Re: Automotive News

Posted by Mr.Pushbutton  On 2009/9/25 8:34:52

John, I completely agree with you about the Japanese cars of the early 1980s, they were only slightly better than the Japanese cars of the 1970s, which rusted out so quickly and so badly that it made the crap coming out of GM, Ford and Chrysler look good, which is saying a lot.
I think they have had that situation licked for over 20 years, the Japanese, Korean other domestically produced Asian brands I see around the Detroit area are holding up pretty good, as are many domestics. Gawd, remember the early 70s? Those Ford LTDs that started growing huge rust spots on the sides, the after six years the outer body skin started six inches higher than when new, a jagged edged tetanus shot looking for a place to happen. Other brands were not immune then. Ford sure had a problem with the rockers on the Aerostar vans in the 90s, as a matter of fact, things have improved so much that seeing something like that really stands out. The Detroit area is the ultimate test, we are sitting on top of the biggest container of salt the world knows, the Detroit salt mines. I snows heavily most winters and the city dumps liberal amounts of the car-killing stuff on the roads every snowfall. It's sort of like the air force and jet fuel, if they don't use their quota one year the amount is cut back so they make sure to dump lots--Packard V8 will back me up on this.
The Asian brands I see hold up as well or better than the domestics these days, and have for quite a while.

Which brings me to another point: Dealerships.

The local dealer is the perception of GM (Ford and Chrysler) , not the gleaming cylindrical glass tower on Jefferson avenue, not the Warren Technical center, not the many factories that produce the cars, but the dealer.
A lot of dealers, in my observance are dysfunctional family businesses, they seem to exsist to feed the owner's expensive hobby (cars, boats,planes,art, whatever)and desired lifestyle and to give all the ner-do-wells in the family (and a few hot girls for recreational purposes) employment. It has been easy for the company to say "well, they are an independent business and we have little or no control over what happens there"
Well, it's time you figured out what is happening there and do something to rein it in. Get some secret buyers out there to do test purchases in each dealership, meter every aspect of the transaction and treatment.
Brock Yates summarized it perfectly in his 1981 book, "The Decline and Fall of the American Auto Industry"
He bottom lined it like this: The executives of the three domestic companies are given cars by the company, these cars are inspected in minute detail by a staff of the best trained, best equipped mechanics in special garages reserved just for executive cars. Should there be any problem the car is whisked away to these top-drawer mechanics and fixed promptly.
This stands in such sharp contrast to how you and I are handled in the same scenario, and serves to isolate those who make decisions that affect the quality and reliability of their products such that this perk should be eliminated.
The new top men at GM and Chrysler (and Ford, even though they are not at the public trough) should have to go through a dealer to get their cars and service the way we do. They will have "their people" do the work of it, they are, after all busy people. But they will get to the heart of the matter quickly. The dealer situation for many is broken and it is time to fix it.

As far as Lee Iacocca goes, he had the guts to fight, and fight hard for a company he had little history with, but he believed in the future of, and he was successful.
First and foremost, he was product-driven. He knew to focus from the front office down on building product that people wanted. That ability to know, and to be able to predict is not taught in accounting,law or engineering school. I think it works best to have a super salesman at the helm, who listens to the other VPs and enables them to do the best for the company.