Friday, October 06, 2006
The Sad State of the American Auto Industry.
"Back in the good ole days" car lines used to be quite well defined, even within the same parent company. Take General Motors for instance. Most all entry level people started with Chevrolets. Then, if you felt you needed a bit more car with more "ooomph" you moved up to Pontiac. After that, what you bought depended on your driving style and income. The people who wanted extra quality and a cushy ride bought Buicks, and they became known for their "old fart" cars. I've talked with my Father in Law before on this subject. He grew up driving cars that had suspensions darn near directly from buckboard wagons. He didn't want to "feel" the road. He didn't want to "feel" the steering. He didn't want to "hear" the motor. He told me "When I drive my car on the highway, I want to feel like I'm sitting in my easy chair in my front room." To him, that was a "good ride." Those people bought Buicks. (He was a Ford man through and through, though. He liked his Mercurys.) If you wanted performance, innovation, and styling, you bought an Oldsmobile. "Ride a Rocket!!" was their motto. I read a contemporary Motor Trend report on the '57 Olds 98 Holiday Coupe. They were emphatic that, and I paraphrase here: "this is not a car for you to run errands with. It's made for the open road and is happiest there." I've driven '57 Oldsmobiles, and they were right. Even with the power steering, driving around town is not its cup of tea. But get it on the highway, and it's a treat to drive. At 70mph, the 371 V8 is merely loafing. Tap the throttle, and you get an immediate response. Top of the line, of course, was the luxurious Cadillac brand. No need to explain that, I think.
Trucks were made by Chevy and GMC, with the Jimmys having a reputation for being tougher and more rugged than Chevys. (And the GMC did have an engine different from the Chevy. Their straight six was popular with hot rodders from that era because it was tough, and had a lot of low end torque.) And all these divisions were distinctly different from each other, engine wise, until the early '70's, with different engines in all the marques.
The beginning of the end for differences between the various brands came about, strangely enough, because of the popularity of the mid-seventies Olds Cutlasses. They sold a lot of '76 Cutlass Supremes. I owned one myself, and really liked that car. Put over 200,000 on it before I sold it. And it had a true 350 Rocket. Good engine in a good car. The last year for the "full sized" Cutlasses was '77. It was known that the '78 was going to be downsized, and they were selling a lot of the last "full sized" ones. So many, the engine plant couldn't keep up. Rather than shut the assembly plant down, and lose sales, they decided to install the standard Chevy 350 V8 instead. They "got caught" and after settling with the Olds owners who bought Chevmobiles, they started putting a notice on all cars and sales agreements that GM reserved the ability to install another engine from one of their other divisions, and by signing the sale agreement and taking delivery, you acknowledged and accepted that.
I think one of the reasons that pickups have become so popular was the mid-eighties demise of the standard full framed rear wheel drive sedans, save for the Chevy Impala, and Ford LTD/Mercury Marquis. Many people saw the truck as an, at first, inexpensive way to get a full sized vehicle with a V8, rear drive and a full frame. That's about the time that the carmakers started putting softer suspensions and more options into their truck offerings. Up until 10 years ago, the big three had the full sized truck market to themselves, as the Japanese makers only offered the mini-trucks. And the big three made a lot of money from those full sized trucks, because they were taking a mature, proven (And paid for!) design and adding things like power windows and seats, stereos, and a healthy profit margin to the whole package, and smiling all the way to the bank.
Those days are, of course, long gone. The Japanese makers started handing Detroit their asses years ago, and the arrogant SOB's who were in charge of Detroit refused to believe their dominance of the industry could be ended. Chrysler was the first to almost go under, teetering on the brink of disaster until Lee Iacocca came along and rescued them with the K-Cars and the minivans. (A big government bailout didn't hurt either.) One of the most disastrous decisions made was when GM forced Olds to become their "import fighter" about 4 years before it was snuffed out. They discontinued the good, reliable full sized sedans like the 88 and the 98, in favor of those wimpy little Aleros and Intrigues. For a while they even made a conscious effort to remove any reference to the name Olds on the outside of the car. What idiots. Oldsmobile's death was unnecessary, in my opinion. They were forced to abandon the market they knew well and made to try and cater to young twenty-somethings. A market they knew absolutely nothing about. And a demographic group that would no sooner walk into an Olds dealership as they would go in for hip replacement surgery.
In my opinion, Detroit has no one to blame for their current woes but themselves. Let's face it, they made some truly gawd-awful crap starting in the late seventies and right through to the late nineties, before they FINALLY realized that people were no longer buying American cars simply because they were American cars. They made the (to them) startling realization that people wanted quality cars that didn't break down every few thousand miles. I own a 2001 Buick Regal, and it's a fine car. The fit and finish is good, and it's been rock solid reliable since the day I bought it. It's even on Consumer Reports "Best Buy" recommendations for used cars. But it may be too late. We're down to the Big Two now, Chrysler having been bought out by the Germans. Ford and GM's market share is smaller than ever, and the new 1000 pound gorilla on the block is Toyota. GM just broke off talks with Nissan/Renault on combining operations, but that doesn't mean the deal making is over. Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, China automakers are looking at the American market like a newlywed hubby is looking at his blushing bride on their wedding night. It isn't going to be much longer before they're flooding the American market with cars priced so low, there'll be no way GM and Ford will be able to match them. Don't be too surprised if, ten years hence, there are no more American auto companies making cars here in the U.S.
It'll be a sad day indeed.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Trucks were made by Chevy and GMC, with the Jimmys having a reputation for being tougher and more rugged than Chevys. (And the GMC did have an engine different from the Chevy. Their straight six was popular with hot rodders from that era because it was tough, and had a lot of low end torque.) And all these divisions were distinctly different from each other, engine wise, until the early '70's, with different engines in all the marques.
The beginning of the end for differences between the various brands came about, strangely enough, because of the popularity of the mid-seventies Olds Cutlasses. They sold a lot of '76 Cutlass Supremes. I owned one myself, and really liked that car. Put over 200,000 on it before I sold it. And it had a true 350 Rocket. Good engine in a good car. The last year for the "full sized" Cutlasses was '77. It was known that the '78 was going to be downsized, and they were selling a lot of the last "full sized" ones. So many, the engine plant couldn't keep up. Rather than shut the assembly plant down, and lose sales, they decided to install the standard Chevy 350 V8 instead. They "got caught" and after settling with the Olds owners who bought Chevmobiles, they started putting a notice on all cars and sales agreements that GM reserved the ability to install another engine from one of their other divisions, and by signing the sale agreement and taking delivery, you acknowledged and accepted that.
I think one of the reasons that pickups have become so popular was the mid-eighties demise of the standard full framed rear wheel drive sedans, save for the Chevy Impala, and Ford LTD/Mercury Marquis. Many people saw the truck as an, at first, inexpensive way to get a full sized vehicle with a V8, rear drive and a full frame. That's about the time that the carmakers started putting softer suspensions and more options into their truck offerings. Up until 10 years ago, the big three had the full sized truck market to themselves, as the Japanese makers only offered the mini-trucks. And the big three made a lot of money from those full sized trucks, because they were taking a mature, proven (And paid for!) design and adding things like power windows and seats, stereos, and a healthy profit margin to the whole package, and smiling all the way to the bank.
Those days are, of course, long gone. The Japanese makers started handing Detroit their asses years ago, and the arrogant SOB's who were in charge of Detroit refused to believe their dominance of the industry could be ended. Chrysler was the first to almost go under, teetering on the brink of disaster until Lee Iacocca came along and rescued them with the K-Cars and the minivans. (A big government bailout didn't hurt either.) One of the most disastrous decisions made was when GM forced Olds to become their "import fighter" about 4 years before it was snuffed out. They discontinued the good, reliable full sized sedans like the 88 and the 98, in favor of those wimpy little Aleros and Intrigues. For a while they even made a conscious effort to remove any reference to the name Olds on the outside of the car. What idiots. Oldsmobile's death was unnecessary, in my opinion. They were forced to abandon the market they knew well and made to try and cater to young twenty-somethings. A market they knew absolutely nothing about. And a demographic group that would no sooner walk into an Olds dealership as they would go in for hip replacement surgery.
In my opinion, Detroit has no one to blame for their current woes but themselves. Let's face it, they made some truly gawd-awful crap starting in the late seventies and right through to the late nineties, before they FINALLY realized that people were no longer buying American cars simply because they were American cars. They made the (to them) startling realization that people wanted quality cars that didn't break down every few thousand miles. I own a 2001 Buick Regal, and it's a fine car. The fit and finish is good, and it's been rock solid reliable since the day I bought it. It's even on Consumer Reports "Best Buy" recommendations for used cars. But it may be too late. We're down to the Big Two now, Chrysler having been bought out by the Germans. Ford and GM's market share is smaller than ever, and the new 1000 pound gorilla on the block is Toyota. GM just broke off talks with Nissan/Renault on combining operations, but that doesn't mean the deal making is over. Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, China automakers are looking at the American market like a newlywed hubby is looking at his blushing bride on their wedding night. It isn't going to be much longer before they're flooding the American market with cars priced so low, there'll be no way GM and Ford will be able to match them. Don't be too surprised if, ten years hence, there are no more American auto companies making cars here in the U.S.
It'll be a sad day indeed.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Comments:
<< Home
Good job! As one who was "there" for 32 years......you did a good job here. Volkswagons were our first "scare." GM sneered at them when they landed ashore in Calif. By the time GM woke up, VW's were all over, and much worse, had a rep for quality. Gas was peanuts a gallon back then. Then the Arabs turned our world upside down, the famous oil embargo (and resulting shortages that never were). We suddenly had to build this thing called "mileage." With typical GM arrogance, they threw piece meal solutions out there; the people would buy them. They did, but bitched mightily. Toyota was lurking just beyond the horizon with excellent quality AND customer service.
Then, the tree huggers and gov't made us put pollution controls on cars far before we had the technology. The result was stifled, choked engines that could hardly idle, and problems beyond belief. The Gov't was unrelenting. "Gotta have it." So, to meet CAFE standards that kept going up even as pollution controls dragged the mileage down, we started making cookie cutter cars out of plastic. Anything to get that weight down and mileage up. They went over like turds in a punch bowl.
Then some managerial genius had a brainstorm; run our factories like the Japs do. Nevermind the Jap's factories were state of the art, ours were state of the century. They would ram it through, make the workforce make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The results were predictable.
Then some other genius decided the problem was, we had far too many "old school lower and mid level supervisors." This was primarily the shop floor foremans and superintendents, the ones with decades of hands on experience of "this goes there" on the car. They were "congratulated" on their retirements in droves. Those that didn't wish to retire, were threatened with running a pig farm for the rest of their career. They retired. In waltzed the college boys, complete with "how to do this" books under their arms, by the busloads. Meanwhile, the bean counters took over designing cars. "Would that wrinkle make $.02 more?" Everybody made the same crap, for the same reasons. Lookalike cars.
It was a diseaster. GM fumbled and grumbled along, while Toyota became the quality darling of America, mainly because they had quality! GM dealerships grew tired of the bitching from customers, and started saying everything was the customer's fault. Toyota installed revolving doors on all dealerships to handle the extra crowds.
Corporate GM today does not want to be in the car building business. That just happened to be how they started out. They want to be in the car selling business, under the GM nameplate.
There is not a car or truck in this world today that is 100% built and assembled in America. Further, with the help of cronies in Washington, "built in Cold Land, Minn.", is allowed to mean the parts were made in Japan, they are just glued on the car in Minn.
Eventually, I look for automobiles to be like VCR's. There's a hundred brands out there, and two makers.
And when you say "that old guy's out of touch?" Go buy one of those Saturn Vue's, "made" in Tennessee, and advertised with such "wholesome values." Before you do? Ask where the engine was made. It's one of the best Honda can make. I know. I was a signature away from buying one, until I found out.
Then I bought my Toyota.
Post a Comment
Then, the tree huggers and gov't made us put pollution controls on cars far before we had the technology. The result was stifled, choked engines that could hardly idle, and problems beyond belief. The Gov't was unrelenting. "Gotta have it." So, to meet CAFE standards that kept going up even as pollution controls dragged the mileage down, we started making cookie cutter cars out of plastic. Anything to get that weight down and mileage up. They went over like turds in a punch bowl.
Then some managerial genius had a brainstorm; run our factories like the Japs do. Nevermind the Jap's factories were state of the art, ours were state of the century. They would ram it through, make the workforce make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The results were predictable.
Then some other genius decided the problem was, we had far too many "old school lower and mid level supervisors." This was primarily the shop floor foremans and superintendents, the ones with decades of hands on experience of "this goes there" on the car. They were "congratulated" on their retirements in droves. Those that didn't wish to retire, were threatened with running a pig farm for the rest of their career. They retired. In waltzed the college boys, complete with "how to do this" books under their arms, by the busloads. Meanwhile, the bean counters took over designing cars. "Would that wrinkle make $.02 more?" Everybody made the same crap, for the same reasons. Lookalike cars.
It was a diseaster. GM fumbled and grumbled along, while Toyota became the quality darling of America, mainly because they had quality! GM dealerships grew tired of the bitching from customers, and started saying everything was the customer's fault. Toyota installed revolving doors on all dealerships to handle the extra crowds.
Corporate GM today does not want to be in the car building business. That just happened to be how they started out. They want to be in the car selling business, under the GM nameplate.
There is not a car or truck in this world today that is 100% built and assembled in America. Further, with the help of cronies in Washington, "built in Cold Land, Minn.", is allowed to mean the parts were made in Japan, they are just glued on the car in Minn.
Eventually, I look for automobiles to be like VCR's. There's a hundred brands out there, and two makers.
And when you say "that old guy's out of touch?" Go buy one of those Saturn Vue's, "made" in Tennessee, and advertised with such "wholesome values." Before you do? Ask where the engine was made. It's one of the best Honda can make. I know. I was a signature away from buying one, until I found out.
Then I bought my Toyota.
<< Home
