Automotive Engineering - April 2016 - 6

EDITORIAL

NY, NJ, OH:
Ryan Beckman
+1.973.409.4687
rbeckman@techbriefs.com

Bill Visnic
Editorial Director
bvisnic@sae.org

EDITORIAL

Jeep Comanche concept.
Risk-aversion thoughts red-lined to
this page when we got a look at some of
the spectacular concepts Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles' Jeep brand trotted out for
its annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, UT.
Most who attended the media reveal of
Jeep's seven concept vehicles believed
the brand truly outdid itself for the
Easter Safari's 50th anniversary. The vehicle that impressed most and seemed
so ripe for production was the Comanche
concept (p. 38), a small pickup based on
FCA's global unibody structure used for
the successful Jeep Renegade.
Sticking with the concept's soft top
would be a low-volume death sentence,
of course. But with a hardtop and a few
other concessions to production necessities, the single-cab Comanche appears to
be the "compact" truck many industry
watchers believe is the missing link that
closes the loop on the American consumers' current lust for all things pickup. The
Comanche could sell, and in real volume.
Then the Henry Ford moment: While
Jeep brand boss Mike Manley gave the
6 April 2016

Midwest/Great Lakes:
IN, MI, WI, IA, IL, MN
Chris Kennedy
+1.847.498.4520, x3008
ckennedy@techbriefs.com

Ryan Gehm
Associate Editor
rgehm@sae.org
Patrick Ponticel
Membership Editor
ponticel@sae.org

C'mon Jeep, walk the walk
I stopped counting the marketing presentations I've attended that included a slide
with the alleged Henry Ford quote regarding the folly of soliciting customer opinion:
"If I had asked people what they wanted,
they would have said faster horses."
Those words (which likely didn't really
come from Henry) are perpetually employed as justification for "risk."
So, quick-what's the most recent
production vehicle you can name that
was a risk? I think there hasn't been one
since the Great Recession began-with
the possible exception of the aluminum-bodied Ford F-Series.

PA/DE:
Desiree Stygar
+1.908.300.2539
dstygar@techbriefs.com

Lindsay Brooke
Editor-in-Chief
abrooke@sae.org

boilerplate "we'll see" reply about the
Comanche's production potential, some
Jeep sources were conceding, in effect,
"Management would never let us make
it without four doors." That's code for
"make it more profitable and less risky."
Four-door pickups are the family car of
this generation. They have driven the
Detroit 3's titanic post-recession profitability, and I understand why nobody
wants to mess with that. But why put the
brakes on expanding and exploiting the
pickup segment in the same fashion as,
say, crossover vehicles? Honda HR-Vs
generate less margin and make less profit
than Pilots, but that hasn't stopped
Honda, or other automakers, from expanding downward to take advantage of
the public's infatuation with crossovers.
For those who argue there is no profit
in a small pickup, ask General Motors
about "moving down": GM has a sales hit
with its new midsize pickups all the experts said wouldn't be good business.
GM salespeople tell me the Chevy
Colorado and GMC Canyon sell themselves to customers who plainly say the
full-size pickup footprint has become
too gargantuan, their prices too inflated.
At a time when the expanding roster of
B-segment "urban" crossovers are the
hot ticket, a small urban pickup with two
doors effectively addresses the same
"need"-and the crazy-popular Jeep
badge should seal the deal.
Or forget the marketing arguments.
What happened to the product flexibility, investment efficiency, and speed-tomarket global platforms are supposed
to impart? It's time for FCA to make
good on that big talk and green-light a
genuine entry-level pickup.
Rather than ponder Henry Ford's
mythical advice about consumer opinion, I'd look at the Comanche in light of
a more-pertinent (and verified) Henry
quote: "The competitor to be feared is
one who never bothers about you at
all-but goes on making his own business better all the time."

Midwest/Central Canada:
KS, KY, MO, NE, ND, SD, ON, MB
Bob Casey
+1.847.223.5225
bobc@techbriefs.com

Lisa Arrigo
Custom Electronic
Products Editor
larrigo@sae.org

Rocky Mountain States/NM:
CO, ID, MT, UT, WY, NM
Tim Powers
+1.973.409.4762
tpowers@techbriefs.com

Contributors
Kami Buchholz
Detroit Editor

Southern CA, AZ, NV:
Tom Boris
+1.949.715.7779
tomboris@techbriefs.com

Stuart Birch
European Editor
Jack Yamaguchi
Asia Editor
Steven Ashley, Dan Carney,
Terry Costlow, Richard Gardner,
John Kendall, Bruce Morey,
Jennifer Shuttleworth, Linda Trego,
Paul Weissler

DESIGN

Northern CA, WA, OR,
Western Canada:
Craig Pitcher
+1.408.778.0300
cpitcher@techbriefs.com

International
Europe - Central & Eastern:
Sven Anacker
Britta Steinberg
+49.202.27169.11
sa@intermediapartners.de
steinberg@intermediapartners.de

Lois Erlacher
Creative Director
Ray Carlson
Associate Art Director

Europe - Western:
Chris Shaw
+44.1270.522130
chris.shaw@chrisshawmedia.co.uk

SALES &
MARKETING

China:
Alan Ao
+86.21.6140.8920
alan.ao@sae.org

Joe Pramberger
Publisher
joe@techbriefs.com

Japan:
Shigenori Nagatomo
+81.3.3661.6138
Nagatomo-pbi@gol.com

Marcie L. Hineman
Global Field Sales Manager
hineman@sae.org
Debbie Rothwell
Marketing Director
drothwell@techbriefs.com

South Korea:
Eun-Tae Kim
+82-2-564-3971/2
ksae1@ksae.org

Martha Schanno
Recruitment Sales Manager
+1.724.772.7155
mschanno@sae.org

Integrated Media
Consultants

REGIONAL
SALES

Angelo Danza
+1.973.874.0271
adanza@techbriefs.com

North America
New England/Eastern Canada:
ME, VT, NH, MA, RI, QC
Ed Marecki
+1.401.351.0274
emarecki@techbriefs.com

Patrick Harvey
+1.973.409.4686
pharvey@techbriefs.com
Todd Holtz
+1.973.545.2566
tholtz@techbriefs.com
Rick Rosenberg
+1.973.545.2565
rrosenberg@techbriefs.com

CT:
Stan Greenfield
+1.203.938.2418
greenco@optonline.net
Mid-Atlantic/Southeast/TX:
MD, DC, VA, WV, KY, TN, NC, SC,
GA, FL, AL, MS, LA, AR, OK, TX
Ray Tompkins
+1.281.313.1004
rayt@techbriefs.com

Scott Williams
+1.973.545.2464
swilliams@techbriefs.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS
+1.800.869.6882
AEI@kmpsgroup.com

Bill Visnic, Editorial Director

AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
Automotive Engineering - April 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - April 2016
