Right before I read Thomas Hall’s earlier post about his experience in Detroit, a friend sent me the ad below.
(Really interesting post, btw, Thomas.)
Considering the situation they are in now, its too bad the Big Three didn’t lose the white collar dinosaurs along with blue collar dinosaur in Thomas’s post. Maybe they would have built cars other than SUVs that Americans would buy and at least have a plan in place for $4/gallon gas.
(Side note: Now that we are down to $1.70/gallon, how much do you want to bet Hummer sales rebound?)
Thomas Hall says:
John, thanks for the feedback.
Thought I’d share this as well – heard a GM exec state that they didn’t make cars, they were brand managers. If that in fact was the case, their portfolio of brands are roughly 60 years stale and no longer relevant.
I happen to think that American auto manufacturer happen to make quality vehicles, but I am not sure that they make the kind of vehicle I want to buy.
December 16, 2008 — 1:19 pm
John Rowles says:
There are some great American vehicles, no doubt.
Including the Ford Mondeo. Never heard of it? It’s been a top selling car in the UK since its introduction.
It’s a great car, routinely out-selling the Passat and the Accord.
Even the guys on Top Gear love it.
But Ford doesn’t sell it here. Same thing with the Ka, which is a sporty little hatchback based on the new Fiat 500 platform.
Ironic touch: The Ford ad that shows up on the Blog about the fuel efficient Ka not coming to the US is for the new F-150.
I don’t have the market research Ford has, and maybe most Americans would find the Ka too small, but the Mondeo? I don’t get it. Ford’s management has had a Camry and Accord killer on the road in Europe since 1993, and its STILL not here.
The really scary thing is Ford is the least of the stooges. They just asked for a line of credit, while the other two are saying they need billions right now.
December 16, 2008 — 2:22 pm
J Boyer Morristown NJ says:
I will have to stop by and read Thomasa’s post. Though the picture is very funny on the surface, deep down it is not funny at all. It represents all that is wrong with business in the US. Too much is focused on the short term, and on the bean counters. For God’s sake the real place for Accountants, and Attorneys in the corporate structure is in the basement, out of site, and out of range of modeling with success.
The Attorneys are the worst, they think they know everything, when in reality they know just enough about everything to screw it up.
December 16, 2008 — 2:24 pm
J Boyer Morristown NJ says:
Never should any corporation other than an accounting firm or a law firm ever allow an Attorney or Accountant to rise to the level of CEO. It is just bad for business in the long run. I hold up Roger Smith of GM as a perfect example of that.
December 16, 2008 — 2:26 pm
Thomas Hall says:
John – unfortunately, the US got the Fusion and the Milan – and perhaps because the Contour and the Mystique were the Mondeo in the late 90’s – not successful in the US. Maybe it was the name?? I thought the Contour was a decent car to drive – but whatever. The current Mondeo borders on sexy.
Ford is going to bring those models back to the US.
GM imports – again imports – the Saturn Astra models from their Opel division in Europe. Funny how a European manufactured model can compete in the US? The Saturn VUE is the same compact SUV sold in Europe, Asia and South America. Again, funny it can’t compete in the US? The Pontiac G8 and GT are manufactured in Australia – hmmm – again, imported.
Sorry guys – I’ve seen how the operations work inside and out – bottomline, they make entirely too many products at too high a cost.
December 16, 2008 — 3:12 pm
Mike Pannell ( Dallas Realtor) says:
I totally agree. I drive a F250, I need the sales to come up so that i can get out from under this truck. I tried to trade it in they only wanted to give me 26k for it. It has low miles and in real good condition. I owe 42k on it
December 16, 2008 — 3:40 pm
Mike Pannell ( Dallas Realtor) says:
One more thing,
If they are out of money???? How do the still sponsor the Dallas Cowboy game this passed weekend. They had the big stage and everything.
December 16, 2008 — 3:43 pm
Robert Kerr says:
I don’t have the market research Ford has, and maybe most Americans would find the Ka too small, but the Mondeo?
As has been pointed out already, the Mondeo was sold here as the Ford Contour. It flopped.
And the Ka is pretty much a Ford Fiesta with a different body.
Ford’s management has had a Camry and Accord killer on the road in Europe since 1993, and its STILL not here.
Camry and Accord killers? From Ford? I’m guessing you’ve never owned either a Camry or an Accord. Am I right?
December 16, 2008 — 9:26 pm
John Rowles says:
Not to turn BHB into Road & Track (which is where I want to work when I grow up), but…
I didn’t realize the Contour was an older version of the Mondeo. I was thinking of the new one that is getting great reviews from the UK motor press. Hopefully, Ford will bring it over and it will sell.
The new Ka is not a chopped Fiesta, but a totally new car based on the new Fiat 500, which is also a darling of of the Euro motor press.
When I met my wife, she had taken over her parents ’93 Camry. It was an incredibly reliable and really boring car. I’ve had a couple of Hondas (CRX, Civic Si) in college, and my brother in law drives an Accord. All great cars, and the Accord is less boring than the Camry was.
Right now I have a Toyota Tacoma. I compared it to a Ford Ranger when I bought it. It wasn’t even close.
The point is, Ford and GM (and maybe Chrysler but I can’t think of an example…) can build decent cars, especially when they dip into the worldwide parts bin, but as Thomas points out, they can’t or won’t market those models successfully in the US.
There are a lot of reasons for this: For example, the large margins on SUVs (which don’t have to comply with many of the safety and fuel economy standards of passenger cars and are cheaper to build). Sure, they were bad for the environment and need cheap gas to be viable, but they were easy to sell in a country that voted for George W Bush twice when gas was <$2/gallon.
December 17, 2008 — 7:00 am
Mr Mogul says:
Part of the problem was that the big three paid high insurance costs for their aging boomer workers (prompted by union pressure), and astronomical salaries for the higher ups. That might be a big factor as to why they bled money….
December 17, 2008 — 8:47 am