Diatribe: Optimism drives the auto industry

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Updated: January 17, 2012 4:21PM

As an auto writer I’m invited to many programs that highlight future products. Some involve technology and some involve design. But the common thread is the excitement generated by the manufacturers over their new “things.”

It doesn’t matter if the industry just came off its worst sales year since the Civil War; because of the new fuel-efficient engine someone has developed, the “future is theirs.” There’s not a darn thing wrong with this thinking, either. In some cases the vehicles and/or their “innards” are way oversold — but as journalists we’re trained to bring the claims down to earth and make them credible for our readers.

Along these same lines I have a problem with some of my colleagues who believe it’s their sworn duty to assume the role of a thunderhead and come crashing down on the heads of the car industry people by raining on their parades. Cynicism is a wonderful trait if handed out in small doses. But to predetermine that everything being witnessed at a press conference has to be fluff is a disservice to everyone involved.

There was only one Sherlock Holmes — and he wasn’t an auto journalist. But, as usual, I digress.

This is the time of the year when news and teasers about future stories are meted out in preparation for auto show season, which usually begins with the Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November and generally ends with the New York Auto Show, around Easter.

The purpose is to give journalists a laundry list of items to pursue further at the shows or with the various engineers, designers, executives and publicity people from the respective manufacturers.

The auto shows the public attends are a far cry from the media days that usually precede them. Depending on the size of the show, future vehicles are brought in from all over the world and debuted in a venue that would make a Broadway play jealous. Presentations are generally made by CEOs, chief marketing folks and designers from the various companies.

The highlighted vehicles will wear the brands’ haloes for the vast amounts of worldwide publicity achieved during the show. And as I’ve stated, every single presentation is bracketed by a heavy support of optimism. I say, the more the merrier.

Countless hours and dollars have been spent developing a new vehicle and the “parents” have every right to be proud of their offspring. If they can’t express enthusiasm over the future then they ought to just close up shop and sell off their assets to some Third World country — and save that country the necessity of developing its own auto industry. I’m not talking about Ron Popeil-style enthusiasm about the Pocket Fisherman; cars and trucks exist on a much larger playing surface. If internals can’t express enthusiasm and excitement for their new developments how do they expect to convey that to potential customers?

This past week I have been to no less than four press events that highlighted future technology and products for 2013 from automakers. No, they’re not trying to get a jump on their competitors. They all work that far in advance and they’re counting on the media to be a conduit in keeping the plates spinning by starting to write articles about upcoming products. Actual test drives happen within a close proximity to when the vehicles themselves hit the showrooms, and their presence is reinforced through a heavy dose of national and local dealer advertising.

There used to be a finite time, usually in late fall, when all the vehicles for the following year would be introduced by late-November/early-December. Now, just like the 24-hour news cycle created by cable television, new vehicles and technologies are released over the period of an entire year.

Sometimes this optimism and enthusiasm can be interpreted as hoping against hope but isn’t that what the start of each day is for everyone on earth? Everyone should learn from their mistakes, and if a manufacturer misreads a trend or its product doesn’t live up to expectations the lesson is cataloged and applied to the next time in the hopes of negating a second missed opportunity.

Optimism is hope for the future, and I suggest that my colleagues forget their cynicism and go to the public days of a major auto show to witness the excitement of the crowd. Don’t you think they’d go absolutely bonkers if they knew what we know is coming? Don’t think of previews and press conferences as stage plays; think of them as a continuation of what has made this industry so great for almost 120 years.

Regular readers of my rants know that I don’t often get this serious and somber. But if there weren’t such optimism today there’d be no future tomorrow.

Al Vinikour is a Midwest-based freelance auto writer. Proving a mind is a “terrible thing to use” he sometimes sits in traffic and ponders about things — generally auto-related — that make him mad. Believing the “pen is mightier than the sword” (and generally results in a whole lot less jail time), he vents his anger through a word processor and produces the Driver’s Side Diatribe column. E-mail him at vinikour@comcast.net.