Re: And NOW, the Big 3 are doing what Packard couldn't do...

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2009/4/2 13:11:50

HH, I agree with everything you've said, but I think there is another factor and I'm not sure just how to express it. The Japanese, Germans, French and Italians, etc. tend to be nationalistic in their purchasing habits, that is to say they better support their own country's products than we Americans do. As of the last 30 years or so Americans don't seem to have the same sense, call it patriotism or whatever you will, to make even the smallest sacrifice to support our own manufacturing base (or even to support our own econony for that matter - when's the last time Americans in any numbers purchased our country's debt [bonds]? We didn't, and that's why China has 80% of our national debt?) Even in cases of equivalent quality, the "cachet" of a foreign car seems to rule the roost. That to me is one of the largest obstacles to GM or Ford or Chrysler ever becoming significant again in this country. Without a reversal, they'll become the little niche-market makers, and we know where they all ultimately end up.

Plenty of parallels in the past; e.g. while Zenith was US based and making one the finest TVs in the world, what did American's buy - Panasonic, Sony, etc. Another manufacturing base kissed goodbye!

And one needs only to look at the lastest catastrophic problems of Ireland and Iceland to see the vulnerabilities of having a "service-based" economy w/o a significant manufacturing component.

Here's hoping Americans grow up, get smart, learn to support our country again, quit the idea that living 3 levels above your income is a right, and hopefully we get all this done before the government puts us in the equivalent of debtor's prison.

I'm bracing myself for the response.