Shite cars: is the end nigh?

[Owain71]

According to this Saturday's Telegraph motoring section...

 

"MG sales are down 70% compared to last year"

 

"Perodua is down 36% since last year"

 

"...Ssangyong's UK sales have dropped by 34% YOY"

 

and last but not least:

 

"Proton, however, will be looking on enviously. According to the SMMT's official figures, it hasn't sold a single car since April and a mere 15 have gone to new owners so far this year."

 

I expect the arrival of the MG3 will help reverse the trend at MG; despite the Myvi now being the sole survivor of the Sirion-Justy-Myvi trilogy, Perodua sales are probably down due to their customers shuffling off this mortal coil, and Ssangyong appear to have forgotten what marketing is.

 

But what's with Proton? Is it because they're running down stock of their current range to make room for the "new products coming soon" that are pictured on their website (however they also appear to have forgoten what marketing is, as you can't actually find out any information on their homepage)?

 

 

(Always thought the Savvy looks ace, solid-gold guaranteed future shite)

 

 

[londonm]

Can't say the MG figures surprise me.

[vulgalour]

Wasn't there some sort of ban on Proton for selling too many cars or something?  I'm sure I read something like that on here somewhere.  I could have imagined it, I'm always doing that.

[Pillock]

MG sales?

Are those things for sale?

I thought they were just a mobile advertising hoarding. Almost every one I've seen has been plastered with vinyl stickers offering -25% APR and a free fridge-freezer with every car.

[Jim Bergerac]

MG sold (by which I mean gave) most of their cars to Avis last year, so no wonder their sales have dropped off a cliff,

 

Perodua, I've been told, have pulled out of the UK and have registered all stock, not sure if that is true or not though.

 

Roll on the Proton Preve.

[Cavcraft]

That MG small car thing doesn't look too bad from 20 yards, saw one yesterday outside a dealers. I expect values will plummet quicker than a greased anvil thrown off a mountain top though.

[Station]

If daihatsu left the UK then I reckon perodua won't be far behind. I wish kia and Hyundai would F.O though. I actually liked daihatsu and Proton

[mercrocker]

Isnt the reason we persist with our shite that we no longer have to giveafuk about the future?   Shite never dies it just  gets recycled!   And, Station, I too will never miss the dog-eaters....

[rml2345]

I'm pretty sure most manufacturers are currently producing futureshite in one form or another, not just the Koreans/Malaysians/Chinese. 

It would be a shame to see Proton leave but we haven't finished saving all the J-reg ones yet, so the modern kind will have to wait. 

[garbaldy]

. I wish kia and Hyundai would F.O though.

 

 

I read a reliability survey carried out by some acac or something like that,  listed cars in order of breakdowns and bottom of the chart was the kia hyundia twins,   surprised me as surely they wouldn't offer such long warranty's if they where shite.

[For Fiats Sake]

I read a reliability survey carried out by some acac or something like that,  listed cars in order of breakdowns and bottom of the chart was the kia hyundia twins,   surprised me as surely they wouldn't offer such long warranty's if they where shite.

 

Yup I think their long warranties are a double bluff as to their true reliability.  The pre-reg i20 I had needed a new computer fitting after failing twice - they nicely scratched up the dash changing it too - and exterior trim had to be reglued once then replaced with new parts when that didn't take.  Niggly items but effects their ratings on these surveys.  To their credit they never quibbled about doing the work.

[Junkman]

I don't even know where the next MG dealership is located and frankly, now I don't give a shit (read on).

The next Perodua dealer is somewhere in the Twilight Zone, Ssangyong in a no-go-area, same as Proton.

So it's little wonder why I never see such exotic stuff around here.

I mean, I would make an effort to even go to these godforsaken places, if this would be in any way rewarded, however, this is not the case.

 

I herewith - for the first time in probably 15 years - actually visited the websites of new car sellers and found the following:

 

- Ssangyong doesn't make any cars.

- From the Perodua website I can't gather much, but is the Myvi the only thing they offer?

- Proton makes something at least remotely resembling a car, the Gen2 or some such (the moniker somehow makes me think of an inbred), but it's as nondescript as everything else in its class today, so why should I bother?

- MG makes a Proton Gen2.

 

All the vehicles I saw on the above mentioned four websites (and pretty much all ground transport devices for personal use I see on the roads today) may have their target groups, however, I neither can identify them, nor do I belong in one of them.

The car, as such, is dead. And it has been since 1986. Unless someone really can deliver arguments that convince me otherwise, of course. I mean just a car, for fuggs sake. Something that has an engine up front, a fuggin passenger compartment in the middle and a boot out back. Just a fuggin car, come on! Just something that isn't shorter, wider, higher, faster, slower, or fugg knows what else than a fuggin car used to be. Apparently, that's too fuggin much to ask nowadays.

 

I think we have to get used to the idea that Autoshite was a chapter in automotive history that's closed forever.

I mean, even if I give the above mentioned a second glance, I don't see them as outstandlingly different from the mainstream stuff as the Shite of yore was. I mean, you never really blended into traffic with a Lada or a Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon, but with this new stuff, you hardly stand out.

Proper cars are obviously a thing of the past and it's been so long since the last ones were made, that the remaining examples quickly leave Autoshite territory to become coveted classics. My opinion is that we can now enjoy the last heydays of Autoshitism and the times this will be over once and for all are approaching fast.

[Richard]

The MG dealer in Stoke felt the need to tweet when they managed to shift an MG3 (not the one in the picture).

 

 

[Micrashed]

Im waiting on the Indians and the Chinese to start storming the UK car market in the way the Koreans and Malaysians did a few years back.

[Novanick1]

i really like the look of that new proton. bring it on!

[Owain71]

The MG dealer in Stoke felt the need to tweet when they managed to shift an MG3 (not the one in the picture).

 

 

 

Clearly this particular Bank of Mum & Dad doesn't have a manager, or they wouldn't pi**ing Granny's inheritance into such a financial black hole...

[RedSparrow]

They may as well have 'I know nothing about cars' tattooed on their foreheads.

 

Should've at least waited til they inevitably drop the prices a bit.

[Rocket88]

Out of interest, is the drivetrain on "new" MG range all Chinese sourced, or is it pinched from another mainstream manufacturer? If the Chinese have designed and built it, with Chinese built components, I wouldn't be too optimistic about it's long term reliability

[RedSparrow]

It's all new but apparently 'developed' in the UK.

[oman5]

Don't panic! whilst Proton and Perodua may be absent, Dacia is there to pick up the baton. with the added bonus that they are actually pretty good

[Partridge]

Clearly this particular Bank of Mum & Dad doesn't have a manager, or they wouldn't pi**ing Granny's inheritance into such a financial black hole...

Or maybe he went to work and earned the money himself and fancied an MG3?

[Partridge]

But, I think there's plenty of future shite around. Imagine a Kia Picanto or Optima, or Huuuuuaanndaiii i10 or i30 in twenty years time?

[Junkman]

But, I think there's plenty of future shite around. Imagine a Kia Picanto or Optima, or Huuuuuaanndaiii i10 or i30 in twenty years time?

Imagine a Hyundai Pony in twenty years time.

[chaseracer]

'Josh' looks well thrilled at his 'luck'...

[Junkman]

Looks like he's playing pocket-billard. I actually didn't want to say it, but that was the first impression I had when I saw the pic.

For decades I have assumed that that's the favourite sport of MG owners anyway. There. I said it.

[Partridge]

Playing hide the sausage with Mum and Dad. How disturbing.

I imagine a Hyundai Pony in 20 years time will be on display at GoodWood, maybe even racing with other classic shite in the St.Cavette Trophy.

[gary_davidson]

I quite like my Kia Rio, I've done nearly 70k in 4 years without any real issue, it did once fail to start first time but that's about it.

 

It could be on it's way soon, I'll chuck a thread up about it later.

[forddeliveryboy]

Playing hide the sausage with Mum and Dad. How disturbing.

I imagine a Hyundai Pony in 20 years time will be on display at GoodWood, maybe even racing with other classic shite in the St.Cavette Trophy.

 

More like 205GTis, BMW 5s and early Discoveries and Range Rovers. They'll be towed in by transport firms who have licences to use volatile liquid fuels in amounts over 20 litres, then a little petrol/diesel squirted into the tank to allow them to run for a few minutes for special occasions. Driving a tank of petrol around on the public road will require a special licence. Same for diesel.

[dollywobbler]

Don't joke about it. The Lib Dems seem to think that is the future. In cities at least. Quite how you replace the internal combustion engine out in the sticks remains more of a problem, which they at least accept.

[Partridge]

Good luck enforcing that one out of the cities anyway.