^ same with most pickup owners too. Still better to have the capability and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Not necessarily. What I haul most is people. If I need to haul more people or stuff, that's what my minivan is for. My car is usually just me on a daily basis. And if I need more capacity, I have a brother and a father with pickup trucks. For me, the best solution for my needs was a sedan.
My theory is that automakers are trying to push sedans since its the least common denominator, and most people can live with them. It takes the least amount of effort to design one that people will actually accept.
And yet there are plenty of sedans that don't sell as well as others. My theory is that they design and sell sedans because, overall, that's what consumers are buying.
Sedans only really appeal to non car people...I see them not even as cars but appliances...transportation devices, if you will.
I don't consider myself a "non-car person", and yet my sedan appeals to me - even after 14 years. Many consumers view cars as appliances, regardless of the body style.
To pay a little higher insurance, to get less mpg, to deal with a little less convenience, and to be a little less comfortable while you drive is a small price to pay for an enthusiast who loves his/her car.
Or, one can find a car they really like, pay less money for insurance, get acceptable MPG, not give up any convenience, and be comfortable while they drive - which is what I did. Not sure why some folks think that someone that drives a sedan isn't an enthusiast or a "car person." Like driving their choice of car is a death sentence or something.
The trouble in America is that most people dont love cars or driving...theyd rather wallow down the boulvard in a softly sprung blob of a car while texting and sucking down Starbucks coffee rather than have an exhilarating romp in a performance car. Its just sad, really.
Can only speak for myself. I'm not most people, I don't text or drink absurdly expensive coffee while I drive, and I've had plenty of exhilarating romps in my decidedly non-performance car. What's sad to me is how many folks write some cars off because the numbers on paper aren't that much, it has too many doors, and they never put their butts in the seat to experience it for themselves.
And I can understand that, totally. But the Magnum DID have a sedan equivalent, it was the 300. The outer body panels are mostly very similar. The Charger is the one thats significantly different, yet all 3 and the Chally are on the same platform. Killing the Magnum was idiotic, the excuse was that it wasnt selling. That was a load of crap, it just wasnt selling quite as much as the charger/300 but it was definitely profitable. Now that there are vague plans of a more car-like Dakota replacement, an ElCamino-ish version of the Magnum would make total sense. It would be capable of decent load carrying, good mpgs, and with Hemi and awd capability already on the parts shelf they couldnt lose.
Once the Charged debuted, Magnum sales tanked. It became a niche piece, and for Challenger to live Magnum had to die.
Your "ElMagnum-ino" would likely cost at least as much to bring to market as the Challenger itself did - and I don't think it would have sold any better than the Magnum itself. Too many compromises, and I would imaging one could likely get a Ram 1500 Express for the same or less money with the same or better capabilities - pretty much why the Dakota wasn't doing all that well any more.
And I won't be surprised if the red one grows a set of rear doors.
