Back in June, I complained that a little particle of misinformation
from Wikipedia had gotten lodged in my brain, and might potentially
have affected my car-purchasing decision. Specifically, I was
referring to an article that characterized the Toyota Echo, as a
"flop" in the U.S. whose sales had tanked in 2004 and was due to be
discontinued--despite continuing success in many other countries,
including Canada.
I challenged this, and Michael Turley responded that "The Echo is a
failure, and is being discontinued." He referenced http://
www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0501/14/B02-58761.htm which indeed
says "Toyota to pull compact Echo from lineup in '06"
Yet I just got my October 2005 copy of Consumer Reports, and right
there on page 14 the Toyota Echo is billed among the "New and
Notable: Cars to Watch in 2006-2007." They say "It should continue as
a fuel-efficient small car... Small cars often grow with redesigns so
you may see a longer, wider Echo and possibly a hatchback version."
So, just what's going on? I'm not really complaining about Wikipedia
here, since what it says is backed up by "The Detroit News Auto
Insider," but if the Echo is being replaced by an improved Echo--
that's not exactly my idea of a "flop" that's been
"discontinued."
By that measure, every refreshing of a car model line could be
described as a "flop."
--
Daniel P. B. Smith, dpbsmith(a)verizon.net
"Elinor Goulding Smith's Great Big Messy Book" is now back in print!
Sample chapter at
http://world.std.com/~dpbsmith/messy.html
Buy it at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1403314063/