It’s amazing how many F-150s Ford sells, and how many Camry’s Toyota sells — and how little coverage they get. You would think that the bread-and-butter heart of the auto market would get the utmost scrutiny, not the rarified air of super-cardom (although, they become more populated with more players as the days roll on it seems). But maybe it’s because of the fact that pickup trucks and family sedans are just that: They are white bread; plain, boring and often aptly called appliances instead of autos.
Fine, I’ll concede that the light-duty pickup market has been in the media’s crosshairs as of late because of key introductions like the mainstay Silverado and rebellious Tundra, but how big of a deal was made when the GMT800s came out? Or even this generation of F-150?
Then we come to the real cars at the heart of the market, the mid-sized family sedan. Camry. Accord. Taurus. Altima. These are the names that top the list, selling well in excess of at least 500,000 units in a year. Maybe they just need a little love from those who sway opinion. Yes, year-after-year these cars are “best picks,” “top picks,” and favorites among testers like Edmunds and Consumer Reports. But my question is this: When have you ever heard Csaba Csere or Jean Jennings drooling over a Camry or an Accord?
Maybe I’m the one who’s wrong here; maybe these cars aren’t supposed to evoke any kind of emotion, and they’re supposed to just be another household appliance. Well, if that’s the case, then they make damn good appliances.