Car wars: the empires strike out

By Alastair Sloane

Jac Nasser likes the American Lincoln LS sports sedan so much he is building it in right-hand drive and selling it in Japan.

He unveiled the Japanese model at a press preview of the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public in Japan today.

That the Lincoln LS will turn up in New Zealand as a used import is pretty much cut and dried. That it might turn up new in Ford showrooms here isn't. Not yet anyway. But it certainly will become clearer as carmakers change they way they present their products.

Leading the way is Ford and Nasser, its Australian-born president who will steer the carmaker into the 21st century, pushing plans to buy up more brands and - important this - display them to Ford's best advantage.

The way cars are being sold is changing daily. Korean carmaker Daewoo sells direct, without investing heavily in dealerships.

Other, more mainstream carmakers pour money into smart dealer showrooms and on- and off-site services aimed at keeping the customer satisfied.

But carmakers themselves are going to change the way customers see them. The five or so - General Motors, Ford, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, and Volkswagen - who will dominate the industry once takeovers are wrapped up will make their products more visible, not just through dealer networks but in purpose-built, multi-model showrooms.

Ford, for instance, is buying up all sorts of badges. And it wants the buying public to know that it doesn't just make America's most popular pickup truck, but that it owns classy Europeans Aston Martin, Jaguar and Volvo.

DaimlerChrysler, too, wants everyone to know it has the best car in the world, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and the rough-and-tumble Jeep, which spawned the off-road industry.

Both carmakers will ultimately house their products under one roof, a mini motor show where buyers - and tyre-kickers - will be able to browse without the presence of salespeople and, once they have pretty much decided on a vehicle, head to a dealer's to test-drive it and fill in the forms.

DaimlerChrysler already is planning a similar showroom in its new headquarters in Mt Wellington, Auckland.

But Ford, popular make that it is, might have two such showrooms in a city the size of Auckland, both housing Ford, Mazda, Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin and right-hand-drive Lincolns.

It might have more models, too, if motoring industry analyst John Mellor is right. Mellor, who conducts industry seminars in New Zealand, wrote in Australian Automotive Business that if Ford buys BMW ("and do not for a moment rule out that possibility"), added to the Ford showroom will be BMW, Rover, Land Rover, Range Rover, MG, Mini and Rolls-Royce. "Maybe one day you could add Kia and even Hyundai."

A DaimlerChrysler showroom would contain Mercedes-Benz, Smart, McLaren, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep - "and if the rumours are correct, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Ferrari and Maserati. Maybe Mitsubishi as well."

A General Motors showroom would have Holden, rebadged Opel, Isuzu, Suzuki, and right-hand-drive products from America, like the Suburban, Corvette and Comaro.

A Volkswagen showroom would contain Bugatti and Bentley, Skoda and Seat, perhaps even some of the other niche brands above, because cash-rich VW has said it wants more brands.

"Experience shows that a mega-showroom, which provides visitors with a motor-show-like experience, will attract more people compared with today's conventional dealer showroom," said Mellor.

Mitsubishi, meanwhile, is this week occupied more with petrol/electric hybrid models than takeovers. It will take the covers off its radar-controlled SUW Advance (Smart Utility Wagon) in Tokyo today.

The four-door/five-seater concept is powered by a 1.5-litre direct-injection petrol engine together with a electric motor and generator, lithium-ion batteries and a continuously viable transmission. Mitsubishi says the SUW can cover 100km on 4.5 litres of fuel.

For normal running the vehicle is powered by the electric motor drawing on batteries. When more power is needed the petrol engine cuts in. Energy created when the driver applies the SUW's brakes is also stored in the batteries. Toyota's Prius - being tested in Auckland now - works the same way.

While Nasser talked about the Lincoln LS at Tokyo, his design chief J Mays pushed the fortunes of the 021C concept car, penned by Marc Newson and built around elements of Ford's next-generation small car platform.