On 9/5/05, Daniel P. B. Smith dpbsmith@verizon.net wrote:

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.htmhttp://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0501/14/B02-58761.htmwhich 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."

I would guess that either the Detroit News Auto Insider's sources aren't as reliable as thought, or that Toyota has reconsidered it's position given this year's steady and continuous rise in fuel prices.

The third possibility is an auto industry trick to get around (or at least ease or speed up the process of) NHTSA and EPA certification requirements. That is, keep the name around, and put it on either an all new vehicle, or one that has been completely redesigned. The crash test requirements in particular are much less onerous on returning models (even redesigned ones) than all new nameplates. Nissan did this more than once, first with their corporate name, from Datsun to Datsun Nissan (or was it Nissan Datsun?), then to just Nissan; then they did it with a car, the Stanza, which became the Stanza Altima before they later dropped the Stanza name.

On a related side note, I've been consistently dumbfounded by steady SUV and 4x4 truck sales as fuel prices rise, while fine smaller, more efficient cars like the Toyota Echo and my own car, the Ford Contour, are widely ignored by the public. Are we as a culture really that short-sighted? (I bought my car in the closeout year and got a great deal, primarily because I keep my cars for about 8-10 years and don't care at all about resale value.)