Walmart Wheels

Taking advantage of our offspring being out with relatives last week, Mrs. Automotive Journalist and myself had an all-too-rare evening to ourselves.

Were both old enoughtimes two, plusto have our drivers license. And we both like a good Will Farrell flick just as much as any puerile preteen (how Anchorman wasnt awarded a Genie for best foreign film, is beyond us). Yet one look at the local film listings had us both feeling old, extraneous and heading for the nearest pub.

Doesnt anybody make movies for anyone old enough to have mortgage payments?

Apparently not. But who can blame Hollywood; theyre just chasing the money.

While drowning our sorrows about our lack of entertainment options, the feeling of disenfranchisement later spread to our automotive needs. (This is what happens when youre married to a car writer.)

The Germans can claim they invented the modern automobile. But it was Henry Ford, and the American industry he spawned, that created the largest, most influential automobile market in the world.

For the better part of the 20th century, North Americans set the barometer as to what a car should look or drive like. North Americans told the automakers how fast and how safe we wanted our cars to be, and every carmaker on the planet looked to the wants and desires of this market as a benchmark.

As an automaker, if you could make it here, you could make it anywhere.

But like the recent demographic shift in moviegoers tastes, theres a growing amount of evidence that although North America is still the biggest market for selling cars, its becoming less and less influential on the worlds automakers designs.

Plenty of automakers do extremely wellCitroen/Peugeot, Fiat and Renault, to name a few without selling a single car in North America. But now, even brands that have already had success here are looking to emerging markets like China, India, and Russia for future success.

Buick now sells more cars in China than the States, and in fact, the General Motors divisions is locally designing future models specific to the Chinese market. And which auto show does BWM launch its flagship concept foreshadowing the companys future styling direction? Detroit? Frankfurt? How about this years Shanghai auto show, thats where.

As the worlds emerging markets start to enjoy the fruits of capitalism, theyre just like us. They want cable TV and something to drive around in that doesnt require reins and a whip.

The next challenge facing automakers isnt how to design, build, market and sell Buicks and BMWs in China. Thats old news. Its how to satiate the need for basic transportation in these very, non-North American markets.

As Toyota continues on its quest for global automotive domination, theyve confirmed a super-inexpensive car as part of their plans. The car Toyota has targeted is the existing Renault/Dacia Logan, which starts at around $7,200.

But as an indication on how fast this trend is moving, BusinessWeek recently announced that Renault-Nissan is planning to build a car for under $3,100, perhaps as low as $2,600.

Other automakers with cheap wheel plans, like GM, Hyundai, Chery, Dacia, Fiat, Geely Nissan, Suzuki, Tata, and VW, show the increasing importance of this segment.

The report also says that if Western safety or emissions standards were applied to these cars, the price would rise to $6,200-7,300.

That may be about half the price of the cheapest basic transportation with four wheels you can buy here in Canada today.

But like the movies at your local cineplex, in the future you my have to dumb down your expectations just to get out of the house every once in a while in a cheap set of wheels.

- John LeBlanc, Publisher