Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Clean
Spoken by an industry "insider"....And so why again should the American public want to cast their dollars to an industry that doesn't have a logical/healthy business model/plan? Note, I'm not singling out just the automakers by this statement. But, to argue that "our industry is special" "we don't conduct business the way others do" well tdb. If you don't and they do, they are profitable and you're not, you wouldn't have to pay me $16million (or whatever the numbers are) to figure out something is wrong and we need to fix it. Don't wait until the ship is up to the gunwales in water before it is decided that there are holes in the hull that need to be repaired. Instead, again basing this on the Chrysler situtation, we'll just hail down the public to help us bail.
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Name another business group that not only gets a lot of government regulation, but gets as much conflicting regulations? NHTSA gets safety standards going, which tend to increase the weight of the car, making the gas mileage standards more difficult to meet. Then their's the whole problem of emissions.
And this problem doesn't just hit GM, Ford or Chrysler. Toyota's recent (by recent I mean since 2003) problem with engine oil sludge in everything from Corolla 4 cylinder's to Lexus V-8's. Problem has been traced to increasing engine operating temperatures to lower emissions. Let's not even forget Toyota's transmission problems, in the 2007 Camry and Avalon, Honda's oil filter related engine fires in the CR-V, etc. And for all of Chrysler's quality problems, assuming they survive, Nissan is basing their next generation full size pick-up on the new Dodge Ram platform and it will be built by Chrysler. Nissan isn't talking about what they plant for their very young Canton, Mississippi plant.
Then on top of all the regulation, there's conflicting consumer tastes - sporty ride verses boulevard smooth, how aggressive the transmissions shift, basic transportation (no matter what size segment) verses loaded luxury. Plus changing market conditions, liek the run up in gas pries taking even Toyota and Nissan by surprise, hit the market with high gas prices just as their five year product plan of getting into the light truck market was coming to fruition.
Which consumer product business gets nailed like this - Federal government interference, Federal court interference (give my wife her job), and then market factors changing faster than you can bring a new product to market?
Then what other industry is reported to affect 1 in 10 jobs (and that's supposed to include the dealers and all the businesses that depend on them)?