endured and those that they lost will never go away. For them, even the mere sight of a Ford Falcon, especially one painted dark green, stirs those memories and causes the pain to begin again. It is a horrible legacy for what everyone agrees was an otherwise fine car.
We in the first world often live in ignorance of what happens outside of our borders. We see the events on the news, hear the talk of analysts and pundits, but seldom grasp the actual horror that is sometimes the norm in some of the Earth’s most terrible places. The next time someone tells you that they are a naturalized citizen, shake their hand and know that their presence strengthens our country. The next time you see a Ford Falcon, especially a dark green one, think for a moment about the 30,000 Argentines who vanished after their ride in a similar car and be thankful we are insulated from such things. There but for the grace of God, go us.
Thomas M Kreutzer currently lives in Buffalo, New York with his wife and three children but has spent most of his adult life overseas. He has lived in Japan for 9 years, Jamaica for 2 and spent almost 5 years as a US Merchant Mariner serving primarily in the Pacific. A long time auto and motorcycle enthusiast he has pursued his hobbies whenever possible. He also enjoys writing and public speaking where, according to his wife, his favorite subject is himself.
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