Originally Posted by Penforhire,Jul 14 2006, 06:21 PM

Work on lowering the cost of forced induction, probably turbos, so it can be used more widely.

Originally Posted by protokultur,Jul 14 2006, 08:26 PM

What are you, a woman? There are 10 billion luxury sports convertibles on the market already, but precious few hardcore roadsters. If you were 'running the show', wouldn't your ambitions stretch far beyond the current horizons?

In my version of reality:

Honda would strike a deal with GM to make the S2000 with an LS2, and properly call it the S6000. The USDM-only Honda S7200 type R would have an LS7. The original S2k shifter and other interior fitments would be perfectly retained, but add the Corvette HUD. They would bring back the CRX in an Si and HX version, and drop the butt ass ugly Element.

Porsche would drop the 'base' GT3 and return the more basic Carrera RS to their lineup with fewer options and no possibility of a sunroof. The GT3 RS and RSR would remain available to those who can withstand the ride on public roads.

GM would consolidate GMC and Chevy trucks, Pontiac and Chevy cars, and drop Buick, retaining Cadillac as a premier marque with an additional lower tier selling the most successful Buick as a Caddy. All trucks and SUVs would be sold as Chevrolets. The ownership stakes in the three dozen other companies that GM owns stock in would be liquidated. Cadillac would re-introduce the classic Fleetwood Brougham and make it just as it did in the 70's-'80s. Just because, since I am running the show after all.

Toyota would market a mid-engined version of its Yaris hatchback with the 2JZ-derived powerplant. They would also sell the diesel Yaris stateside (duh!). All the rest of Toyota's lineup would be dropped - too boring. Instead of making cars, the remaining engineering excellence of Toyota would be directed toward making a reliable x86 based operating system and web browser.

VW management would collapse into a black hole of punitive white liberal guilt, redistributing the assets of the VW group (and IKEA too) evenly amongst the poorest 25% of the world population.

BMW, Audi, MB, and dunno, maybe Volvo too would merge and form a multilateral concern called YuppieCar, offering a 2-ton luxury CVT hybrid made from 99% cruelty free recycled and reclaimed materials, and a few models of AMGs, but with manual transmissions only.

Ford group and the newly freed Chrysler would fold and their North American employees would go to work making consumer electronics products or anything else more modern than cars.

Originally Posted by Slamnasty,Jul 19 2006, 08:29 AM

I don't think any one person can call the shots at a car company anymore. There are too many stakeholders and too many alliances that would prevent it from happening. Steve Jobs is a bit of the exception to this rule, but then again he doesn't build cars, and really all the design and product work is done by other people, and Steve sells it to the public.

I think the question would be more accurate to the answers given so far if it were phrased like this: "If you had monarchal control over an automobile company, the ability to dictate what it built and sold in every way, without any pressures against your decision, what would you do?"

Another way of phrasing it could be: "If you lived on the 17th plane of existence in the transdimensional universe, what would your car company be like?"