Payload
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- November
- 13
Knowing there are readers of this blog who are from every continent on the planet – and might therefore not get this cartoon – I should mention that “Like a Rock” is the chorus from a schmaltzy Bob Seger song that was co-opted by the GM ad department and used as the tagline for Chevy truck ads. And for all my American readers, I apologize profusely for ruining your day by embedding the song in your mental audio loop for the rest of the day.
On the issue of bailouts to US carmakers? They fought tooth and nail for years to keep inefficient federal mileage standards on the books so they could dismiss their critics and continue to sell large amounts of oversize, crappy trucks at an astonishing profit to people who should’ve known better. Now their business model has predictably collapsed, and they want taxpayers to bail them out. That’s just plain irritating. If this was the seventies, a Big Three bailout would be imperative for the US economy, but Japanese and European automakers employ as many American workers here as the US Automakers do and they’re not asking for a nickel. Instead they have invested in a revolutionary business and marketing strategy, which is known in industry-speak as “selling cars that people wish to purchase.”
This entry was posted
on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 10:52 am by Matt Davies.
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Thank you!! You know, Matt, this is deja vu all over again. Before the energy crisis of the ‘70s, there were three big American car manufacturers and all the others were cute and exotic alternatives. And muscle cars were the thing; the bigger the better.
When the oil embargo hit after the Yom Kippur War and gas prices started going up, suddenly fuel mileage was the only thing that mattered, and foreign cars became the greater consumer choice because those companies made smaller cars and were better able to adapt to the changing market.
The “big three” wanted all this help from Washington and claimed that they were unable to change so much so quickly. AMC died, and Chrysler would have also had it not been for Lee Iacocca’s leadership and powers of persuasion on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, even though the “big three” have survived these past 28 years, names like Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, and Volkswagen have steadily increased market share, Honda grew out of lawn mowers and motorcycles and are as big as the others now, and a bunch of Korean brands have joined the party.
The “big three” have lost their dominance—two nameplates, Oldsmobile and Plymouth, have been discontinued—and are losing their competitive edge. Why? Just as you stated: they don’t make cars that people want to buy. All those other companies seem to have figured it out.
What happened 35 years ago was a warning shot across our bow. If we didn’t learn from history we are condemned to repeat it. Capitalism can be brutally cruel sometimes. Congress cannot be always relied on to come to the rescue. The lesson right now for America’s auto industry is: adapt or die.
Like A Rock—- could describe the brain matter in the skulls of the heads of what used to be the “Big 3”. Dumb as a rock or, more likely, a box of rocks…
why would anyone want to buy a substandard overpriced outdated looking vehicle from one of the when for less money they could buy a higher quality, more updated looking auto with better fuel economy? Dumb as a box of rocks for sure…
I have no sympathy for them. If anybody needs a bailout it’s us, the taxpayers.