ode! year prompts predic

TOYOTA'S “super cute” new Echo (above) and Chrysier’s PT Cruiser won't be far behind tiie Volkswagen New

Beetle in the “sensation” stakes according to columnist Tony Whitney.

Toay Whitney
Contributing Writer

I often jokingly tell car
industry people that
one of the great things
about being an aute-
motive journalist is that
you can make all kinds
of wild pronounce-
ments about cars, vans
and. trucks without
having to answer to a
board of directors and
put your job on the
line.

Tve never met an automo-
tive journalist who didn‘:
know exactly haw the auto
industry should be run and
what XYZ Auto Corporation
should be doing to keep its
number-one spot for the next
fifty years.

Any auto scribe will be
able to tell you what the next
trend will be and like I said,
there will be no careers in tat-
ters if che predictions prove
wildly inaccurate.

So having taken a good
look at mast of the new
models for 2000 for various
features I’ve been pumping
into my Mac, here are some
of my predictions for che next
year or Dwo.

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Far from waning, the
sport utility Boon will con-
tinue for at least another four
or five years betore quieting
down a lide. There might
even be a couple of new
Aameplates to contend with
in the markerplace —- and
that doesn’t include BMW"s
upcoming sport ute.

First signs of change — if
change does, indeed, come
— will be a resurgence of
interest in station wagons,
something thar’s already
showing signs of happening.

Some automotive Visionar-
ies believe that the minivan
ruarket is set to change, but
my feeling is that they’re way
off the mark.

Nissan design guru Jerry
Hirshberg recently predicted
that North American families
may soon be demanding a
new kindof vehick: — some-
thing combining sedan |
styling with van-like cargo
capacity.

Hirshberg, one of the!

post ints: cresting. people in the

‘styling field I’ve met, believes

that a futuristic sedan he™
recently unveiled, dubbed
NCS or New Concept Sedan
(see Stary, page 41). will 7
attract people wko want an
exejting car but need lots of |
space.

T think that minivans will”
be with us for a very long.
time yer —~ they're just too :
practical to be pur aside
but variations on the theme
will certainly Pop up from.

time to time.

The VW New Beetle really ‘
started something. Next
semi-retro “sensation” wil! be
Cheysier’s PT Cruiser and = -
Toyota’s super-cute Hitele
Echo wan't be far behind. :

Watch for others to follow,
including more ofibeat prod-
ucts from VW. The auro-buy-
ing public has shown that it’s-
good and ready for some fun
cars and it’s my belief that
the auto industry will deliver.

Look for a trend towards ..-./

four-door sedans that look
like coupes. The concept
Dodge Charger R/T pulled
it off beautifully on the auto...
show circuit and Alfa
Rome's 156 with its hidden
rear door handles, already on
the streets in Europe, sets the
stage perfectly. Alia has no
plans to sell the car here,
though.

Expect full-size pickup
trucks to became more
refined. They already have
more tongh than most
users need and the next step
has to be to make them ride

and handle more like cars.

Volkswagen chief es
tive officer Ferdinand Pi
recently told me that his

See Pickups next puge