Putting Detroit in the Shop

With fuel efficiency now in fashion, Detroit needs to focus on the models that took a back seat during the SUV boom: family sedans and small cars. But designing Japanese clones has proved to be a dead-end strategy. "Detroit spent 25 years copying the Camry and emasculating the American car," says Global Insight auto analyst John Wolkonowicz. "Now they need to bring back real American cars for real American people, the folks who watch NASCAR and shop at Wal-Mart." At GM, Lutz showed the ability to channel his blue-collar customers on a recent walk through the cavernous Chevy design studio. Reviewing renderings of a future family car, the Swiss-educated exec lingered over a sleek, understated model and a brawny version with muscle-car cues. "Because of my fondness for European style, I'd lean to that one," Lutz said, pointing to the first car. "But when I put on my business hat, I'd go with this other one because it's all-American. And that's a direction the Japanese can't go."

But isn't an all-American small car an oxymoron? Chrysler thinks it's come up with an answer: the Dodge Hornet, a snarling bulldog of a hatchback. "We need to do small and bold," says designer Ralph Gilles. "Anything but cute." In-your-face American style might work on a small package. But first Chrysler has to approve the Hornet for production. While Detroit dithers, foreign automakers are running away with the shifting new car market. And Motown is struggling to prove it can get its groove back.

© 2006