How American Car Makers Lost Their Businesses
 

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...5rLWRldHJvaXQ-

Interesting read.

I thought the Taurus was pretty good for Ford????????????

Interesting read. A bit slanted, but true in some ways. Especially about hybrids. GM has a great line up, and is doing more testing than a lot of the imports. Another interesting fact on how the imports gained more market share in the 70's is the fact that the feds gave them 2 years more than domestics to meet emmissions standards. Once the bugs were worked out on the domestics the imports could copy the system.
BUT the stuff about milking models with no real updates is certianly true. Its what did saturn in. 10+ years of any model is retarded.
What did the auto industry in this time was gas prices. Consumer buying did a 180 from what it was. And now that gas is cheap again, buying is swinging back to trucks.
Another thing the media likes to forget is that EVERY automaker is having problems, import and domestic.
Between our media and government I sometimes wonder what chance this country has.

Article has some good points about the domestics in the 70's. However, the imports definetly had their hands full with issues as well..I had a 260 Z that had the front quaters fall off in less than 3 years due to a very bad design flaw. Also, vehicle had a terrible time starting in the cold. Datsun didn't do anything with the rust problem nor the starting. What did I do, wnt back to Vette's:drink:

im surprised it didnt mention the mustang, camaro/trans am. ford/gm milked those models for so long instead of realizing the 60s are over & coming up w/ a new legend. gm is so pathetic they coming out w/ a new model that looks 30 yrs old, instead of trying to come up w/ something for the future.

If anyone at any of the auto manufacturers globally had a clue they would start some variation of OSO.com, On Shore Only website and actually pay attention to the people who buy and use the products rather than the Union heads and some marketing grads.

simple answer...... America was king of the hill for a long time. Made in amereica ment something..american industry and workers benefitted, had a good standard of living and lost their hunger. end result, complacency. the world caught up and could do it cheaper.

America caught on to late, and instead of regaining top dog, decided to exploit cheaper labor sources, worked for a couple years untill the rest of the world used the knowledge gained from american outsourcing against us.

in essence..a bandaid over a wound that has now become infected.

if we can't become competitive we will perish... it's not the japanese fault, or china or india, we did it to ourselves. American industry got fat, lazy and is now having a heart attack as a result. if wekeep taking pain meds, instead of changing our diet and working out we will die.

b,
If you are talking about the Camaro, you need to look at the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger too. As far as I know they cant keep them on the lots. Out of the three, the Camaro is the one that least looks like its original 30 year old design it is "supposed" to copy.

Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

i did mention the mustang. i didnt mention the challenger because dodge retired it for awhile before bringing it back before their industry hit the toilet. either way, they are all rehashing designs showing no ability to be a leader in the industry.

but the fact remains they need to let the past be the past & start a clean sheet on their cad programs. otherwise they will end up like buick & olds to the next generations(s).

Seems to have been written by another one of those *******s who does not see the need to support your own country..never ceases to amaze me the # of american flags decals plastered onthe back of jap junk !!!! not that the american car co's did not make some bad vehicles..but toyota, honda, nissan all did make plenty of their own junk as well...just seems they were able to keep it quiet....uless you know where to look !!! A lot of the economy issues go right back to people not supporting their own country !!!