In the last few years, the US automakers have made a return to classic style muscle cars. These cars have been designed to look nostalgic and very similar to their early 1970s counterparts. Ford started this new trend with the new Mustang in 2005. With styling very reminiscent of the 60s Mustangs, the car was an instant hit. Ford had the market cornered since GM had discontinued the Camaro in 2002 and with Chrysler lacking a V8 rear wheel drive muscle car as well. In the last year, this has changed with the introduction of the new Challenger and then just recently, with the introduction of the new Camaro. Car enthusiasts are happy to see these cars back and the question becomes, how long will they last?
In the past three months, GM and Chrysler have both sought bankruptcy protection to help reduce debt and allow them to continue building cars. GM has sold off many of its brands including Saturn, Hummer and Saab. The federal government is now the primary shareholder in both companies. The government plans to put new management into place to change the lineup of cars both companies are producing to focus on small cars and less large engine cars and trucks. It will be interesting to see how consumers react to this change.The area where American automakers have been most successful in the last 20 years has been trucks, SUVs, and coupes and sedans with larger engines. No muscle car enthusiast is going to want to replace his Mustang with a Honda Civic. Ford tried that in the late 70s with the Mustang II and it was a disaster. To me, the heart and soul of the American auto industry lies in performance cars and trucks. This is where the American auto companies have been able to dominate the market. Honda, Nissan and Toyota have all released new full size trucks in the last five years and the sales of these vehicles still pale in comparison to the sales of the Silverado, Sierra and F150.
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