Goose said: (quoted from post at 11:06:09 12/08/08) I have to disagree.
If the Big Three had spent the last 20 to 30 years developing reasonably sized, reasonably priced and fuel efficient vehicles like their competition was doing instead of brainwashing the public into thinking they needed Gawdawful humongous SUV's and oversized pickup trucks for no other reason than the manufacturers made more money off of them, THEN they could complain about conditions beyond their control.
I completely agree with the Congressman who said at the first meeting, "If we give you $25 billion, all you'll do is go back to Detroit and keep making the same stupid mistakes you've made for the last 25 years".
It was the Big Three who didn't have the gonads to stand up to the unions, and wound up with worker compensation packages twice their competetion's. It was Henry Ford III who said thirty years ago the American public would never buy small, fuel efficient vehicles regardless of circumstances, and locked in his company's course accordingly. ETC, ETC. All they did was sit on their collective butts and see who could build the biggest SUV, instead of developing fuel efficient vehicles that were attractive to the public.
The public has to share the blame for letting themselves be conned into buying $40,000 4X4 ego trips. If you ask the typical urban SUV owner why they need 4wd, they'll say "to get around town in bad weather".
That's hogwash. I live on a gravel road a mile and a half from pavement. I own a front wheel drive Olds 88, a front wheel drive Chrysler T&C, and two Chevy 4x4 pickups. And I can't remember the last time I drove one of the pickups on my daily commute because I absolutely needed 4 wheel drive.
I have no sympathy or excuses for a group that has shown no more foresight in their industry then the Big Three automakers.
Hey, the big 3 have always produced the smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles because they are a "full line-up" manufacturer. They just didn't sell as well as their big SUV's and p/u trucks. When gas sky-rocketed, they adjusted their build schedules to produce more of what the public wanted (impala, malibu, fusion, cobalt, etc). but then the credit crunch came and 80% of people who wanted to buy a car COULDN'T, because of the WALL STREET MESS. Plus, with the housing mess and layoffs all across the country, people are afraid to make a large purchase even if they COULD get credit or wanted to pay cash. It's real easy to lay it all on the last 20-30 yrs of product design, but as others have pointed out the car manufacturers produce what buyers want. Mitsubishi and others that produce mainly small cars have not fared well over the years. No question that Toyota and Honda have a great product mix and business plan along with lower cost structure.
Anyway, Goose, you and others have conveniently neglected to place ANY blame on Congress and Wall Street for the crisis that the Big 3 face. If any of the Big 3 failed, unemployment will continue to skyrocket and Honda and Toyota will also become vulnerable.
The point is that anyone who owns a car (yourself included) can choose to continue to drive what they have and delay a purchase IF they don't feel secure with making a large purchase. Statistics have shown that people are driving less (i.e. putting less miles on their cars/trucks), keeping their vehicles longer. And if you're part of the 8.5% unemployed, a new car is certainly not at the top of your list.
Bring the auto market back up to 17 million units a year where it was previously and a lot of the Big 3 woes go away. At 10 million units annualy, someone will not have enough market share to survive.
So, please don't just address PART of the problem. And please don't tell me that the buying public was "conned" into buying big SUVs and trucks. That's BS as others have pointed out. No one held a gun to anyone's head when they walked into a dealership and forced them to buy a Tahoe instead of a Cobalt. People buy what works for their lifestyle and what they WANT to buy. I have driven to work with a FWD Grand Prix and never gotten stuck. I also own a 4x4 p/u and an AWD Saturn. You are right. You don't NEED 4x4 in most cases. You also don't NEED Satellite Radio, electric windows, heated, leather seats, Temperature control, Heads-up display, heated mirrors, etc, etc, etc. But people want those options. If they didn't, the automakers wouldn't offer them. Try buying a plain vanilla Work Truck. Chevy was the last to make them and you can't get a 5-speed manual anymore. Why? Because not enough people bought them.
BTW, there was/is no HF III at the helm of Ford. It was HF II ("Hank the Deuce"), then outsiders then William Clay Ford, Jr.
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