Comments on: Marketing

By: Steeljaw Scribe

Steeljaw Scribe — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:13:57 +0000

I’m with bullnav on this one. The foreign makes with local plants = good (sort of) for the locals, but in the long run it doesn’t help our national industrial base. To be sure there is overhead that can and should be trimmed in order to effect efficiencies (and GM is probably the worst in that regard), but those who proclaim that the Big 3 haven’t learned anything from the 70’s haven’t, well, driven an X-car or Pinto or Cordoba (“with real corrrrrinthian leather”) anytime in the recent past. And as much as I love the 67-70 Mustangs, I infinitely prefer my ‘07 for regular driving instead.
Interesting book I read sometime back (when Demming was all the rage for Navy back in the day…) that catalogued the comeback of the American auto industry during the ’80s and early 90’s. Called Comeback: The Fall and Rise of the American Auto Industry it lays out the hard decisions and substantive investments made to put the industry back on its feet as well as providing insight into one of those industries that affects all of us but of which so few of us know about beyond the product we use. I’d recommend it to folks today as well.
- SJS

By: bobble

bobble — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:23:50 +0000

Indy -

In the current scenario, using H-D as a ‘good example’ is probably not the best idea. In the early ’80’s they were the ones asking our guvmint to put import restrictions in the form of tariffs on japanese import bikes over 700 cc, complaining that they were unable to compete in the marketplace with the popularity of japanese cruiser bikes. Which is why you’ll see 700 cc Hondas/Yamahas from the early ’80’s on the road. And this while the bikes they sold at that time were equipped with japanese-manufactured carbs (remember them?), forks, and instrumentation.

You can probably tell that I’m not a big Harley fan.

By: Roachman

Roachman — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:31:00 +0000

So…turn record profits, provide jobs and pump money into the US economy on a grand scale and get called on the carpet in front of Congress as a favorite whipping boy each quarter as those profits are announced.

Or, run your business into the ground following decades of mismanagement, union excess, poor product planning and the inability to meet competitive benchmarks wrt quality, cost and performance, and go before that same Congress wiht arms extended to rake in your share of the bailout-pa-looza.

And we wonder why the big oil types are a mite testy…

By: MaxDamage

MaxDamage — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:47:26 +0000

Marianne, I still drive a ‘48 Kaiser in 4th of July parades and such. That company going south didn’t seem to be the end of the world, and for that matter I can still get spare parts. Amazing, that. Also gets about 28mpg. And safety? Like all automobiles it has crumple zones, it merely uses yours

Of course, I’m sure you are far too young to remember the Kaiser. Probably saw my ‘62 Thunderbird as a youth, perhaps.

I had an interesting thought. Remember when all taxpayers were given a few hundred dollars back as an economic incentive check? $700 billion is a lot of money. The Interstate Highway System has only cost about $500 billion since it was started in the 1950’s, to use a comparison.

Well, $700 billion divided by 300 million taxpayers is about $2 million dollars per for those 300 million taxpayers. So, instead of giving the money to AIG or Fanny May or Freddie Mac, give it to the dumb SOB who’s behind in his mortgage payments, the guy who’s making his credit card minimums, as well as folks like me who pay taxes and have little debt.

First thing we’re going to do is avoid paying taxes on it, which means paying off that mortgage we’re behind on. Second thing we’re going to do is pay off those credit cards and disconnect the blasted phone. Third thing we’re going to do is look to invest what remains, even if it’s in a CD at the local bank. Or perhaps in an annuity at AIG.

Money goes to the same firms, clears the taxpayers of debits, and it’s the taxpayers money being used for this paper-shuffling anyway…

I can’t see a down-side, ‘cept I might have something to retire on other than Social Security if I wasn’t a dumb-ass financially in the first place.

– Max

By: dwas

dwas — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:20:57 +0000

Marianne..

and Hudson and Teraplane and Tucker and Packard and LaSalle and Kaiser and Frazer …also a long memory here..

: ))

By: Wilko

Wilko — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:00:30 +0000

It’s really hard to defend the “Big Three” for all their mis -steps over the years. The interesting question to ask is who could finance the “debtor in possession” (my understanding) financing required in a chapter 11 for the OEM and all the suppliers other than the federal government? Also, if the government were to provide a loan wouldn’t that be more productive than OEMs and Tiers filing chapter 11? The loan would be provided with continencies for massive restructuring, eliminating overcapacity, so that money isn’t required again in six months.

T0o big too fail? Possibly: Millions of jobs at stake. Globally, GM sold 9.3M in ‘07 — 3.0M more than Toyota.