Cheers and Jeers for 2023

[bobo]

2023 could not end soon enough.  It seemed like people were freaking out about AI or trying to freak out others about AI.  While the U.S. experienced low unemployment and falling inflation,  American politics is almost beyond repair, with a dysfunctional do-nothing Congress and an ethically challenged Supreme Court.  The previous occupant of the White House was charged with 91 felony counts.  In the UK Charles III and Camilla were crowned king and queen.  The submersible OceanGate Titan imploded in the sightseeing tour to the Titanic.  The Ukraine war has no end in sight, with about a half million deaths so far, the majority being Russian troops.  Hamas attacked Israel in October, and the subsequent war in Gaza has resulted in over 20,000 civilian deaths.  Extreme weather is now the norm, with record high temperatures in much of the southern parts of the U.S., record rainfall in California, and wildfires in Maui.  It was yet again the hottest year on record.

Prominent passings included former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, actors Matthew Perry and Paul Reubens, talk show host Jerry Springer, game show host Bob Barker, and singers Tony Bennett, Sinead O'Connor, Lisa Marie Presley, and Tina Turner.

Tesla was in the news a lot, beginning the year with big price reductions on all their cars, essentially undoing all the price increases after the beginning of the pandemic and causing an industry-wide shock wave.  In May, Ford announced they were adopting Tesla’s NACS charging port for more reliable charging, followed soon by GM, and then all the other automakers fell in line.  At the end of August, the refreshed Model 3 was announced and put in production in China, but North America is still waiting for it.  Cybertruck deliveries began at the end of November, with the pickup using 48 volts instead of the industry standard 12 volts to decrease the mass of wiring.  The truck also uses steer-by-wire.

In non-Tesla automotive news, GM struggled to scale up production of vehicles on the Ultium platform, while simultaneously winding down production of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV, which had their best sales year ever.  Cadillac announced the oversized Escalade IQ, compact Optiq, and three-row Vistiq as they transition to an all-EV lineup.  The UAW went on strike for six weeks beginning in September.  UAW workers will be getting some big pay increases, and even non-UAW shops have increased their salaries.  GM and Ford retreated slightly on their EV production goals because of concerns of lagging demand.  An updated version of the best-selling car in the U.S., the Toyota Camry, was unveiled in November, with a release date in the spring.  While Chinese automakers are rivaling Tesla in sales in their home market, and their technology and styling are on the leading edge, tariffs are keeping them from the U.S. for now.

Canceled vehicles include the Audi R8 and TT, Chevy Bolt EV, Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger, and the compact Jeep Cherokee.  Temporarily gone are the Chevy Bolt EUV, which will be back in a couple of years with a new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) Ultium battery pack, and the Chevrolet Camaro, Nissan Maxima, and Dodge Charger, to be reborn eventually as EVs.

Here’s the 22nd annual edition of Cheers and Jeers for the best and worst things automotive in 2023:

Cheers to Volvo for the Best New EV with the compact EX30, providing an attractive, practical EV that splits the difference in size between the Bolt EV and EUV, and has crazy fast acceleration for the dual motor version.  Not everyone needs a gargantuan SUV as a daily driver, and this car should be able to meet the needs of a lot of people and use less resources doing it.

Honorable mention goes to the Kia EV9 if you need a gargantuan three-row SUV.  It has reasonable pricing, good looks, and all the right technology.  It's the modern EV Telluride except in name.

Cheers to Honda for the Best Concept with the Prelude.  Styling is a little too much like the new Toyota Prius, and the hybrid powertrain will probably be borrowed from the Civic or Accord and doesn’t sound very exciting, but the big deal is that it is a rare coupe in a market that overwhelmingly favors SUVs.  The Prelude could also be the reason why there are no coupe variants of the current Civic and Integra.  The concept, which is not confirmed for release in North America, did not show a moonroof or sunroof, which has been part of the Prelude formula, but perhaps that will change for production.

Jeers to Chevrolet for the Worst New Vehicle Introduction with the Blazer EV.  In general, the Blazer has gotten good reviews despite costing as much as the Cadillac Lyriq.  However, it’s gotten some really bad press from two outfits doing long-term tests, due to software issues.  GM placed a stop-sale on the vehicles until a fix is made.  There has also been a lot of wailing about GM dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto going forward on EVs.  Honda and Acura will be including those features on their versions of the Ultium crossovers and may gain some sales because of that.

Dishonorable mention goes to the VinFast VF8, which has the worst reviews of any new vehicle in recent memory, with the vehicles feeling more like prototypes than production vehicles.  The Vietnamese automaker is having a rough start, and the high prices and mediocre range make it a tough sell, but it’s too early to count them out as there is a huge conglomerate backing them.

Cheers to Stellantis for the Best Truck Introduction with the Dodge Ramcharger to provide a practical option for pickup truck owners who tow.  Because towing causes the range to drop in half, the V6 range extender is a workable solution until EV range can be increased.  Having both EV and ICE propulsion does not make sense for most passenger vehicles, as plug-in hybrids, but it does make sense for a truck that will be doing a lot of work.

Cheers to GM for having the Best New Cheap Cars with the Chevy Trax and Buick Envista.  These front-wheel drive only fraternal twins with crossover-ish styling are the best values out there for basic transportation, and they don't look cheap.

Jeers to Subaru for Most Disappointing Refresh with the updated Forester.  It tries too hard to be stylish, but the Forester was always a functional box.  What it needed and did not get was more power.

Jeers to Toyota Motor Credit for being the Worst Fraudsters by preventing customers from canceling bundled products like Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) when not needed or including them on contracts without telling the customers.  They lied to their customers and falsely told consumer reporting companies that customers missed payment.  They are required to pay $60 million in fines and compensation.  Car dealerships and their financiers already have a bad rap without resorting to actual illegal activity.

Hope everyone has a safe and prosperous New Year, and best wishes to trinacriabob on his new adventures and life in the Old World.
 

[Drew Dowdell]

Thank as always @bobo Great write up!

11 hours ago, bobo said:

There has also been a lot of wailing about GM dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto going forward on EVs.

I add this one to the Jeers list all on its own.

[David]

I will add one CHEERS to Hyundai/Kia/Genesis who sees sales and potential customers by pushing ahead with EV development and production in the U.S. as well as for Global Markets to battle Tesla and the Chinese where a big JEERS goes to Ford and GM for caving into the crazy media, big oil and delaying the EV transition.

[trinacriabob]

Thank you for encapsulating what 2023 meant in global terms and for the automotive scene.

Yes, cheers to the new Envista.  I will have to test sit or even rent one when possible.  It brings around a Buick at an entry-level price point that's not a jellybean-like Encore, although a very different Buick. Having driven a Citroën C3, I had assumed there were 4 cylinders under the hood.  There were 3, as with the Envista!  That shaves off mechanical hardware and weight.  It did what it was supposed to do without much fuss and 3 cylinders under one cylinder head can be made to feel balanced "enough." And cheers to it for being made available with a simple enough geared automatic transmission.

Yes, jeers to Subaru most of the time ... for me, anyway. I had to take a look at this Forester. If not badged, I might question what it is. It looks less Subaru because of trim that says Nissan and volumes that say Fiat, specifically the Panda, and Toyota.  The new front end is mostly clumsy.  The dash loses the cubby with information at the top of the center stack that I like - which the Ford Focus and Fiesta also used - in favor of larger and more vertical touch screen.

Many jeers for world events and situations.  Some megalomaniacs put their needs above human lives and seem to sleep easy despite how many lives have been lost.  Dysfunctional is an appropriate word for people, things, and processes that seem to be gaining acceptance as being status quo.

Thanks for the well wishes, too.