Americans Flex Their Muscle Cars
US Manufacturers Do Something Right
One of the Ford Motor Company’s showcase concept cars is the imposing Interceptor sedan, with its big wheels and a burly front end that suggests an armor-plated battering ram.
Lest anybody miss the point, it becomes clear as the car rotates on its turntable for a rear view. There, in brushed aluminum block letters, the license plate reads: MUSCLE, with the “U” and the “S” in red and blue. It is a license plate that could easily appear on other cars here, most from Detroit but some from its foreign competitors. As Detroit automakers try to find a winning game plan to reverse their sliding market share, it is clear from the cars on display at the North American International Auto Show here that they are trying to play up a distinct advantage over their Asian and European competitors — nobody, after all, can design the look of the American muscle car quite like American car companies.
“Even middle-aged Chinese remember seeing secret photographs of Buick Rivieras and Camaros and Mustangs, and they thought, ‘Whoa, communism is good, but this looks even better,’ ” he said. But demographics and car buyers’ changing tastes may work against Detroit’s efforts, say Japanese executives. These cars resonate best with buyers who can remember them — an aging group — and they cannot be Detroit’s only response, these executives say, if it hopes to end a market share decline under way for a decade. There is a good chance that some of these cars will be on American roads in a few years. G.M. has already announced plans to build the Camaro hardtop, while Chrysler plans to build the Dodge Challenger, which it showed as a concept car last year.
Ford’s Mustang, meanwhile, has been a rare bright note for the company, which is facing one of the deepest financial crises in its history. Mustang, reincarnated in 2004, rose to 166,530 sales last year, up 3.5%. The Mustang provides the underpinnings for the Interceptor, whose gutsy, low-riding stance immediately says gangster — a look reinforced inside with its brushed aluminum and black interior.
