Cheers and Jeers for 2022

[bobo]

2022 is another year from which everyone is ready to move on.  The world continued to recover from the impacts of COVID and is learning to live with the variants.  Mass shootings unfortunately remain common, though this past year had particularly shocking events at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado.

Inflation was rampant, with high gas prices due to the conflict in Ukraine affecting the cost of almost everything.  Putin's misguided war in Ukraine has cost tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives of both military and civilians.  Cryptocurrencies crashed, and home mortgage interest rates doubled as the Fed tried to control inflation.  Dobbs v. Jackson overturned Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.  The political red wave that was predicted in the fall elections from the adverse economic news did not materialize, seemingly because of abhorrently poor candidate quality and youth turnout from backlash to the abortion ruling.

In popular culture, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscar’s.  Ye, aka Kanye West, spewed antisemitic remarks and was dropped from major business partners.  The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial mercifully came to an end after two months.

Prominent deaths included Bob Saget, Mikhail Gorbachev, Naomi Judd, Queen Elizabeth II, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Angela Lansbury, Kirstie Alley, Olivia Newton-John, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, and at the end of the year, Pele, Barbara Walters, and Pope Benedict XVI.

In automotive news, the push for electrification is unrelenting.  The Inflation Reduction Act brought revised tax credits for the purchase of electric vehicles, restoring credits to purchasers of GM and Tesla EVs, but it came with confusing new restrictions based on location of assembly and source of battery mineral content.  At the beginning of 2022, Chevrolet revealed the Silverado EV.  Cadillac started deliveries of the Lyriq crossover in August as the brand started the transition to an EV-only lineup.  Corvette is to become a sub-brand in two years with a sedan and SUV, and there are rumors of a Camaro EV sub-brand as well.  Electra is becoming the EV sub-brand for Buick.

Updating logos continued to be a thing for automakers.  Buick unveiled a new logo that ditched the familiar circle to help signify the new direction of electrification.  Audi flattened the ringed logo, as is the current trend.  Citroen and Lancia also have updated logos.

Dodge announced the end of production for the current Charger and Challenger models but revealed an EV Charger concept car with fake engine sounds.  Toyota introduced a new generation of Prius to a gushing press.  It has more power, bigger wheels, and most importantly better looks, but less interior room, less cargo capacity, and worse aerodynamics than the outgoing model.

Dealerships still had low inventory amid the supply chain constraints, and added dealer mark-up or exorbitantly priced add-ons persisted.  GM lost sales leadership to Toyota in 2021 amid supply chain issues but is poised to regain the title in 2022.

EV startups like Canoo and Faraday Future struggled to reach production.  Canoo is testing vehicles with Walmart in Texas, and vehicle deliveries are expected in a few months, about the same time Faraday supposedly will start delivering vehicles assembled in California.  The Fiskar Ocean is about 9 months from starting deliveries.  Lucid has struggled to produce the high-end Air sedans.

Departing vehicles include the Kia Stinger, Acura NSX, and Ford GT, as well as the Hyundai Accent, Ionic Hybrid, Ionic Hybrid Plug-In, and Veloster N.

Here is the 21st annual edition of Cheers and Jeers for some of the best and worst of all things automotive in the past year:

Cheers to the Best Scoop on the hybrid and AWD 2024 Corvette E-Ray found by Corvette sleuths on Chevy’s website.  The visualizer gave a glimpse at the new colors and body-color trim.

Cheers to Cadillac for the Boldest Move by introducing the handbuilt $300,000 Celestiq.  It’s a statement of confidence but is also risky because Cadillac does not have a good track record with low-volume boutique models.  The styling is polarizing, but it will debut the new Ultra Cruise with lidar.

Cheers to the Best Vehicle Introduction, the Hyundai Ionic 6.  It’s not exactly pretty, but it does have a best-in-class 0.21 drag coefficient, Hyundai’s excellent EV propulsion, and it’s a car.

Honorable Mention goes to the BMW I4, based on the 4-Series 4-door Gran Coupes, resulting in an ICE-looking EV for those who may not want to stand out,  BMW has their wild-looking iX, but the I4 and forthcoming I7 will appeal to those who want to blend in.  It goes without saying Jeers to the hideous grills.

Jeers to Toyota for the Worst Vehicle Introduction with the ungainly Crown.  It replaced the Avalon as their new flagship and has a storied name, but it’s unclear who would want to buy such a thing.

Jeers to the Biggest Troll Man-Child, Elon Musk.  The Twitter takeover has been nothing short of disastrous, and alienating the greenie and techie base of Tesla vehicles is a questionable marketing strategy.  Tesla had to resort to ever-sweetening deals, up to $7,500 and free Supercharger miles for some models, to move vehicles at the end of the year, though some drop in demand is likely from the tax credits resuming in January.  The value of Tesla stock dropped by two thirds in the year, and Musk saw his personal fortune drop by $200 billion.  The years late Cybertruck is still undergoing engineering and the new Roadster is nowhere to be found.

Jeers to Toyota for Failed ZEV Leadership, having placed all their ZEV marbles on hydrogen but seeing consumers gravitate towards battery EVs.  Hydrogen continues to have potential in certain segments like trucking.  For their one BEV offering, Toyota tried to buy back all the bZ4X crossovers due to the wheels coming off, and they have had to revamp their EV strategy to catch up.

For the New Year, wishing all your EV and ICE dreams come true.  Hope you all have a safe, prosperous, and Happy New Year!

[trinacriabob]

@bobo  It was entertaining to read your legendary annual write-up which reliably encapsulates everything in a good, concise read.  Thank you!

While 2022 might have seen a decline in the impact of COVID, it saw the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war.  I remember exactly where I was when I heard about it.  It had a chilling effect on people because this is in the New Millennium and in Europe, where these sorts of things aren't supposed to happen.  (Maybe I should restrict that observation or comment to Western Europe.)  

In the entertainment world, the slap at the Oscars might only historically rival Jane Fonda's acceptance speech when she was all about politics.  As for Kanye, he's been off his rocker for a long time.

It was sad to see Queen Elizabeth II and Olivia Newton-John pass.  As for Kirstie Alley and Barbara Walters, I can't say I will miss them at all.  They both racked up a fair number of faux pas, in addition to just being plain irritating.  As for Pope Benedict, he made it to 95 and has been the least charismatic Pope in my lifetime.  May he, nonetheless, RIP.

Electrification is good, as long as the infrastructure to support it is and will be there.  I like Buick's new logo.  I'm glad that, at one point in time, I got to look through the circular one as a hood ornament while I was driving.  However, the KIA logo is not being all that well received.  For those who don't know the brand and their vehicles, they are thinking it reads like KN.

The most disappointing auto news for me is the curtain falling on the Dodge Charger, especially since it was continuously being fine tuned in the "right direction."

The "jeer" I agree with the most is that for Elon Musk.  As with anyone who is always in your face, I look the other way because it becomes excessive.  That's how I felt about Trump in the '90s, when you couldn't buy groceries without seeing him on the covers of tabloids when at the cash register.  And that's how I still feel about him.

Happy New Year to you, too!

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by trinacriabob