Rode as a passenger in brand new Kia Optima, my impression (luxury, best)
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that's, probably, exactly the reason Altima even got a coupe...
Don't get me wrong, i'm not a fan of Nissans at all, but they do make a decently fun rides.
that's, probably, exactly the reason Altima even got a coupe...
Don't get me wrong, i'm not a fan of Nissans at all, but they do make a decently fun rides.
The Altima coupe got cancelled due to poor sales. The only mid size sedan based coupe that's survived over the years is the Accord which actually looks pretty decent with the current body style but its more comfort over sport. There's nothing wrong with that as long as your expectations are in line.
A product or service that sales in high volume doesn't automatically make it a bad quality item or service. The higher something sales, it allows the company to have more cash flow so they can invest which then in turn can help the business grow, innovate, improve quality, and profit or whatever it may be.
It all depends on the company and how it's operated, who's in charge, management, it all makes a big difference. If a corporation or small business owner knows his product/service is off the charts and his sales are great, he can start to get greedy by cost cutting, and take short cuts, this is where the problems slowly creep up and customers take notice.
The food and eatery industry is notorious for this kind of tactics. For example, say a great little awesome burger joint opened up down the street from where you live and the burgers n fries where out of this world freakin good. The portions of the fries were huge, the meat patty was very thick and the prices were $7.99 for a burger and fries that you can't get anywhere else.
The business is booming, customers keep flocking to this new awesome burger joint. Flash forward 2 years later and all of sudden you notice those huge portions of fries got a little smaller, the meat in the burger doesn't taste or look the same, the patty is also not as big as before, and the price shot up $2.00-3.00.
Now some here will say it could be the possibility of inflation, operation cost have gone up, who will ever know, but when a business starts to cut back especially on portion size, and charge more for less food, this is where people either will stop coming to eat altogether, or eat there less often, and possibly eat at another competitors burger joint. What happens next is now the business is losing customers because they made the mistake by raising prices while reducing quality and quantity. A year later the burger joint closes down because they lost so much business due to the higher prices with reduced portions, and wasted all that extra capital on all the wrong things.
Smart successful business owners know where to draw a fine line on prices without sacrificing quality of service and product. The problem here is we have huge corporate Automotive companies that are under constant pressure from their shareholders to make a huge profit every quarter that the risks to quality, features, and service is high, and aren't as great as they could be.
This is part of the reason why so many recalls have been reported this past year is because the cheapening of components that you can't see that some of the auto companies are using just to save a few pennies have finally caught up to bite them in the ass. Suppliers are no different, they are to blame as well.
It really depends on the company at the end of the day, The Camry sales by the boats every month for a reason, it must be a great car that is reliable, but boring as all hell. High volume can affect the quality in many cases, but it's not a given if the company has the right people in management with good intentions to make a high quality product consistently every time that the people love.
A product or service that sales in high volume doesn't automatically make it a bad quality item or service. The higher something sales, it allows the company to have more cash flow so they can invest which then in turn can help the business grow, innovate, improve quality, and profit or whatever it may be.
It all depends on the company and how it's operated, who's in charge, management, it all makes a big difference. If a corporation or small business owner knows his product/service is off the charts and his sales are great, he can start to get greedy by cost cutting, and take short cuts, this is where the problems slowly creep up and customers take notice.
The food and eatery industry is notorious for this kind of tactics. For example, say a great little awesome burger joint opened up down the street from where you live and the burgers n fries where out of this world freakin good. The portions of the fries were huge, the meat patty was very thick and the prices were $7.99 for a burger and fries that you can't get anywhere else.
The business is booming, customers keep flocking to this new awesome burger joint. Flash forward 2 years later and all of sudden you notice those huge portions of fries got a little smaller, the meat in the burger doesn't taste or look the same, the patty is also not as big as before, and the price shot up $2.00-3.00.
Now some here will say it could be the possibility of inflation, operation cost have gone up, who will ever know, but when a business starts to cut back especially on portion size, and charge more for less food, this is where people either will stop coming to eat altogether, or eat there less often, and possibly eat at another competitors burger joint. What happens next is now the business is losing customers because they made the mistake by raising prices while reducing quality and quantity. A year later the burger joint closes down because they lost so much business due to the higher prices with reduced portions, and wasted all that extra capital on all the wrong things.
Smart successful business owners know where to draw a fine line on prices without sacrificing quality of service and product. The problem here is we have huge corporate Automotive companies that are under constant pressure from their shareholders to make a huge profit every quarter that the risks to quality, features, and service is high, and aren't as great as they could be.
This is part of the reason why so many recalls have been reported this past year is because the cheapening of components that you can't see that some of the auto companies are using just to save a few pennies have finally caught up to bite them in the ass. Suppliers are no different, they are to blame as well.
It really depends on the company at the end of the day, The Camry sales by the boats every month for a reason, it must be a great car that is reliable, but boring as all hell. High volume can affect the quality in many cases, but it's not a given if the company has the right people in management with good intentions to make a high quality product consistently every time that the people love.
The key part of my statement is "above all else". My statement was "..focused on selling a higher volume above all else". If you are focusing on selling a higher volume above quality then it's not terribly surprising that overall vehicle quality actually drops. We've seen this with Honda, Toyota and VW in recent years while the American makes grappled with this for decades with recent improvements in build quality.
Toyota in particular has done severe cost cutting over the years by carrying over significant components like engines, transmission and platforms for extended periods of time to avoid investing in new ones. This is why they had 4spd automatics and aging engines for a long time, why the 2015 Camry has fake windows and why much of Toyota's current products feel noticeably cheaper in terms of materials quality compared to older Toyota's.
Volkswagen experienced the same deal with American spec models like the Passat and Jetta drastically decreasing in quality over time.
Last edited by iTsLiKeAnEgG; 11-19-2014 at 02:23 PM..
The key part of my statement is "above all else". My statement was "..focused on selling a higher volume above all else". If you are focusing on selling a higher volume above quality then it's not terribly surprising that overall vehicle quality actually drops. We've seen this with Honda, Toyota and VW in recent years while the American makes grappled with this for decades with recent improvements in build quality.
Toyota in particular has done severe cost cutting over the years by carrying over significant components like engines, transmission and platforms for extended periods of time to avoid investing in new ones. This is why they had 4spd automatics and aging engines for a long time, why the 2015 Camry has fake windows and why much of Toyota's current products feel noticeably cheaper in terms of materials quality compared to older Toyota's.
Volkswagen experienced the same deal with American spec models like the Passat and Jetta drastically decreasing in quality over time.
I agree with you about Toyo's heavy cost cutting measures a few years back. Toyota is so rich now that they haven't bothered to innovate and come out with anything that's truly "All New" in so long. This is the problem when a company has too much money and gets lazy and complacent.Toyo has finally noticed their competition has gotten the better of them, therefore they feel slightly threatened and are now forced to make changes.
I still don't understand how and why the Camry month after month is number 1 in sales for the mid-size car segment when the competition is building much better vehicles than Toyota is. Loyalty is a big deal, and if you have that, you pretty much have your customers hooked for life to your product.
Yes, the big 3 suffered from being overly confident and too proud, they acted like nobody could touch them and their loads of cash, well the American people spoke out loud and clear by not buying GM, Ford, and Chrysler vehicles during the down years when they decontented, cheapened up and lost out on reliability to foreign competition. The big 3 all built great big cars years ago, but could never understand how to make a small one that was well made and lasted forever.
As material cost continue to increase ( steel, plastics, rubber, aluminum etc..) the automobile will feel noticeably flimsier in the coming years as automakers try to cut down on cost. This is why going from a 50's or 60's car to cars made in the last 20 years feel drastically different. The old stuff was built much better, and used better materials IMO than the interiors in modern cars use.
The key part of my statement is "above all else". My statement was "..focused on selling a higher volume above all else". If you are focusing on selling a higher volume above quality then it's not terribly surprising that overall vehicle quality actually drops. We've seen this with Honda, Toyota and VW in recent years while the American makes grappled with this for decades with recent improvements in build quality.
Toyota in particular has done severe cost cutting over the years by carrying over significant components like engines, transmission and platforms for extended periods of time to avoid investing in new ones. This is why they had 4spd automatics and aging engines for a long time, why the 2015 Camry has fake windows and why much of Toyota's current products feel noticeably cheaper in terms of materials quality compared to older Toyota's.
Volkswagen experienced the same deal with American spec models like the Passat and Jetta drastically decreasing in quality over time.
Funny my 14' 4runner has the same 5speed transmission that my 05' 4runner had. It's reliable so why mess with a good thing, but when so many other car makers are using 6, 7' and 8 speed transmissions it makes Toyota look a step behind. It's not 2005 was the first year Toyota used that unit either.
You're missing the big exception to that rule: Honda. They have always cared about the driving experience.
That's why I like Honda and always have. To the average driver, they're average cars with decent economy, too much engine noise when merging or passing, a bit of a harsh ride, and a little too much road noise. But with a competent driver who enjoys pushing a car just a little extra (but just a little, not reckless endangerment levels) they don't disappoint.
Now I'm generalizing a bit here, but a Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Chrysler, and even most Nissans, Fords, and Chevys? Try to push them too hard and they'll all turn to mush. To do better, one has to move up one of the German brands.
That's Ferruccio's history.
Ferrari told him off, so he went on building "better" cars.. often times at loss for the company.
The $$ they made off of tractor sales was more than enough to sustain the expensive revenge idea.
I "took delivery" of one out of the Budget lot at MKE airport last year, with a whopping 6 miles on the odometer. I kept the car for 3 weeks around the Chicago area, and put on about 1500 miles. Anyone who lives out there can tell you that the streets are in anything but good condition.
I was by no means impressed with its ride or handling, but I also did not notice anything that stood out as an annoyance or a reason "not to buy", were I looking for a car of its type. It was comfortable to sit in, had a nice interior, decent sound system, decent power, and the looks were better than the other garden variety sedans in the rental lot.
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