this was my point, it wasn't that the Americans didn't built a more diverse line up, its that they keep marketing the big gas guslers SUVs were the best selling vehicles in the 90s but they didn't adapt in the 2000s when the gas prices started creeping up... we got more "hemi" and more "silverado" commercials, while toyota and honda were devoloping hybrid technology, and chevy was giving up on the electric vehicle in the late 90s (Google it).

By the way if GM gos under dosen't that mean some other auto maker will fill the void which means if Toyota and Honda are selling more they would need to built more plants to keep up with demand...

basic economics people ...

 

An article from Yahoo! posted on the subject this morning:

Americans uneasy over bailout for automakers - Yahoo! News

I don't understand the statement of the US Automakers saying they cannot make a profit on small cars.

 

UAW high costs force American car manufacturers to outsource like that.

Some foreign companies build plants here to favor the exchange rate of the dollar, and also to remove freight shipment. With a market as big as North American, do you want to waste your money on a big boat from Europe/Japan? You might as well set up shop where you sell the most.

And foreign companies don't want to help the American worker, people. If they could, they'd build them at their own homes, ship them over, and do it all very happily.

 

c'mon guys, let's not forget this commercial

this marketing theme was Dodge's big deal just a few years ago, meanwhile T/H/N were marketing more green offerings. Clearly Chrysler had 0 plans for the future, no foresight. They thought the ride would last forever. Fuck 'em

up until just a few months ago, few thought our economy would fail. We all thought our government had everything figured out, we're #1 and it'll always be that way. I think people are starting to figure it out now that we're not invincible.

In the future. cynics will point to the Jon Reep series of advertisements as a symbol of the American people's blissful decent into financial collapse.

 

thanks for finding one of the articles

i dont get what they mean either, im going to re-read it

 

The only thought I had on that comment was the cost of their unionized workers, workman’s comp claims, insurance, benefits, etc. Whereas other countries may not have to absorb that cost and those who do build here may not have the unions which can honestly hike up an employee’s rate of pay and benefits.

Not to say that is right or wrong because that is a whole other discussion.

I just finished setting up the BMW Newsletter for our club and it had an interesting article on how BMW is taking a hit from the economy. Their plan was basically to sell the models that weren't selling in the US in other countries to make their profit. But it seems that the other economies that they were counting on for income, Russia and China, were also part of this is worldwide recession and that plan began to fail. So in turn they modified their line up by removing the 7 Series CS and are bringing the diesels to the US.

However while they are doing that BMW is thinking long term by expanding its facility in Spartanburg, SC; it is a flexible facility where it can manufacture many different models in their line up. Maybe even the 3 series will be produced there again or even the MINI which has seen an upswing in its sales. Even the ugly MINI Clubman has seen an increase in sales.

Looking ahead is where the game is at. It just seems the US went into a nostalgic phase which a good portion of US consumers enjoy but they just forgot to have R&D kick up the green level a couple notches more. Their bet failed. BMW sales plan failed as well. But in the end who failed worse is the one who wasn't looking the furthest ahead.

 

I always put Chrysler in a different catagory when it comes to this kind of stuff, since back then they were owned by Daimler-Benz, which was the worst merger ever on Chrysler's part! DB raped Chrysler, taking funds away from them and putting it towards Mercedes projects. The only positive things coming out of that merger was the Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300 project, and the Hemi V8. Everything else was "meh".

I always thought Ford had more forsight, since they had some models that could be powered by natural gas. GM on the other hand had the vision of Ray Charles.

 

Then you could say nothing good came out of the merger. Sure, it was a car and platform that many people bought, but ultimately that's their brand recognition today. Neither the Hemi nor the 300c is particularly green, nor fuel efficient. When all the record contracts dry up for rap musicians as our economy sinks further, who then will they sell these to?

The future points to smaller, more efficient cars, for cash strapped consumers. Chrysler has no such car - at least one that stacks up favorably to its import counterparts. GM hardly has such a car to mention either, and Ford is hanging on with their Focus. All 3 are guilty of building sub par economy vehicles for the last decade simply to sell as fleet (rental) vehicles. They all mostly ignored the small car market, instead focusing on truck and SUV sales. Now that the market has shifted (even with gas being affordable again), the public's perception of the Big 3 is not associated with gas efficient vehicles, even if they make them

Ford looks to survive this crisis, Chrysler looks doomed and GM ... too early to call yet. Ford has proven it can build a decent small car with the Focus, but still has a long way to go to catch up to the imports.

 

good laugh on that point because that same community will not know who to follow.

Many of the high bling guzzle guzzle dinosaurs are purchased by one individual and a co signer but paid for by many members of the family and put on the parents insurance to be affordable. Then they put on the Rent and Roll wheels paid by another family funder.

If the rap artists try pimpin something smaller and try to make it baller will it fly or will they take the path to the tar pits to join the extinct by driving the same whip they have now? Time will tell.

at myself for what I wrote here ...

 

the US has plenty of cars with good gas mileage, we just don't care about them on here because they're gay.