By now, there's probably not even a single avid Internet user who is not familiar with the way 2009 has wiped the floor with most carmakers and pretty much everything related to the auto industry. The on-going economic crisis, coupled with a massive change in car buyers' habits and bad management have taken their toll on two giant US car-companies, crippled a bunch of other foreign ones and in the end left a lot of people bitter and/or out of work. Quite a bummer, actually.
Well, pessimistic car fans need not to worry about 2010, since more than just a couple of automotive comebacks are expected the following period. Whether they will become reality until the end of the year or will just remain my wishful thinking remains to be seen. Either way, I've compiled a fictional list of upcoming events that will hopefully upgrade itself from just a fantasy to a downright prophecy. We'll just see how it goes twelve months from now, but I'm keeping my hopes up.
Chevrolet Volt
The Volt isn't exactly a comeback per se, but more like a contemporary sequel for the prematurely defunct GM EV1 project. It was supposed to cost about 30,000 US dollars. It will cost at least forty large ones (minus the 7,500 dollar tax credit as specified in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008). It was supposed to arrive at the end of 2009. Plans mildly changed and the latest official declarations about this subject say that the Volt will reach US showrooms at the end of 2010. It was supposed to be the car that will put GM on the map again. It might, but competition is much more fierce when you're trying to get back on your feet after falling down (which I guess we all agree it's General Motors' case).
Chrysler 300
Back in 2004, the Chrysler 300 C was taking the United States by storm. It was the first American mainstream sedan with rear-wheel drive since the middle of the 1990s, when pretty much all US-bound car manufacturers began to gradually switch to front wheel drive. Praised by all automotive media outlets at its launch, the 300 C is to be replaced by a new generation sometime in 2010. The only problem which might surmount with this plan is that Chrysler's new "Capo", Fiat's Sergio Marchionne, has apparently sent the final sketches of the car back to the drawing board in order to a create a more "distinctive" look. Even so, at least a production-ready preview of the new 300 should arrive this year, just in time to increase consumer trust in the recently reborn-from-ashes-Chrysler.
Volkswagen New Beetle
The New Beetle has been in continuous production without any major modifications for over ten years now. Sure, that's mighty far from the 65 year lifespan of the original Beetle, but it's still a high number for a modern car's life cycle. Well, rumors upon rumors have begun suggesting that Volkswagen is preparing a near-production concept car for the second generation (or the third, if you count the original Bug) of the Beetle. It should be unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show at the earliest, or the 2010 Paris Auto Show at the latest.
If it's going to be shown this year at all, that is...
Toyota AE86
Yes, it will have a new name (
FT86, ed). Yes, it will sport a Boxer engine instead of an inline four. Yes, it will be mostly a Subaru in disguise, featuring Toyota badges. Who actually gives a rat's ass about these details anyway? The little
Hachi-Roku is back in 2010! Or at least that's what they say. With styling derived from the FT86 concept car, the new reiteration of the famous 1980s drifter is expected by so many fans you'd might as well call it a Messiah of the car world. Let's hope it will not disappoint.
Gran Turismo 5
Yeah, I know, it's just a game for some. For others, it's the perfect excuse to spend at least two or three grand on a Playstation 3, a decent HD TV, a top-of-the-range gaming steering wheel and take two weeks off work in order to become catatonic from overdosing on the so-called game. After neverending delays, it was finally announced that Gran Turismo 5 will arrive in Japanese stores in March of this year, while most of the rest of the world will have to probably wait for a summer, autumn, or winter release. Or a 2011 release. Or
maybe Kazunori Yamauchi will start receiving death threats from hardcore Gran Turismo fans who might have already gone postal by then. Either way, GT 5 is coming, eventually.
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