Are The Big Three Sinking Because They Build The Wrong Cars Or Is That The Biggest Myth Ever?

This isn't just about building the wrong cars or bad quality cars, it's also about putting all your eggs in one basket. The big three focused too much on the US market, and built cars for the US market (Trucks, SUVs, Hummer?) therefore they are the ones hit hardest by the slump in the US economy.

BUT, by focusing too much on the US they also avoided the green movement, the diesel movement and the new designs. They basically stayed in the 90's while every other company moved into the new millennium. So I guess you can say, not only did they put all their eggs in on basket but they put it in the wrong basket as well.

Just my opinion though

— audispy (View Profile)

Posted on 1/9/2009 7:54:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

for most people 'imported' has a bias that is perceived as 'better' mostly if from europe.
if you had most people make a choice between a domestic or imported bottle of wine, which would that choose?
with cars, imported is a broader term, and some prefer to have sake. :)

— olscuul (View Profile)

Posted on 1/9/2009 8:17:26 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

For the most part. American cars are crap.

— LexSucks (View Profile)

Posted on 1/9/2009 8:40:28 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

I agree with audispy. The big three are too focused witht he US market alone that they cannot complete elsewhere. Unlike the other companies which are globally balanced producing "global cars" instaead of US specific models.

— woood (View Profile)

Posted on 1/9/2009 9:55:14 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

They're sinking because they build the worst cars in the world, after the Russian made of course.

— Designer1 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/9/2009 10:50:41 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

The big three product planners are partly to blame. At one point, Ford was Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury. GM is Pontiac, Chevrolet, Buick, Saturn, and formerly Oldsmobile. Then you have Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and formerly Plymouth. The Americans spread their developmental budgets across too many cars that are the same cars. Why? Sure, one could argue it's to provide the public with more options. But it doesn't optimize profits, based on development, marketing, and retailing/servicing the products. Honda, Nissan, Toyota focus their product lines to minimize across-multiple-same-products budgets. Same with MB, BMW, Audi, Lexus, Infiniti and, to a lesser degree, Acura on the luxury end. The Big 3 never understood that all the brand-badging of the same car costs alot of money.

— senorgato (View Profile)

Posted on 1/9/2009 10:51:17 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

Yet BMW is recouping from their losses by making diesel 1 series cars and what is GM doing? Hmm what was that word? It started with a b hmm. O yea they are begging for bailouts to continue their shitty workmanship.

— veyron1001 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/10/2009 11:14:35 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

The problem with Caddy (barely) beating BMW is that it won't result in many additional sales. 99.9% of BMW buyers do not cross shop Caddy's.

And if Caddy really wants to beat BMW, then they will have to build the best cars in the world for 20+ years, not just one model. Where is Caddy's 335i competitor? Where is Caddy's X5 competitor? Where is Caddy's 7-series competitor?

One decent model does not make Caddy a luxury performance brand capable of competing with MB or BMW.

— thstone (View Profile)

Posted on 1/12/2009 4:32:04 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Why are we even discussing this. Big three building wrong cars and crappy cars is not a myth but a fact. They got themselves into this mess and now we are all going down with them.

— BMWRU (View Profile)

Posted on 1/10/2009 1:05:36 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

No one has mentioned the leeching UAW...

— clsboy (View Profile)

Posted on 1/10/2009 1:28:12 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Sadly, I figure 20% of current domestics are spot-on and exciting. The other 80% are either complete failures or duplicates under a different a sister nameplate. Unfortunately, all diluting and bastardizing the brands.

— 100tnega (View Profile)

Posted on 1/10/2009 6:52:10 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

It's a combination of issues; but I believe it boils down to one core problem: Profit has been,and is, more important than the product.(although, there are signs that the product is slowly rising) This happened a long, long, long time ago and despite many attempts (for the most part unsuccessfully: IE; Saturn and what it was suppose to do?) to change this deeply rooted thinking, nothing has worked to change it enough. Unless this thinking is changed (permanently) I do not see a rosy future for the domestic auto industry. Kind of like America in many ways, but that is another subject.
Sad.

— Autoknologist (View Profile)

Posted on 1/12/2009 5:44:22 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

GM and Ford Trucks were #1 and #2 best selling vehicles in 2008 despite any rumors. The main problem with GM and Ford is that they refuse to look beyond 5 years and get behind the trends. Creating new trends or technology is expensive and current UAW/building costs prevents GM/Ford from being innovative. Yet things have changed after contract restructuring with UAW and Big 3 are learning from their mistakes.

Most Americans prefer large to mid-size cars and trucks, BUT due to fuel costs they are forced to buy small cars. Big 3 is finally focusing on small cars which will take time to catch up to Toyota and Honda. Ford is now on par with Japanese makes in reliability/quality with GM making progress. So until then Japanese automakers will rule small cars since they have done it so well for decades. Lets see if VW will overtake them all...as promised ;-)

— Porschinator (View Profile)

Posted on 1/12/2009 4:01:00 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

The Big 3 built their future on trucks and SUV's. They were unwilling to envision and plan for a future where middle America stopped buying trucks and SUV's and instead wanted reliable high mpg vehicles. Then, they collectively spent more than $30B of their own cash to continue to prop up and support vehicles that would not sell.

While its not fair to compare any of the Big 3 to MB or BMW (like comparing apples and tomatoes), the Big 3 can and should be compared to Toyota and Nissan. And yes, Toyota and Nissan have both seen big drops in sales, however they planned for $4 a gallon gas and not only have vehicles that will sell during the downturn but they conserved their cash as well.

Want some obvious examples? Why did GM/Chevy develop not just one, but THREE versions of the Corvette? Did Toyota or Nissan or Honda spend that money developing sports cars? No, they put it into the Camry, Accord, and Altima which rule their segments. What about the new Camaro? Why didn't GM spend the Camaro development money on the Volt five years ago?

The car business is all about having the right vehicles at the right time and the Big 3 simply missed the boat this time around and it may cost them their companies.

— thstone (View Profile)

Posted on 1/12/2009 4:21:45 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

The comment that "Toyota and Nissan planned for $4.00 a gallon gas" is just silly. The Japanese and French governments tax gas to that level, because they are concerned with maintaining their nation's financial health, unlike our government, which wants to bribe citizens with artificially cheap oil.

French (Renault/Nissan) and Japanese citizens have had $4.00 a gallon gas for years, and the national fleets are adapted to this reality. It isn't corporate brilliance, it's rational energy policy.

The management failure is in Washington, DC.

Americans like big SUVs and Trucks, and just like GM, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, and Mercedes have gone after that lucrative market with a vengeance. Of course, getting factories given to them by state governments, along with massive tax breaks, helps them be "more efficient," but it's not exactly the capitalist behavior that we now demand of our own industry.

— LauderdaleDriver (View Profile)

Posted on 1/15/2009 8:06:41 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1