Simplify, Simplify: There's Still a Market for Basic Cars
For the most part, automakers are engaged in something of an arms race to cram more technology into vehicles. Cars that park themselves are a precursor to cars that eventually drive themselves. More intelligent cars will soon be able to communicate with each other about traffic, road conditions, weather, etc. But even as this transformation is taking place, automakers recognize that some buyers don't want all that fabulous advancement. They want a simple car.
Think of bikes and motorcycles
This trend reminds me of what's been happening in the cycling and motorbiking worlds. I just spent a week in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where the ratio of fixed-speed bikes to inhabitants is at least 4-to-1. "Fixies" are the simplest form of cycle, a reaction to 21-speed mountain bikes and road bikes constructed from exotic, expensive alloys. But they get the job done, and speak to the hearts of cycling purists. Those purists also seem to like full beards and skinny jeans, but that's another story.
Motorcycle manufacturers are also offering more superficially basic machines: "standard" or "naked" bikes that evoke Triumphs from the 1960s and early Japanese arrivals. These haven't displaced street-legal copies of racing bikes or hulking, Harley-Davidson-type cruisers. But they are fulfilling the needs of a buyership that wants more basic, two-wheeled mobility.
The Miata goes back to the future
On the car front, Mazda has asked its engineers to put the legendary Miata MX-5 roadster on a diet. Over the years that the popular car has been in production, it's gained a lot of weight, gradually losing its connection with the sprightly British roadsters that were its inspiration.
There's doubt that the next-generation Miata will tip the scales at under 2,000 lbs. But it's encouraging to see Mazda attempting to restore what's special about the car: the simple joy of dropping the top and zipping around with the wind in your hair.
Simple mobility is what the rest of the world craves
It may be tough to get American and even Europeans to abandon their love of power windows, entertainment systems, and abundant safety features. But simple, inexpensive cars are what much of the rest of the globe requires. Remember, we're dealing with places where the bulk of the population either walks or rides a bike or scooter. If it has four wheels and a roof, it's an improvement.
What might be considered niche in the developed world is mass-market for India and China. General Motors (GM), for example, is creating a basic, low-cost new brand that it plans to manufacture and sell through an existing Chinese joint venture. The vehicles will cost much less than $10,000 and be marketed outside the big cities, where GM does a better business with near-luxury Buicks.
What are the chances we'll see there cars in the USA?
The cars sold in the U.S. had become fairly ornate affairs when, back in the late 1950s, the iconic (and incredibly simple and cheap) Volkswagen Beetle showed up. It tapped a need for basic, somewhat stylish mobility and, over the decades, sold the millions.
Nowadays, however, extreme simplicity is a harder sell. You're unlikely to see the fixed-speed bike version of a basic car -- at least from established Western carmakers. Consumers have come to expect upmarket features in their downmarket rides.
That said, there will always be consumers who simply want a simple car. The automakers would be wise to keep that in the back of their minds. Otherwise, they'll be surprised when this often hidden innovation takes off -- if it ever does in a big way.
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons