I read this on The Truth About Cars (www.thetruthaboutcars.com)
"It might be a bad day for GM but its a much worse one for Toyota. Really. The days (really decades) of weak domestic manufacturers shooting themselves in the foot with bad design, poor assembly, and non-existent customer satisfaction in passenger cars are coming to an end. Toyota didnt have to outrun the bear, it just had to stay ahead of GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Years of producing huge profits in North America hit the wall for Toyota in 2009, and theyre likely not to return. Ever. The game has now changedand its not good for Toyota.
Thanks to US and Canadian taxpayer support, GM and Chrysler are about to get a new start. Theyll enjoy fresh balance sheets, with minimized legacy liabilities and serious money earmarked for new products. (The taxpayers are paying for Fiat to develop cars for North America; you didnt really think that the Italians would take this risk on their own did you?) Ford, by dint of luck or smart management, borrowed what it needed years ago to make the transformation outside of court oversight.
By the end of this year, all three Detroit automakers will be restructured, resized to match production with demand, and re-energized. They will reenter the market as the lowest cost producers inside the U.S. market, with slimmer, trimmer product lines. These automakers are getting ever-closer to 100 percent capacity utilization.
Looking at product, Fords passenger car line up just keeps getting better. The 2010 Taurus looks hot, the Fiesta test drive campaign is generating good press with the Twitter/Facebook crowd, and a new Euro Focus will be here in a two years. Slowly but surely, more Americans are considering a Ford passenger vehicle. Its trucks still lead the category and will continue to do so. Better products, increasing quality, and slowly increasing market share is building FoMoCo momentum.
GMs go forward brandsChevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillacstill have some vehicles that dont cut the mustard with consumers. But the balance is starting to tip back towards the positive. The Malibu and Camaro represent some better efforts. The gorgeous new Buick Lacrosse might give the new Taurus a run for the money. Cadillac will extend the CTS line and bring a new SRX to the market shortly. The Corvette still leads the pack in dollar performance value. And maybe, just maybe, the Cruze and Viva will live up to GM hype machine.
GMs perhaps two to three years behind Ford with its product development cycle. But it can now concentrate on fewer models. Recent successful launches suggest that GM just needs time to plug the holes for the weak sisters. It now has the money to do so and you can bet (if youre taxpayer, you already have) that the efforts on fuel efficient passenger cars will receive the bulk of the dollar spend. GM wont abandon trucks (no matter what Nancy Pelosi thinks) and volume wise, GM leads.
Chrysler cant do anything under their new pasta-fed management until the re-tooled imports arrive here for production two years hence. Its cars still (mostly) suck, except for the higher-performance versions of its LX cars. But it isnt going away and will still find some buyers for its products at the pace of the recent past. So this company will just hang on . . . and on . . . and on.
Now, stop and think about this. What has Toyota done for you lately? Is there one single passenger car from Toyota that excites you?
Lets keep the new Prius out of this discussion for the moment; its not a car for drivers but techno-geeks and greens mostly with excitement provided by the fuel gauge, not vehicle dynamics. The Camry might lead the C/D class in sales for now, but will this continue? What happens when Americans actually consider a Malibu or Fusion-based product instead? In terms of design appeal, the Camry looks dowdy or boring (take your pick) and its reliability isnt any better than the Fusion. Put a four-cylinder EcoBoost engine in that Fusion and Ford wins.
Go through the rest of Toyotas passenger car line up and compare each vehicle to the current and near future offerings from GM and Ford. The question is: will Toyota customers do the same?
Toyota (or Honda) products have been the default choice. That Easy Button is starting to get harder to press for buyers. Yep, Americans will begin to come back to consider Detroit products (at least GM and Ford), and thats not good for Toyota. And weve really never left Detroit for our big pickups and SUVs, whle the Japanese are still mostly playing catch up.
Yep, its a bad day for Toyota and a great day for America. You can look forward to a new Detroit that will be competitive, if not lead, in cars and trucks for mass market Americans. Count on it."
Well I'm not in disagreement-I've always believed in our product- but I have to say it sounds like a bit of propaganda. As North Americans We'll buy what we're told to buy.
Interesting perspective, but it would be a mistake to count Toyota and Honda out. They weren't taken seriously in the beginning yet in a span of approx 20 years from entering the North American market they became key players selling products people believed in. To some degree they displaced the domestics on that front. But the point is well taken that slimmed down & revitalized domestics, with cleared balance sheets, can make a comeback. I hope they do.
Funny, but when I got my first Nissan product, I went looking because of the commercials. (old man and little dog). Since 98, I've had 3 Nissan products. 2 purchased used and 1 leased. My wife had a Dodge Neon, we traded in for a Saturn Vue. (never had any issues, so I always argue with people over the import vs domestic quality). My lease is up this fall. If I can, I'm getting a Malibu for my next lease. (company car). If I had the money, I'd get an Impala SS. (It's what I should have gotten instead of the Maxima anyways). I've had 1 or 2 minors issues with the Maxima. (that's 1 or 2 more than the Vue). So, I will be glad to put my money back into North American cars. Sad this happened to GM, but it will only make them stronger companies moving forward. (I hope).
Toyota and Honda and other import buyers ar generally religious buyers and stay to that brand because of realiabilty and good expereince with maintenance and repair. We both know working in both GM and import dealers that customers are a different breed altogether...Correct? Where a domestic customer will bitch and moan all day that his brake pads are out of warranty and has to pay where as a import customer will not bat an eye at dropping big or small $ to maintain their already reliable automobile. It always isnt styliing to some. Its relaibility and service. I have worked in both ends of the spectrum. In 2 years of dealing with irate customers in a domestic dealership day in day out whine whine whine. I only had 1 day bad in an import dealership. How does that differ? Quality. I am a die hard muscle car guy. Owned more than most have driven(58 to date). I really think the customers perspective on purchasing a new vehicle is previous expereinces. More times than I have heard people will bash a car company over 1 lemon they drove. SO the Pinto, the corvair, the escort, the corsica and so on....I think it comes down to quality of the product. I have owned GM Ford Chrysler, Honda, Mazda, , wow I cant even remember....lost count but a fair share. Because I spin a wrench and save a few bucks I am open to repairs and maintenance. To the general person who cant even check oil they soley reply on the vehicle and the shop to maintain their vehicle. People buying cars jusge past expereinces on new vehicle purchase unless the manufacturer/dealer can convince them its not a POS. It will be intresting to see what happens to all the manufactures, Import and Demostic. Before some peopel bash import owners. they soon to forget most of the so called imports are built right here in ONtario and ut money right back into our economy. No I havent jumped ship because I own a Honda. I support local workers putting food on the tables of their familes in my province. Union or not.(thats another discussion).I think the manufactures should worry about selling a quality product not a flashy new style. Beauty fades quick stuck on the side of the road. As much as id love to see BB radio deletesleepers. There is no market for it. Less than 20% Camaros will be V8 cars. The V6 camaros wll be GM'S bread and butter. Just my 2 cents. Wasnt trying to be bisased. Just my opnion. excellent discussion btw! Good write up Todd
I think you're dead on. If the domestics can shift their focus to deliver quality vehicles that people want, they'll be competitive. I wonder if in the new world of an equity-based government directed domestic auto industry, GM and Chrysler will have the flexibility to deliver LS1 Camaros, Hemi Challengers and Corvettes. They'll have to sell a lot of the V6 Camaros & Challengers to keep the performance cars viable.
A lot of common sense in MorePower's post, thanks.
A lot of what he writes can be confirmed by just checking the registries Fred has work so hard on. Even back in the era 6 cylinder cars dominate. No shame in buying a fuel efficient 6 cylinder Camaro that is faster than 95% of the Muscle cars we knew.
Oh ya, all of a sudden buyers are lining up for Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Opel already sold so GM will get a big cash influx from this too.
-- Edited by 73SC on Tuesday 2nd of June 2009 09:40:28 PM
This is true, new owners are very happy and plan to market worldwide and Frank Stronach determined to build electric car by 2012 in addition to his Opel acquisition here in Canada.
-- Edited by 73SC on Tuesday 2nd of June 2009 10:06:34 PM
