Maybe a chicken and egg question here:
Is it possible that the car buying paradigm has shifted by more than fuel effeciency and other tangible items? Take for example the Cooper Mini website
www.miniusa.com
which presents an extremely fun, interactive experince for a car with tremendous personality. Toyota offers the Camry Experience
http://www.toyota.com/camry/index.ht...TN_CAMRY_INDEX
Toyota hit a sales record in May 2006, Mini has a waiting period of up to a year. Compare this to GM's web site
www.gm.com
which is much more conventional. I 'built' a 2006 H2 custom Hummer (oh, I feel so dirty) on the website, totalling more than $60,000, and was underwhelmed with the website.
Then again, maybe I just nail the demographics and resonate with the zing of Toyota and Mini.
Thanks.