Getting weirded out by Detroit show press conferences is not something you expect. Usually, all the vehicles fit neatly into the cute little niches engineered by product planners. But not the Nissan Bevel. This concept car rolled onto the stage with the face of a vacuum cleaner, the profile of an FJ Cruiser and the rear of a Scion xB, and we got all ready to hear the 18-34, gen Y, active, demanding young people speech.
Then, Brad Bradshaw, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nissan USA, said, "The Bevel is designed for that period in life that people, particularly men, look forward to -- the kids have moved out of the house and..." And then the target age group flashed on the display -- men ages 45 to 60. What?? "This is one of those rare cars that's all about the owner," Bradshaw continued. "In fact, we see the Bevel owner driving alone 90 percent of the time."
A depressing thought to say the least. Why, we asked Bradshaw after the press conference, would such an individual choose the Bevel over the more obvious choice for this stage of life -- the Porsche 911? "This is the person in the neighborhood who has all the tools, the hero of the neighborhood," was his reply. "He's not really a guy who is into sports cars... he's the coach of the soccer team.
Well, that explains the Bevel's wipe-clean cargo floor and dedicated rear compartment for pets.
It also explains the huge five-foot-wide opening made possible by the reverse-hinged rear doors. And it explains the 110-volt rear power outlet (for power tools) that gets recharged via the car's solar roof panels. And since this guy is apparently responsible for everything that goes wrong in his neighborhood, it explains the in-car wireless network that allows him to check e-mail and check to see if various home appliances are on/off.
But it still does not explain why an empty nester would buy an oddball utility vehicle instead of a 911. Nobody likes tools that much. --Erin Riches
Add a comment