Posted on 11/18/2008 7:26:37 PM PST by Delacon
My experience with Amercian cars has been largely positive—but (oddly) many patriotic FReepers seem to hate American cars with a passion. Its really a sad state of affairs. I don’t think much of the country has a clear idea of how big a hole it will blow in the economy if the Big Three fade away.
Personally I think the Dems effort to save the auto industry is just them going through the motions. In the end, they will do nothing. The Greens (whose opinions really could with them) would luv to see those ugly auto plants go away. The Union leadership probably knows this and is in on the charade.
It’s not a myth. I’ve had Fords, Lincolns, Buicks, Olds, Pontiacs, and none of them have been up to the standards of Toyota and Honda. I had a Honda Accord for 10 years and never had a problem with it.
Am I imagining the following, or is it factual. The automakers showcase these fancy concept cars at auto shows. People say “ooh” and “wow” and want them. Then crappy production cars are made, and look nothing like the concept cars. If any make it to production, only a few are made and only the dealers get them and they’re uber-expensive. GM should listen to the people, and actually make cars that the people want.
And they are...
1 - government
2 - government
3 - government
4 - UAW (with government backing)
5 - government
I’ll disagree on the quality point.
The cars are hardly piss poor.
Their fixed costs are killing them.
The other side of this is the cost of government regulation.
Compliance with a myriad of pollution ,safety and EEOC laws add to the fixed costs of production. Producing euro style
cars overseas has proven very successful for G.M. but guess what?
you can’t import these vehicles into the U.S.per
union thug agreements. Another prohibitive tariff which hurts consumers and the company.
If G.M. is to fail, let it fail. There is a better chance for possible reorginization through bankruptcy.
We don’t need a government run albatrosse.
I would like to see the rules for normal cars left alone, but I think a special new LIGHT commuter should be allowed, a light weight car restricted to lower speed roads that didn’t have to meet all normal safety standards. High mileage alternatives vehicles. If motorcycles are legal and safe enough then so are light cars. I think it should be an option to those that want them...and as far as that goes someone should kick California in the nads, and let all the efficient diesels in the country...
But if you compare the gas mileage of today’s GM large SUVs and pickups you will see that it is much higher (up to 2 mpg city/4 mpg highway) in the GM vehicles than in the Toyota and Nissan models. Toyota also has quite a large SUV fleet, I believe 7 at this point, so they were also building what Americans wanted. The big jump in gas prices hurt everyone, it’s just that Honda especially and Toyota, Kia, Hyundai and Nissan to a lesser extent had more small cars available when the sh*t it the fan this summer.
As for the crappy small cars of the 70’s American cars in the 70’s were crap regardless of size.
And that was a fluke. Mr. Yutaka Katayama as put in charge of Nissan USA Western Division in Los Angeles in 1960. He loved the American life-style, and was in conflict with an aloof Nissan Corporation in Japan. He was a maverick, and pushed for the 240Z against corporate idiots back in Japan. He was later punished for his arrogance for making Nissan successful in America and was transfered back to Japan.
the A..M.C. pacer and gremlin were WONDERFUL little cars....232 straight six, 7 main bearings, (engine still used in the Jeep) people wouldn’t buy them because they’re not the type of car that americans want.....give them a Rambler American with a three hundred horsepower engine and they’ll snap it up......pathetic
Reason #1. UAW
Buying GM stock is a gamble. If GM goes bankrupt the stockholder probably gets zero. WSJ editorial opinion seems more but not totally on the side of Chapter 11 bankruptcy as the best for america. Bush says Chapter 11. What will Obama say. He was a community otganizer. What do such persons do? Organize groups in the community to get specials from the government. Now it looks like big business groups need the same. Wall street has got theirs. Can GM and UAW similiarly qualify? If Obama says yes the stock buyer might triple his $3. Gaze into your crystal ball, but be prepared to lose all your bet.
I bought a slew of Toyotas (a couple of Fords) in the past 25 years; very reliable as noted in the commie journal Consumer Reports. This September I bought a CTS; a better car than any Toyota I ever drove or owned. An awesome car.
Bye the way, I also drive an almost 22 year old Toyota pickup that I put $300 into 19 years ago to replace a head gasket.
All 3 of the automakers deserve to go down. They made their bed with the unions and they can all suck water as far as I’m concerned. Not a dime for a bailout.
The loopiness of this is hilarious! First - institute policies to put the big auto companies in an economic morass. Then, when it appears that the policies have succeeded - BAIL THEM OUT! What F****** GENIUSES!
For many years I was a Ford guy. Owned two different F-150s, an Escort wagon, and a Winstar minivan. The 1990 F-150 was great, plain, straight 6 cyl 5 spd manual, 4x2 regular cab, 8 ft bed. Just a plain old truck. I had that for 6 or 7 years. The Escort my wife drove wasn't bad, wasn't great. The last F-150 (1997 4x4 supercab) and the Winstar were disasters. They didn't nickel and dime us, it was $300, $500, $800... at a pop. I'll never own a Ford again, period. Not even if they gave me one free - I couldn't afford the maintenance on it, and I need reliable vehicles to get me and the wife to our jobs. My wife now drives a new Sierra 1500 4x4 crew cab. Funny thing, the dealers were really willing to deal on them back when gas was 3.40 a gal or more. ;-) But hey, her commute is under 3 mi each way, why not something big, comfortable, and safe?
Personally, I guess I am a guy who still takes some pride in buying from American companies.
Their legacy costs will be much smaller than the Big 3's costs. They do not promise the pensions and retiree health care. The health care costs for workers will increase as workers age but workers can be asked to contribute more also. The big money is in the pensions and retiree health care.
I detest the unions. I boycott union dominated companies when feasible. I also prefer Japanese cars disregarding the union issue. I have had great experience with Japanese cars over the last 20 years.
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