NICHE VEHICLES
FAST BECOMING
ar nuts don’t think of it
By Paul A. Eisenstein
as the last letter in the
alphabet; for them, it’s
the name of one of the
most popular sports cars
of the last 25 years. If all goes
according to plan, we will soon see
the return of the Nissan “Z ” car.
Then there’s “T,” as in T-Bird.
Ford dropped the slow-selling
Thunderbird nameplate in 1997,
but it returns next year — not as a
midsize coupe, but in two-seat
trim reminiscent of the original T-
Bird roadster from the mid-1950s.
Following the success of
Volkswagen’s retro-styled new
Beetle, lots of automakers are returning to their roots. Though can do the best and fastest job of tapping into shifting market
sales of the Beetle have exceeded VW ’s wildest expectations, trends. “There’s a tremendous cry among consumers for some­
Ford and Nissan are making modest plans for their new mod­ thing that’s truly individual,” says Bill Robinson, an automotive
els. Ford plans to build between 25,000 and 35,000 design instructor at Detroit’s Center for Creative Studies.
Computer-aided design and engineering systems make it eas­
Thunderbirds a year, while “Z ” car volume is likely to run any­
ier
to develop multiple bodies that fit on the same basic chassis.
where from 40,000 to 90,000, according to senior Nissan offi­
In
the
process, product development costs and lead times can
cials.
By Detroit definition, those are “niche’ vehicles. And until be shortened substantially. The next step is to get suppliers
recently, such low-volume products held little interest for major involved. At G M ’s Yellowstone plants, outside partsmakers will
automakers, like Ford or Nissan. With the cost of developing a deliver large, pre-assembled component “modules right to the
new vehicle typically topping the $1 billion mark, carmakers assembly line, where they’ll be bolted together like Lego blocks.
As part of the “2020 Hot Rod" project GM is studying, out­
could seldom recover their investment without selling at least
side suppliers might even produce entire bodies that it says
100,000 units annually.
Yet Ford has an extensive line-up of niche cars ready to roll could “bolt-on, or even stick-on the same platform .... anything
off its drawing board. It’s already done well with the Mercury from a pickup truck to a sports car to a hotrod.
But why stop there? Why not outsource low-volume vehicles
Cougar, which debuted last year, about the same time as the
entirely?
European Ford Puma. Next on tap is the Lincoln Blackwood, a
The European versions of DaimlerChrysler s Jeep Grand
crossbetween a full-size sport-utility vehicle and a pickup truck,
Cherokee and Plymouth’s Voyager minivan are assembled by
its cargo bed clad in elegant, black wingewood.
“I personally think the days of the very high-volume vehicle Steyr-Daimler-Puch, an Austrian subsidiary of Canadas Magna
are behind us,” says Ford President and CEO Jac Nasser. He International, Inc. Magna is studying the idea of setting up a
predicts that cars like the Thunderbird are going to be more the similar operation in North America, according to Vice President
John Thomas. Such a plant could produce low-volume special­
norm than the exception in years to come.
Other automakers agree. General Motors, for example, has ty vehicles for otherwise high-volume automakers.
But it also might be possible to produce “house brand” prod­
given a tentative go-ahead to the Cadillac Evoq, which debuted
as a concept car at the 1999 Detroit auto show. GM recently ucts, much like you find at the local supermarket. A chain of
announced plans for three new U.S. assembly plants, collective­ dealerships, such as Circuit City’s CarMax, or Republic
ly code-named Project Yellowstone, that should reduce produc­ Industries’ AutoNation, might contract Magna to build a
tion costs by 20% because of their flexible manufacturing sys­ unique line of vehicles they could badge as their own.
Back in the early 1960s, high-volume brands, like the Chevy
tem. That could allow GM to roll a wide range of vehicles
Impala,
sold more than a million units a year. Those days are
down one assembly line, which according to Mark Hogan, the
gone
for
good. Whatever nameplate consumers buy, they have
vice president spearheading the project, could include niche
spin-offs of high-volume cars. GM would be able to produce an become less willing to settle for one-size-fits-all vehicles. They
SUV version of the Chevy Cavalier, for example, at volumes as want products that match their tastes, needs and lifestyles. The
manufacturers who figure out how to generate high-volume
low as 1,000 units a year.
That would give GM a potentially huge competitive advan­ profits from niche-volume products are likely to be the winners
tage, because the larger profits will go to whichever automaker in the decades to come.
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AFRICAN AMERICANS ON WHEELS