Jumping the gun, gunning the engines

[zoethe]

I get that new car models come out halfway through the year preceeding their model number - the 2006 cars have been available since last summer.

But the 2007 Chevy Tahoe becomes available on January 10. Of 2006. WTF? '06 will still be a newborn year, less than two weeks old, when 2007 starts breathing down its neck. Buy it on the first day, and you could sell a one-year-old car next december whose model year hadn't even arrived yet!

Why should the ridiculousness stop there? I think Ford should release the 2008 Explorer on the first of February, and the 2010 Toyotas oughta roll off the line by April. Pretty soon your car can be obsolete before its model year even arrives!

And why limit it to cars? My house was built in 1957, making it 50 years old. Wouldn't it be nice if the builder had called it the 2001 Model, so I could pass it off as almost brand new? Or appliances?

When the introduction of the new model year moved from fall to summer, it was already getting silly, but as of this, car manufacturers have let loose of the last thread holding them to reality: chronology. I'm going to the lot and demand my 2015 Honda right now.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm going to the lot and demand my 2015 Honda right now.

Make sure to demand the hydrogen fuel cell version with the drive by wire system. It's the only decent version that Honda puts out for that model year.

[baronbrian.livejournal.com]

Alright, that was odd. That's me but for some reason it didn't log me in.

[aehallh.livejournal.com]

My husband saw that last night. I was so certain he had to be mistaken, and explained how the car year thing works to him (which I don't think he ever paid much attention to as he's not a car nut and has never bought a new car in his life). I guess I owe him an apology, for he was, indeed, correct in what he told me.

It's... Wow, I have no words for it, really. Insane might fit...

[kmg-365.livejournal.com]

Perhaps Chevy is thinking they won't be around when fall rolls around, so best to get their new models out now while they can ;)

[dawntreader]

*ZING*

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Good point! :-)

[darlox.livejournal.com]

The way the hybrids are bottled up in production, perhaps the date is implying when you'll actually receive delivery of the vehicle...

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Now there's a cheery thought!

How's the Firefly watching going? Have you gotten to "Out of Gas" (how appropriate, considering the topic here) yet?

[theroom101.livejournal.com]

Best. Episode. Ever.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Indeed. It was the episode where we went from, "Hey, this is a good show!" to "LOVE!!!!!!"

[theonlykow.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad someone else thinks that too. I just watched most of Firefly (again) yesterday, and Out of Gas makes me gurgle and die.

[tygher.livejournal.com]

I used to know the reasoning behind this, being that my dad has been in the car business for years and years .. as long as I can remember in fact. However .. releasing the 2007 this early is a bit .. well .. maybe they're traying to save a floundering company? I dunno.

[shermel.livejournal.com]

Sounds like my Nana...two days after my elenth birthday, "you should behave yourself; you're nearly twelve now!"

It actually makes me hapy to think the corporate world is as mad as my Nana.

[jrtatsc.livejournal.com]

> My house was built in 1957, making it 50 years old.

Hey, I resemble that remark! *I* was built in 1957, and I'm only 48!

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

I meant to say nearly 50. Sorry about that! (and hey, I was built in 1958, so I can relate!)

[fragiletender.livejournal.com]

Sigh - often I look at the corporate world and they just look like sharks in a self induced feeding frenzy.

I think they're completely insane. We should line up these loopy companies and do the 'what year is it? what month is it?' test that doctors give to patients to see if they're lucid.

I saw Easter eggs in the shops on the 3rd January. Easter eggs! It's more than 3 months away so no, I'm not going to buy Easter eggs yet. Still, I suppose some people must buy them otherwise they wouldn't put them on the shelves. But I must admit that it made me feel like pulling them off the shelves and stomping on them. Oh dear, I think I'm turning into a grumpy old woman and I'm not even 40 yet!

[theroom101.livejournal.com]

American car companies are just doing everything they can to stave off their eventual demise. Japan showed them how to do it better and yet they still just keep jerking each other off instead of improving their companies. The official death of the American automobile industry will be the first step in this country's ego-induced economic suicide.

Personally, I'm going to start brushing up on my Mandarin.

[littlebuhnee.livejournal.com]

*falls over giggling*

[theonlykow.livejournal.com]

Someday they'll drop the year altogether and find some other naming system. I can't wait.