Christople

In my humble opinion and because of the economy do you think that we are going to see the end of sporty cars for the mass market?

Since cars aren't selling like they did, auto makers are probably going to look to design and build the most profitable cars they can. Sports cars, in general, aren't very profitable.


We have seen Toyota can some "Supercar" prototypes in recent past, but I think its because of the market. Who knows...

chime in if you want

hariku821

I think we are already seeing it.. Wasn't the solstice coupe supposed to be out right now? Also though this depression is reportadly going to end in about 5yrs. So right now might be a good time for r & d for those companies that have the capital.. Unlike GM lol..

TheDonEffect

Sportscars are typically not a profitable proposition for any car manufacturer. This doesn;t mean that they don't make an accountable profit, it's that with the same resources they could make more higher demand models. Toyota has proven that having a shiny red sportscar in the showroom has no effect on folks buying a family sedan.
Also, to clarify, the Pontiac Solstice coupe is still coming out, should be early next year. Please report who said that this "depression" will take 5 years.

Carbon Blue

it sure does seem like mid 90's, cars such as the nissan cube, toyota iq, nissan versa, scions XA, XB's, and XD's are all some what reminiscent of the dominating econobox gas sipping geo storms, prizms and tercels. Though I definitely do not think itll be as bad as the mid-90s sport car wise, I do think some of the track monsters that we would hope to see will most likely either be canned or be delayed for production. Plus, I think it would be a horrible move business wise for an auto manufacturer to axe their sport car line up when im almost sure that all the machines and parts are pretty much paid for. Though a small profit is returned, a profit is a profit.

hariku821

Im not sure if you will know the guy.. His name is leo laport he is a tech guy they had some financial guys on his podcast.. ( this week in tech... twit)

they said now would be a great time to start a business if you had the capital to take a finical hit for 5 years.. that is loose money for that long. but after you would have built a great consumer base and gotten your business off the ground for cheaper than normal. These guys are the only ones i have heard address it as a depression and give an estimate of how long it will last. im sure many others have as well i just haven't heard them.. i dont get good reception on am stations in the town my college is in so i dont listen to talk radio as much as i used to..

I would like your input on the situation if you dont mind.. i mostly just hear recession not depression type talk if thats your state of mind to im not arguing against you i just prefer to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.. if 5 years is the worst we wont be to bad off..

UmarS2K

My parents and I are looking into purchasing a new store. The only problem is that even with the economy doing so poorly, land lords in SoCal won't budge lower on monthly payments for leases to their properties.

Anyway, I can't really say I would know much about the sports car dilemma of the '90s, seeing as I was only born in 1990. I didn't even pay attention to cars until I first played GranTurismo.

ZDan

Personally, I hope the economic downturn will spark a rennaisance for more elemental and MINIMALIST sports cars. Smaller, simpler, less power, less WEIGHT. More sports cars in different flavors at the Miata level.

So-called "sports cars" that weigh well over 3000 lb. don't appeal to me much, even with 300, even 400+ hp. I'd rather have something smaller/lighter/more-basic/cheaper, even with less power/weight (though I'm not at all against keeping all the hp while paring down the size/amenities/weight/cost!).

The Solstice was originally supposed to be 2400 lb., 240hp, ~$24,000. That formula REALLY appeals to me.

Let all the overgrown, overpowered, over-featured, overWEIGHT "sports cars" or sporty cars die.

Bring on smaller/simpler/lighter/cheaper! Must have rwd/irs, though!

I don't really think it'll happen, but it's possible...

aklucsarits

We really are in the golden age of affordable performance cars today. I would say today's auto market situation is more analogous to 1970-73 than it is to 91-94. The performance cars we associate with 91-94 (Supra tt, RX-7, 300ZX tt, Stealth/GT3000, C4 ZR-1, NSX, etc) were out of the price range of average buyers.

Andrew

jasonjm

Think 80s, when they introduced the turbo 4 fox body stang. So many good cars came out during this time . Oh yeah, good times...

pdexta

Couldn't have said it better myself

As long as our demand as customers for sports cars is still there companies will continue to produce cars to meet that demand.