Tired of Negative Car News

[Dan CLC#20712]

I just get so tired of hearing about how the American car companies are going down.  If you ask me, its not just the UAW, americans in general are all to blame for the demise of the american car companies.  It was once a patriotic thing to buy an american car... "see the USA in your Chevrolet", but now, americans want the most for less thats why Wal Mart is king.  There is no doubt the american car companies quality wasnt good in the late seventies early eighties, and just as they abandoned what the american consumer wanted, so have the american people abandoned them now.  The Japanese cars are in their glory now, just as general motors was in the late fifties early sixties. THEIR TIME WILL COME TO...history repeats itself, you can already see korean cars becoming more popular.  It is an evolution that will eventually destroy the middle class.  America will be composed of the very rich and the very poor.  The majority of americans seem to not see this or they dont care.  I love my 71 SDV, because its reminiscent of the time all the glory was in American ingenuity, American manufacturing, and American Style.  In 1971 you had it made if you had a Cadillac.  The foreign brands were just wannabes. Thats the way it should be in America, instead the mentality is how to make and get the most, and work the least. Both on the part of the manufacturers and the consumers. It is a sad time for the American car companies, and not really a time to predict the timetable for their finale demise.  America is the best country in the world, and any industry that is so much a fabric of the american culture  should be preserved, with the same enthusiasm we with old cars preserve them. Hopefully auto manufacturers and consumers will see this. Sorry if I have offended anyone, I just love my middle class home, my Oldsmobile Intrigue, Ford F-150, and of course my 71SDV.

[Mike #19861]

 I too am tiring of all the negative news. Of the problems with GM anf Ford. The media seems to be just preying on it, and according to them, we will se a bankrupt GM witin the year.

 The reasons are many and complex why we are in the situation we are in now. The UAW certainly has to shoulder its share of the blame, as does the US government over the last 35 years. But there are market forces involved, poor management the oil situation and the global economy that have made it a very challenging time.

 Im confident GM will emerge lean and mean and competitive in the world market. They are off to a running start in China, and they are actively promoting American brands globally. They may not sell 8 million cars and trucks in the US, but may do it over the world.

 Mike

[denise 20352]

  I am sickened by what has happened to American industry.  Tony told me yesterday that foreign companies have bought the turnpikes in New Jersey and are raking the toll money.  Whether or not thats true, I dont know, but it COULD easily be true.

 Let me elaborate.  When Americans buy foreign-made goods, the money goes to the foreign companies.  Some people say that this isnt a problem, because we are sending them American dollars, and those dollars have to be spent in the US.  So they have to buy our products in return, right?  NO!  They can buy our ports, our turnpikes, our movie studios, car dealerships, real estate, factories, etc. until we dont own our country anymore!

  Weve all bought foreign-made stuff, but we should try to buy American whenever we can.  Some things, we just cant afford, but there is much satisfaction in owning quality American-made goods, and sometimes you can even get them for the same price.  The idea that Americans cant build things is a total fallacy.  

  Stay away from Wal-mart...I go there about four times a year, and I always leave in a bad mood.

  Now as for the carmakers, despite all of my feelings about foreign industry, I want to see Ford go down the toilet.  No other industry could get away with selling total garbage and then telling their buyers to **** off, the way that Ford did to me.  Both GM and Ford seem to still be of the attitude that we have no choice but to buy their cars, and at some point, theyre going to have to realize that they cant alienate all but a few of their customers, give lousy service, and hope to survive.

  With all of the discussion that is going on about old vs. new cars around here, how many people have stood up and said that they love the new Cadillacs?  We appreciate your opinion, both of you, and Im sure that Cadillac is happy to have your business.  But until I see something at the Cadillac that doesnt make my puke and gag, theyre not going to get mine.  Im not going to buy a foreign car, but I wont buy a new American car either.

-denise

[Bill Gauch]

Wow... this is one heck of an e-mail. I dont know where to begin responding. I am really curious to know what everyone else chimes in with in response. I feel like there is an important part of the issue of cars that you are overlooking... The fact that this is a Cadillac (and La Salle) message board only shows you one side of things. I think, if you posted a comment/question here saying "Japanese cars are good, bad, whatever", you would evoke as much/more criticism of them/you. Personally, I think American engineering and design have gone wayyy downhill. I think that Japanese design and engineering have not changed in 20 or so years. The fact of the matter is, the Japanese manufacturers made something with far, far better quality than the American companies were making 20 years ago and American companies have been playing catch-up since then.

Flash forward to current time...

Every modern concept car that I have seen in recent years, with the exception of Cadillac’s, has been heavy in the technology integration concepts and very weak in design and engineering. I know the internal combustion engine hasnt changed in much, but refinements can always be made.

Actually, I think most of the problems with automotive design can be placed on the backs of the consolidation of all the car companies into very few expensive companies. All the independents are gone. All the individuality of the sub-brands was mushed into one crappy ideal. They dont even do that right because they feel the need to prevent interchanges among sub-brands because they are all made in different factories with slightly different specs. Show me one company that can make an engine like AMC and use it from 1963 to 2006 with few changes (and Chrysler is going to be killing that at the end of this model year).

My conclusion is this: The future success or failure of the American auto makers lies squarely on its design and engineering.

One final note, I dont think that unions are bad in all cases, and as stated above, I dont think the downfall of car companies has much to do with unions. Unions in this case, however, take a bad situation and make it worse. They do this by increasing the costs associated with making a crappy product. If we make a crappy product for $1000 and they make a crappy product for $500, who can sell their product for more (or the same, but make more profit)?

[Jim Skelly, CLC #15958]

Ive owned 8 GM cars and still have 4 of them.  I wouldnt seriously consider another manufacturer.  My Dad and Grandfather retired from GM, so I feel a loyalty to GM.

However, GM hasnt had a good product lineup since 1973.  That was the first year of the new intermediates (without the convertible), the redesigned X-body (Nova, Ventura, Omega, Apollo), and new pickups.  The convertibles gradually faded away, as well as the hardtops.  Emissions, gas mileage, and other federal mandates resulted in downsized cars with mediocre styling.  1973 was the last year when a substantial portion of their product lineup changed over the previous year.  Failures such as the Vega, diesel engines, and front wheel drive X-cars has caused GM to be afraid to be more innovative.  Their biggest mistake was not addressing quality issues.  Customers were treated with attitudes at dealerships and GM had hidden warranty programs that were not disclosed to customers unless they complained long and hard.  

You seldom hear Toyota or Honda owners complain about their cars.  That is because these companies make a real effort to make their cars reliable.  They dont excite you with their styling, but the cars are well engineered (except for rust protection).  GM first needs to address reliability issues.  Once it gains a reputation for making quality cars, people will start paying attention.  Then they can allow their stylists to make attractive cars again.  I look at what GM offered in 1966 compared to what they offer today and it is really sad!  

The news media is so against anything Detroit-related.  A good example of that is Car & Driver several years ago rating a foreign car over the new Dodge Intrepid.  The Intrepid won in almost every category, but the writer said that the interior was too large!  In other words, he couldnt bear to admit that an American car was better than a foreign car.    

The unions are blamed for a lot of the problems, but the big three agreed to these benefits and work rules to avoid strikes.  There is plenty of blame to go around.  Poor management can be blamed for most of it.          

[Allen Garbowitz]

Bush should slap a 50percent import duty on all foreign cars, the cash should go directly to funding American auto makers pension plans.

[Bill Gauch]

Umm, didnt Bush Senior already do that? Actually, it was 100percent import duty on foreign luxury cars, if I remember correctly. That among other things is the reason that most "foreign" cars are made within the confines of NAFTA. If the VIN starts with a digit (1-4) its made in North America.