OVERDRIVE

PICK UP a piece of paper, and
write down 40 of your favorite
foods, movies, cars, books, music,
whatever.

Now do the same thing, but this
time try to guess what you will
like four or five years from now
on.

For some of you, this might be
easy — for others, this will be
impossible.

It’s bad encugh trying to guess
what your taste buds are going to
be four years down the road, can
you imagine even attempting to
predict someone else’s future in-
terest?

This is exactly what the market-
ing people and designers have to
do in the automotive industry.
Since many models are completely
made over. every four to five
years, they have to be able to
predict what the general popula-
tion will Jike in the various market
segments years before the actual
introduction. ;

Right now, the designers and
product plinpers are working on
designs and features of the cars
for the years 1997 to 2000.

The product planners, who
must define the basic charac-
teristics and attributes of the next
generation models, have to base
their decision on such factors as
fashion trends, government regu-
lations, future gasoline prices, ex-
isting customer base, and potential
technology available in the fate
"90s,

Engineers and designers have to
give input right from the begin-
ning, too, so that the marketing
group can be advised on the up-
coming technical and design
trends.

Among the planners and de-
signers, there are often ‘‘disputes”’
on how much the design should
change on a particular model. in
some cases the designers win, and
tadical designs appear in the mar-
ket. Other times the planners win,
and more conservative designs
might debut.

In any case, no one knows for
sure how the market wil! react to
the new model until it actually hits
the showrooms.

When the fourth-generaticn
Honda Accord was introduced in
the fall of 1989, many so-called
automotive experts criticized the
new Accord’s design because it
appeared tu have hardly changed
in style from. the previous model.

. The industry critics thought that

“ the buyers would have preferred:a

rnore dramatic change to go along
with the fresh engineering work

, beneath the skin.

Except for last year, this ‘‘con-
servative’ Honda Accord outsold
every other car in North America
since its introduction in ’89.

it mode! hard to create

So much for the planners’
“mistake.

Ford had a similar experience
with the Taurus

When it received a re-skinning
job for the '92 model year, the
critics cried, ‘‘Come on Ford! The
car looks just like the °91 model,
it’s boring!”*

Boring or not, it beat the Hon-
da Accord last year to become the
No. (-selling car in’ North
America,

Chevrolet, on the other hand,

‘decided to let the designers lose

and took a more liberal approach
when the time came to make over
the bread-and-butter Caprice for
the ’91 model year.

Given more freedom, the de-
signers came up with an un-

. conventional style that ,certainly

made the new Caprice stand out
among the more conservative
full-sized cars. The very soft ap-
pearance, along with the partially
covered rear wheel wells, was too
different and odd for many
buyers, resulting in a dismal sales
record.

Hoping to increase consumer
acceptance, Chevrolet redesigned
the rear area of the Caprice for
°93 (the rear. wheel wells are just
like the regular cars now) to make
it look more like a typical four-
door sedan.

Chevrolet's other disappoint-

See Good page 35

THE MANLY SORT

I know that | am not the perfect muther, But
I've always ensured that my son (Jan who will be 2
ears old on March 10) has been well-turned aut,

In fact wearing nice hats has become a son of

trade mark for him.

His favourite hat is much more functional than
anything I've ever purchased for him — his father's
Tilley hat. Since [ give into his every whim, he
wears it quite a bit. And why not, | ask you? He
fooks pretty darn cute (in a manly sort of way) in it,

Here's proof.
Lesley Stodart

Don Mills, Ontario

Thanks, Mrs. Stodart.

rie

Alex Tilley

+ a Inc.. Barbara and John Tilley. independent retoilers. |

North Vancouver
#1194 Marine near Pemberton
987-6424

Vancouver
1537 Broadway near Granville
732-4287 :

thryv Satu

It brings out the best

mall of us.

Gm United Wau

ofthe Lower Mainland