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Others Reaction To The Elio

#491

#491

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ElioDigger said:
I am wondering the same thing. my smart was stereotyped, as a tree hugger, Obama loving car that he is going to make us all drive. still get it but not as bad. I think it will not get negative response since, it is a auto CYCLE and a new concept.
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Talking about the Smart Car, I have some input. The Smart Car was another vehicle I watched and hoped to drive some day before it was ever really known in the US. Spending time in Germany and France, the Smart Car was old news and could be seen everywhere. Then Mercedes got involved and it suddenly bacame the Dumb Car. I say this because it was SUPPOSE to get 60+ MPG when introduced in the US and at best, it's getting 39 MPG on PREMIUM GAS which nullifies that 39 MPG back to about 30 MPG from a cost per mile stand point. My 07 Yaris 5-speed can tromp that. I was on-board with the Smart Car just like I am with the Elio and hope Elio doesn't do something soooo stupid like Smart (Debatable) Car did. Did you know that in Europe, the Smart Car is manufactured with a diesel that gets 70+ MPG per gallon? Yes diesel cost more but at 70 MPG its still worth it, even to the radical tree huggers who hate diesels. Just like the Elio, I was in line to but a Smart Car and some bright corporate individual decided to but a worthless enging in it. Lets all hope we're not in for similar surprises from Elio.
 
Elio1

Elio1

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BlioKart said:
coexist_mug.jpg


?
I thinking we might be classified as cheap bastards. Penny pincher brigade.
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I actually take pride in being just that. It means we're efficient when it comes to our finances.
What most people don't realize is that it allows us Elio owners to be able to afford that dream exotic car.
 
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wheaters

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My Liege attracts a lot of interest. One problem I have had is other drivers coming up far too close behind, looking at the car. The brake lights are low down and once they begin looking at the car, they often fail to notice when I brake. So much so that I recently fitted a third brake light, in the spare wheel, which is carried on the rear of the car.

Another problem occurs on the motorway. Drivers come up behind and tailgate again, to look at the car. As soon as I can, I pull over to let them past. Instead of overtaking completely, they pull up alongside, matching my speed so their grinning passengers can take a closer look, some of them taking photos. I have no objection to this, but the driver often fails to realise that I have pulled into the slow lane, presuming they would go by. If they don't, I have to avoid heavy goods vehicles ahead in my lane, because they are limited to 56 mph and I was doing 70.

I have now got wise to this. If someone begins this routine, as soon as I spot the camera, I dab my brakes to make them overtake and pull back into lane behind them, obviously as long as it is safe to do so. Good thing about my car is it's small size, superb manoeuvrability and unrestricted view to the sides and rear (no side or rear windows).
 
BlioKart

BlioKart

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Elio1 said:
I actually take pride in being just that. It means we're efficient when it comes to our finances.
What most people don't realize is that it allows us Elio owners to be able to afford that dream exotic car.
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Fo Sho. I do consider myself to be thrifty. I get accused of being cheap all the time. Elio really hits home for me and my thriftiness.
 
Lil4X

Lil4X

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I suspect that we won't know what how Elio owners will be perceived until the marketing campaign appears on the national radar. If it is sold as cheap, fun, environmentally responsible, etc., that image will be reflected on the early adopters. But we know that the best-laid plans of automotive marketers are fraught with unintended consequences. The Aztek was intended to be for the outdoorsman, the Prius for the urban commuter, and the VW bug was originally marketed as the low-cost, if quirky option for adults.

The bug became symbolic of a youthful counterculture; the Prius, a smug political statement, and the Aztek, a monument to Detroit's tin ear to the marketplace. It's all about perception . . . On rollout, a product will usually follow it's advertising image, but the public image will soon take over. We're smart that way. But sometimes the failure to deliver can be fatal.

If we can take an example of the Honda Ridgeline, it shows what happens when logic overwhelms the image of the class. Honda's engineers determined that the American pickup was overweight, and poorly designed for its primary use . . . and they were absolutely right. Suburbanites who never used the bed of their truck for anything other than to haul a few potted plants home from the nursery on weekends. They already had a successful van platform, so if they dressed it in a pickup body with 4 doors for family haulage, added the traditional "Cowboy Cadillac" styling cues (elongated nose, ground clearance, and tailgate), they'd have what the American suburbanite NEEDED.

The trouble was (as indicated by the line's cancellation for '15), the Ridgeline wasn't what we WANTED. No big honkin' V8, no stump-pulling power, and no real 4WD, only a wimpy AWD drive train. Did we need that? Of course not - it didn't have the styling cues - massive chrome grill, road-dominating stance, or rough and ready looks. It was precisely what we needed, but the developers neglected the image that sells about 75% of pickups. It just didn't smell right to the wannabe urban cowboy, and we didn't buy it. It's a hard lesson some never learn: sell what people want, not what they need. The quickest way to go broke is to try to educate your customer. Yes, cod-liver oil is good for you, but you won't find it as a dessert topping.

The Elio has yet to write its own image, but words like "unusual", "oddball", and even "quirky" come to mind - and that's just the mild side. Then the engineering of the vehicle takes over . . . "aerodynamic", "efficient" and even "responsible" begin to appear. It's as close as a major industry gets to a real "clean sheet of paper" design, and early adopters will of necessity be noted as either brave or foolish - take your pick.

While I'm not much for being out there on the "bleeding edge" of technology, after evaluating the market risks, I'd say $6800 (or whatever the final price is to be), I don't think the purchase of an Elio is much of a risk. I've taken far larger for flyers in the stock market on products and markets I've studied a good bit. The Elio won't be any different, but even in the event of failure, at least I'll have something I can tinker with on weekends rather than some worthless paper to line the birdcage.

Meanwhile the public will write the demographic for the Elio. With no one else selling a vehicle with the amenities proposed for the Elio for under $16K, if build quality and reliability hold up to the promise, it could well be the next Bug, if not the Model T of American transportation. Because its platform is relatively simplistic, it's going to lend itself to options, mods, and custom treatments that we don't see in the current generation of automobiles. That's where a large part of the fun comes in.

Meanwhile, get used to a lot of stares - for at least the first two years. :)
 
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