GM Wins Major Car Award (in Europe)

Oh, irony, are you always this delicious?

While American automakers face complete demolition and pundits everywhere scream about the terrible products coming out of Detroit, GM has managed to win the award for European Car of the Year.

The vehicle? The Opel Insignia. Opel is GM's European brand, and the Insignia is also sold under the Vauxhall brand in England. The four-door sedan has a 256-hp, 2.8-liter V-6 with a six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.

Ready for more? The runner-up for European Car of the Year, losing by only one vote, was another Detroit offspring: The Ford Fiesta.

Naturally, neither vehicle is available Stateside, but Ford has plans to bring the Fiesta to the U.S. by 2010, while the Insignia may someday be available in the U.S. as a rebadged Saturn Aura.

Both of these moves, however, do hinge upon important details: Ford and GM not going down in a catastrophic economic fireball, for starters.

European Car of the Year Goes to … General Motors (Wheels)

Comments

For me the decision to buy foreign cars has primarily come down to one thing - drivetrain. I ask you, why is it that my previous cars 1987 Honda Civic Si, 1993 Subaru Legacy & 2003 Subaru Baja all said to me (or still say in the case of the Baja) "C'mon mang, drive the crap outta me?" The Civic justifiably "died" with 225,000+ miles on it because the wiper stalk was too expensive to justify & the floorboards were rusting out. I traded the Legacy in @ 180,000+ miles and it still had life in it. My Baja's got 131,000 miles on it and I expect to choose to get rid of it as opposed to one day HAVING to get rid of it.

I say, if the Japanese and now the Koreans can build cars you can routinely drive "to the moon" why can't Detroit? Union costs might be greatly to blame for their woes but I don't think the Asian car makers are using some rarified materials recovered from Kal-El's escape pod. I think they intentionally built cars that a partiotic buyer would have to replace and it's biting them on the backside.

This is relevant to the story because no matter how many awards the Big 3 win, wherever they win them they've tainted themselves by building inferior quality/durability into their product - whether intentional or not.

if they only brought cars lookin this good to unied states!! oh well there loss!!

I'd buy one of these today... oh wait, I live in the US. Oh and Opel is the German company that GM supposedly owns. I'd be willing to bet money that things are far more lax at Opel with regards to design budgets. Let designers and engineers design cars, NOT ACCOUNTANTS!

Why can't we get this as the REAL Aura?

2.8 liter V6 producing over 250 horsepower? I'm guessing it's turbocharged or supercharged.

This award is just like Motor Trend Car of the Year - it's entirely irrelevant. People are no longer fooled by GM's advertising as they can't hide their low quality and boring designs. Can the 'revolutionary' Malibu dashboard be made of cheaper harder plastic?

As much as things change they actually stay the same. GM should go under for the betterment of the country.

Westphilly
There are plenty of people that can tell stories like that about their american cars. Anyone in my family can for that matter, about their import and domestic cars, we don't care where it came from.

Broq

Unless we all stop this American bashing in the US and start some more buying then several million taxpaying Amercians will be out of work when the Detroit 3 go belly up and that will hurt your neighbors, your fmaily, your beloved Subaru and Toyota and your local government that operates your schools.
I bet that just because you have a rusted out Honda that you drove until it stunk to high heaven does not mean that millions of other drivers also drove their Big 3 car way past 200,000 miles also and got rid of it because they wanted a newer car and not were as tightfisted as you seem to be Philly cheapskate

An 87000 mile Ford stalls every red light is reliable?

@MotorTrendYesUSA:
If you don't mind me asking, did you take your own advice and bought a domestic car recently to help out the Big 3?

LS: I did buy an American car, in April. It's a Focus. It replaced a 96 Escort that had been problem free till this year. That's 12 years.

That replaced an 87 Tempo that had been problem free for 9 years. That replaced a 78 Horizon; another 9 years of reliable car.

I also had an 87 E150 that I got rid of in 2004. It was fine. I just didn't need a truck anymore. Not one thing ever went wrong with that thing. I have many friends who are in the construction trades. Their experiences with American trucks are similar to mine, especially the Fords.

My other brother had a Crown Victoria for 20 years, while my sister, now 67, has owned 3 cars in her entire adult life, all Mercury Marquis.

Note a quote from the first American bashing post: "The Civic justifiably "died" with 225,000+ miles on it because the wiper stalk was too expensive to justify & the floorboards were rusting out." He then bought a 93 Subaru.

So this "superb" car was rusted out in 6 years.

Our 06 Corolla was recalled for faulty electric windows. There was that "inconvenient" problem with Tundras having their frames rust out in a few years - to the point of danger.

The simple fact is that ALL car brands can have problems. If Japanese brands are "perfect", why do their dealers have service departments?

It is simply "fashionable" to dump on American brands - all based on "I heard from someone who read about", with little ACTUAL experience if long term use of the American brands,

Maxwell,
As a retired Ford mechanic I can testify that there is no such thing as a 100% reliable Tempo. The car was designed and built with defects that no Tempo owner could avoid if they kept the car for more than 25,000 miles. I admire your willingness to support the American automobile companies however I am saddened that you would lie in order to do such.

I owned a Tempo that went 123K without any major repairs before I got rid of it for something new. It wasn't the nicest car, but it was pretty cheap. You sure you were a Ford mechanic? Or were you one of the reasons people don't like going to the american car dealerships anymore? Look, there is no flat answer that all american cars are bad and foreign ones are good, despite what all brother's, mother's, and cousin's personal experience might say. The car shown above sure looks good and only time would tell if it lasts.

Charlie R: There was nothing wrong with my Tempo. It had one repair in it's life. It would die at idle and require a restart. The problem started about 1992 and got fixed. That's it.

One of my neighbors also had one of the same vintage. He still had the thing into about 2001.

what does Ford have 2 do with GM? NOTHING! Car & Driver says this may come 2 USA as a Pontiac & maybe not as a Saturn?!

Ouch!

1. Broq - Yes, there are also stories of American cars with a billion miles on them for sure. Try this. When first researching for used cars (here on cars.com), I noticed an interesting trend. Search the inventory and see how many cars of a given make & model have 100,000+ or better yet, 125,000+ miles on them. Then consider the volume of those cars sold in the US and that will tell you whose cars really last. I found that the Big 3 showed rather poorly - relatively speaking. I know how well an owner treats their car has a lot to do with longevity but the numbers don't lie and WE aren't producing the strongest products.

2. MotorTrendYesUSA - I don't think I'm bashing them if they are selling inferior quality products. Plus buying an American car that you know won't last as long as as an import strictly because it's American is just as patriotic as say, paying higher taxes just because you're rich and "can afford to," no? ;oP Seriously, though, you say "cheapskate," I say practical, smart shopper who buys what I love and loves what I buy. My Subaru - built in Indiana - is relaible, comfortable and instills a feeling of won't-leave-me-strandedness in the worst conditions. I COULD replace it with something newer I choose not to, I'm not cheap, I'm in a cult! I should say I do also own a 2007 Hyundai Accent 3-door (commuter car) and we'll see what kind of reliability I get.

3. maxwell - the "superb" Honda Civic rusted out and justifiably died . . . wait for it . . . LAST YEAR. I bought it used with about 200k on it as a commuter car and was able to get two years and about 25,000 miles out of it. The reapir costs for our state inspection just weren't justifiable but the engine & tranny were ready for more. As for the '93 Subaru I bought that used in say 2000 or so with just over 100,000 miles on it and traded it in on my NEW '03 Subaru Baja. Interesting you'd point to Toyota as an example of an import with issues because I've been reading about them lately; the numbers don't lie and their quality is waning. We'll see how long they wait to address it. I'm guessing it won't take a generation.

And yes, of course all brands of every kind of product will have defects and naturally the more product you produce the number of defects will increase but hopefully not %. The numbers don't lie and it's not in the public's imagination that we've been outproduced for a long time and time's running out.

If you think I WANT our car companies to sell inferior products & die you're wrong. I WANT them to succeed. In fact, EVERY time I buy another car I consider buying American but in the end quality and reputation win out. As a matter of fact when I bought my '03 Baja I was also considering the Dodge Magnum (I believe it had AWD option). I decided against the Magnum because I didn't want to get a Dodge in it's first model year. Ironically the '03 Baja was in its first year too but it was really a modified Outback and a Subaru so I was willing to roll the dice. I won. It won't last forever and could break down as soon as I hit "Post" but the reality is this: I have no reason to expect that it will and I'm not sure the average Dodge Magnum owner car say the same.

somebody has 2 much time on their hands!!!

Heeheehee l'il bit. No, not too much free time really. This is what relaxing looks like for me and I happen to think people's opinions on the survival of one of our most important industries are pretty interesting - even yours, um would be. I've been watching the auto industry in general & this Big 3 freight train coming for some time so sorry [anonymous] if I'm a little into the discussion.

It's just my two - or perhaps ten - cents. Know what I mean Vern?