Welcome to the 1994 model year, but don't blink or you might miss it.
It has been ages since the traditional start of the new model year, Oct. 1, really meant anything. These days, sales and marketing pressures compel automakers to release new products as soon as they - and their advertising messages - are ready.But rarely, if ever, have manufacturers talked so publicly about future products. The conventional wisdom in the auto business is that if you give people too good of a glimpse of what's ahead, they won't buy what you're selling now. Yet, less than two months into the 1994 model year, much attention is already focused on 1995 models.
Chrysler starts selling the '95 Neon in January at its Dodge and Plymouth dealers. The compact car was unveiled months ago at the Frankfurt auto show and exposed to the world's motoring press via satellite.
Oldsmobile's '95 Aurora luxury sedan arrives in March. Olds has been dangling this car for more than a year as a proof-positive to its dealers and buyers that the division would survive despite a tremendous sales slump.
Even Ford, which has been doing quite well lately with five of America's favorite 10 vehicles in its showrooms, has been talking about its upcoming Ford Contour-Mercury Mystique models.
Why all the excitement about 1995 models when the 1994 model year has just begun and calendar 1993 hasn't even concluded?
Part of it is semantics. Chrysler believes that it has something new and different with its Neon, and calling it a '95 model accentuates that belief. And, as long as the car meets all 1995 safety and emission regulations, it can be designated as a '95 model as early as January of 1994.
Part of it is momentum. Both Ford and Chrysler have been successful lately. Their new cars and trucks have been well-received, both by critics and by buyers. And focusing attention on these just-ahead models keeps the snowball of positive publicity rolling. Oldsmobile, which desperately needs a hot car, has tried to build momentum for the Aurora long before the first potential buyer has a chance to kick a tire.
If you find yourself in the car-buying mode this fall, you won't find the Neon, Aurora, Contour or Mystique at your neighborhood dealer. You can see them in the new-model issues of enthusiast magazines that came out this fall.
All the talk about 1995 cars almost camouflages the reality of the 1994 model year. There are lots of new models, ranging from an all-new Honda Accord for Baby Boomer families to a new Cadillac DeVille for their parents. Young drivers have a chance to test a new Mustang for the first time since the young drivers of 1979 listened to Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" when they took their test drive. Stewart's still on the charts, and Ford hopes the Mustang gets back in the top 10.
With a few exceptions, 1994 cars cost more than 1993 cars did. How much more depends on how you figure it.
Automotive News, an industry weekly, figured the average increase on Japanese cars was more than seven times as high as the average increase for Big 3 models - $630 vs. $85. However, this was on comparably equipped models where the price of equipment made standard on the new model (such as air bags) is excluded from the price hike.
When you consider sticker-to-sticker increases, with no adjustment for year-to-year equipment changes, the Japanese were much closer to General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. In that case, average Japanese prices went up $912 vs. $701 for the domestic makers.