Ready for something out of the ordinary

I teach part-time at a leading university in Metro Manila. Most of my students and mentees are thankfully car enthusiasts themselves. After lecture, students always ask me about sports cars, performance cars, exotics and modified cars. During lunch breaks, my coprofessors, teachers and instructors ask me about practical, fuel-efficient and environment-friendly cars instead.

Different generations of people who find cars as an integral part of their lives have different concerns indeed. But the question is, “Is the auto industry truly capable of matching to these needs?”

I used to think not; that we were stuck with a plethora of relatively bland and unexciting, boring and ultimately similar and repetitive selection of cars, such that we have to force ourselves to like these same cars, rather than truly finding a car that satisfies our needs and wants.

But things have truly been changing of late.

Honda’s recent release of their Pilot SUV and Odyssey minivan shows that there is indeed a market out there for these types of cars. A cynic will point out that Honda is using these vehicles to plug their relatively sparse model line-up, but people are still buying these cars.

How about the Toyota 86? Toyota insiders were confident but admittedly somewhat nervous about introducing a car which, despite their vast resources, had little or no experience in marketing. When you think Toyota, you think of the stately Camry, fuel-efficient Vios, people-moving Avanzas and Innovas, or burly workhorses such as the Hilux and FOrtuner. But a sporty and so desirable Toyota that could be sold by the thousands so easily? Not exactly. All 77 units allocated for our market for 2012 were sold days before the 86’s fantastic launch at Subic. Five years ago, I would have laughed at the idea of hybrids, but I find myself strangely attracted to the Prius-C, and the Lexus CT200h. People are buying these cars, however expensive they might be.

People keep asking about Hyundai’s Veloster and the 2012-2013 Genesis coupe facelift. These two cars are very popular but Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. can’t seem to get them in soon enough, despite the public unveiling.

Chevrolet’s release of the Camaro and Ford’s recent unveiling of their eponymous muscle car, the Mustang, are further proof that the car-buying public is ready for something out of the ordinary.

The point here is that despite the specialty niche that these aforementioned cars inhabit they still sell, and sell quite well.

The Internet has allowed trends, ideas and new concepts to travel fast to all four corners of the globe. We see something that perhaps our cousins in foreign lands enjoy, and we want to enjoy it ourselves, and thus the trend is born locally. The hellaflush movement, for example, is getting popular here. Hellaflush is modifying your car with the biggest wheels (width and diameter) onto a super-lowered chassis that barely clears the wheels, with their midly stretched tires and pronounced camber angles.

But as for cars themselves, look at the Toyota/Scion Bb. The Scion brand is a Toyota sub-brand under the Toyota Group that is aimed at young individuals looking for a different, unique and distinctive automobile that expresses their lifestyle. The Bb is a good example: sharing parts with the Vios/Yaris and Altis/Corolla, it’s a 2-box compact wagon with a tall roof and very square proportions. My dad thinks it’s ugly, but I think it’s really cool. And if someone as ordinary as me likes it, I’m sure a lot of other people feel the same way. I’d rather be driving a Bb rather than, say, a regular Vios/Altis. It’s very functional too, as the interior is very roomy, and more importantly, the space is very useable being almost perfectly square inside. Toyota’s missing out here and should consider bringing this vehicle in.

The car manufacturers want to grow the industry by selling more cars. I feel that we’ve reached our limit, and if the industry wants to sell more cars, they have to bring in more types of cars. Cars that are unique answer our more specialized needs, and of course, better equipped, fancier and safer cars. The segregation and specialization of needs is slowly drawing upon us, and we need a broader variety of cars for people to buy them, not just the usual choices.

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