Ladies, gentlemen, and politicians, let me introduce you to the 2009 Toyota Venza.

The Venza is the exact reason the Big 3 of Detroit deserve nothing.  Toyota introduced the Venza to the automotive community earlier this year.  When I first saw it this summer, I thought it was a hideous and ugly thing.  That may have been because they introduced the vehicle in an ugly bronze color.

The Venza makes the perfect case for being the great American family car.  In the 70’s it was the station wagon, in the 80s it was the minivan, in the 90s it was the SUV.  We hate the station wagon because it’s ugly, the minivan was dorky, and SUVs are now branded as overpriced gas hogs (which they are).  This new trend is the CUV, which stands for Crossover Utility Vehicle.  A CUV offer gas mileage similar to a family car, the comfortable ride of a car, with the space of an SUV.  Other advantages include the perfect ride height to get in and out of the car, and quality parts.

The Venza has a unique style that is being reported by journalists as attracting positive attention everywhere they take it.  I’m yet to see one in person but I like it myself.  It also comes with a multitude of standard features, most of which aren’t worth mentioning on a money blog.  But to give you an idea, the perfect above is for the base, stripped model, not a loaded one.

So why does this Venza mean Detroit deserves nothing?

Look at the Venza’s domestic competition.  Ford has the Edge, a stylish CUV that you’ve see on the streets for a couple of years now.  Chrysler has the Dodge Journey, a “designed by accountants” abomination that defines the last 10 years for American car companies.  GM has… well nothing worth mentioning even in the same breath as the Journey, so they can’t compete with the Venza.

First compare the Journey to the Venza.  Dodge has Toyota beat up and down on price.  The base Dodge comes in below $20,000.  Though once you add options to compare to Toyota, it gets much closer to Toyota’s $26,000 asking price.  This is for the 4 cylinder option.  Now excluding the Journey’s awful looks and terrible level of comfort, anyone who cross shops these cars will notice how slow the Journey is compared to the Venza’s base motor.  Moreover, in the gas conscious days we live in the Journey can only muster 25 MPG on the highway.  The Venza gets 29 MPG.  Considering these cars are in the same class, that is embarrassing.  When you move upmarket to the big motor, it just gets worse for the Journey in price, power, and economy.

Then the Ford Edge stands a fighting chance.  Nah.  Ford doesn’t offer a base engine so they lose a market there (me if I were buying).  Ford only has an engine to compete with Toyota’s big engine, the V6.  Both make about similar power, but the Edge gets 24 MPG on the highway.  Toyota’s big engine gets 26.  Ford loses in city mileage by the same margin.  But maybe the Ford is nicer or has more options.  Oh you can get a nicer Ford Edge, but it’s going to set you back past $30,000.  In defense of Ford, their starting price is $1,500 less than the V6 Venza’s $27,800.  Again though, the Venza gives you much more for the price.

So GM and Chrysler can’t seem to compete, but at least Ford has a viable alternative to the Toyota.  This is true, despite the losses in fuel economy.  Ford is also the best off of the 3 begging Congress for money.  Ford realized 2 years ago they needed to get into this market, GM still doesn’t understand what it is, and Chrysler built the cheapest piece of crap they could force out of an existing plant.  You and I both know the Toyota will destroy the others in sales.

But that still isn’t enough to convince you Detroit deserves nothing.  They are American companies building American cars, buy American and support your blue collar brethren. Well American is right, just not US American.  Say “Hola” to Pedro as he drops off your Dodge Journey from it’s assembly location in Toluca, Mexico.  Shout the town motto of Oakville, “Avancez “, where the Ford Edge is made.  Why does Oakville have a French motto?  Because Oakville is in Canada.  Just so we’re clear, GM’s joke of a CUV, the Chevy Equinox, is built just down the road in Ingersoll, also in Canada.

What we have here is the Big 3 making their cars in cheaper counties and then importing them.  That’s not buying American, I’m sorry.  But it’s still better than buying Japanese imports.  You might be right, except the Japanese company Toyota builds the Venza in Georgetown, Kentucky*.  If anyone deserves cheap money, it should be the company that employs US citizens to make their cars.

Detroit deserves nothing, and for now that seems to be what’s happening.

Read a review of a stripped Venza.

Read about Senate Republicans holding up the bailout, despite being the minority.

*If fact, Toyota builds most of it’s vehicles in the United States.  The Venza was also designed by US Americans.

By The Weakonomist

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