Every once in a while your favorite automakers try to do hot takes. I think pickup trucks are better than luxury cars, Thomas thinks the Mazda RX-8 is what everyone wanted in the Honda S2000, and David thinks timing belts are unreliable. Matt took a swing this morning by calling Tesla a legacy automaker. Here’s his logic:
Why? Because “legacy” was a term practically invented to pit Elon Musk’s Tesla against old car companies like Ford, GM, and Volkswagen. It was, more than anything, a bit of a ‘pejorative’ that implied that those automakers weren’t capable of catching up with Tesla by building a product as good or desirable. But now it’s Tesla that’s on its back foot in China as it faces competition from companies building more interesting products — ones that outprice Tesla and even offer free self-driving that’s built specifically for the market. In a younger market like China, Tesla is definitely a “legacy” automaker.
Sure, that’s fine and all, but we all know who the real Legacy automaker is. Take it away, ExAutoJourno!:
I would say Subaru is a Legacy automaker.
Honorable mentions to Fratzog:
Nissan is too, but i fear they’ve gone Rouge, and Datsun has set on them as a brand. Kinda sad that this is their Altimate fate
And Nlpnt:
Honda was willing to do their Civic duty and merge with them even if it wasn’t a good Fit, but the couldn’t reach an Accord.
Today, Jason wrote a Cold Start asking for more information about a sweet Volkswagen Beetle-based truck that he found in Denver. I have good news, Jason, Rusty S Trusty has the goods!
Found it!: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=713228
Today, Jason also wrote about one modern car feature that is pretty great, and it’s the kick-to-open tailgate. Well, there’s one small hilarious caveat, from Groover:
My MINI Countryman has this feature, and I love it with one caveat:
One option that the Countryman had is the Picnic Bench – probably a dealer-install accessory – is a little cushion/bench which goes over the bumper to provide a soft, comfortable place to sit and ponder your life’s choices. It’s great – as long as you don’t swing your feet beneath the bumper – in which case, the hatch will close upon your head and your happy little picnic bench dreams.
I shouldn’t be laughing so hard right now. Have a great weekend, everyone!
It’s a little known fact that the cosmetics division of Nissan is what’s been keeping them afloat the last few years.
That’s why I think Honda made a mistake. because they have a great foundation to build on.