Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Can America's Auto Makers Survive?
Wall Street Journal ^ | 7 August 2008 | PAUL INGRASSIA

Posted on 08/07/2008 4:49:20 AM PDT by shrinkermd

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last
Article wandered some. I excerpted that section on leasing SUVs since I had not understood the seriousness of this problem.
1 posted on 08/07/2008 4:49:20 AM PDT by shrinkermd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd
I live in a place where most people have lots of kids, and most of them drive SUVs.

What are THEY supposed to do without seven passenger vehicles?

2 posted on 08/07/2008 4:52:16 AM PDT by Jim Noble (When He rolls up His sleeves, He ain't just puttin' on the Ritz)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jim Noble
I live in a place where most people have lots of kids, and most of them drive SUVs. What are THEY supposed to do without seven passenger vehicles?

I live in such a place.

Now they can buy a SECOND one for a nickel a pound, if they wait a while.

3 posted on 08/07/2008 4:59:40 AM PDT by Gorzaloon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Jim Noble

Well, we bought a nine-passenger 1994 Chevy Caprice Wagon. Unfortunately, those wagons were no longer made after ‘97. Its predecessor, a 1991 Ford Aerostar served us well.

For the large family, vans and minivans are most efficient. Crossovers (e.g. the XUV GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook, Buick Enclave) are certainly serviceable.


4 posted on 08/07/2008 5:02:44 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Dr. Sivana

Back in the mid 80s, our family did OK with a Chevy Celebrity wagon with a 4 cyl engine. It wasn’t very sporty but carried the load and got good fuel economy.
For a vacation trip we had to load a carrier on the roof, but that wasn’t a big deal.
My daughter (now with her own family) pointed out that a station wagon based on the new Chevy Malibu would be a pretty nice ride.


5 posted on 08/07/2008 5:20:14 AM PDT by nascarnation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd; Gamecock; P-Marlowe

The American auto industry has missed the forecast on the two oil crunches of my lifetime: Carter oil crunch and the Bush oil crunch. Both times the Japanese were already marketing high mileage vehicles. In fact, IIRC, that oil crunch really put the Japanese auto makers on the map in the minds of many American consumers.

Did the foreign auto makers have higher mileage autos because they better forecasted the direction of oil? I don’t think so.

I think they had in their own economies so inflated the price of oil through taxation that they were already producing higher mileage vehicles because they were practical in their own countries, given their higher priced gasoline.

Nonetheless, I don’t like small cars. I think they’re uncomfortable, less useful for transport of multiple passengers/cargo, and less safe. I’m willing to pay a bit more for size and the comfort, utility, and safety that come with size.

American auto manufacturers will always do well to continue to improve the mileage of larger vehicles. They should focus like a laser beam on larger, high-mileage vehicles.

Who really wants to cram into an Aveo, anyway? Certainly not a family with 2+ kids.

And, of course, there is cost. American auto workers should decide now that it’s better to have their total package of pay, benefits, and retirement cut from incredible pay down to good/excellent pay. It’s better to have a good job with good pay than no job with no pay.


6 posted on 08/07/2008 5:25:27 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain -- Those denying the War was Necessary Do NOT Support the Troops!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd

The American automobile manufacturing model is based on a vibrant domestic post WWII economy when most of the industrialized world lay in ruins, and could afford the demands of labor unions, generous wages, and retirement packages. Times have changed.


7 posted on 08/07/2008 5:29:39 AM PDT by SpaceBar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd

Notice quite clearly that the business model that a company operates under is determined by the company’s management, not its union. The situation that GM and Ford find themselves in is due to rigid (and not too bright ) management. The chickens are flapping home to roost.

One wonders what it will take to get these companies to change? And one wonders when the US will step in to bail them out?


8 posted on 08/07/2008 5:31:18 AM PDT by Citizen Tom Paine (Swift as the wind; Calmly majestic as a forest; Steady as the mountains.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd
Who decided front wheel drive was the ONLY configuration? The only reasonably priced rear wheel drive car is the Mustang... Only one US made car to choose from with rear wheel drive? UFB.

Why rear wheel drive is comming back.

9 posted on 08/07/2008 5:49:31 AM PDT by central_va (Co. C, 15th Va., Patrick Henry Rifles-The boys of Hanover Co.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: central_va

Chrysler 300 is reasonably priced.


10 posted on 08/07/2008 6:27:54 AM PDT by green iguana (FREE LAZAMATAZ!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd

The answer to the author’s question is yes.


11 posted on 08/07/2008 7:02:10 AM PDT by Thorin ("I won't be reconstructed, and I do not give a damn.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd

I think the era of the SUV is probably over and Americans will by and large move back to conventional sedans and small station wagon types. We really never needed those huge and weighty vehicles for what we used them for.

I happened to drive a new Ford Focus the other day and although I am too big for it most people would be pleasantly surprised. Plenty of zip and I’ll bet it might get close to 40 mpg on the highway, as I got 34 mpg in my Fusion.

I think GM is pissing in the wind if they think that they will revive their company on the Volt which will cost $45,000+. They have some good models in the Malibu and CTS but a lot of their product is not up to speed.

Personally I think Hyundai is the best deal going these days. And it is made right in Alabama. And they aren’t asking an arm and a leg for a really nice vehicle.


12 posted on 08/07/2008 7:06:37 AM PDT by RichardW
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nascarnation

Apparently hardly anybody wants decent-sized station wagons. Mazda had a wagon version of the Mazda 6 - the new model has no wagon version, probably because I don’t think they really sold very many of them. A few companies (mostly European ones, where wagons are still fairly popular) do a pretty good business in wagons, but the Japanese have largely abandoned them. I would have loved a new Honda Accord wagon, but they don’t have one in north America - the european Accord is a little smaller than ours, but they do have a wagon version.


13 posted on 08/07/2008 7:50:01 AM PDT by -YYZ- (Strong like bull, smart like ox.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: central_va

The primary reason US manufacturers decided to pass off FWD on the American car buyer was cost. It was cheaper to build a self contained power unit that could be installed on the production line as one piece.(engine/transmission) The old front engine/rear drive was comprised of too many pieces that required more assembly line stations and personel. In addition, the transmission/driveline/rear end components required more materials, mostly metals, to manufacture than a self contained and relatively compact transaxle.


14 posted on 08/07/2008 8:26:16 AM PDT by biff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd

Leave Detroit, go South, ditch the Unions...then the auto makers will have viable companies. Until then they are like the water spinning down a drain...


15 posted on 08/07/2008 9:18:26 AM PDT by vetvetdoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: green iguana
We test drove a Chrysler 300 when we were shopping back in 2000, and it handled like a drugged pig compared to the Acura TL which we ultimately bought, and which we've enjoyed very much for the past eight and a half years.


16 posted on 08/07/2008 11:43:28 AM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: shrinkermd
Can America's Auto Makers Survive?

Yes.
17 posted on 08/07/2008 11:45:36 AM PDT by mysterio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mvpel

Acura TL is very nice. The 2000 300 was a POS - very much improved when they remade it for 2005. You have to like the ‘Chicago Gangster’ styling it has tho’. For most people it’s a love it or hate it - little in between.


18 posted on 08/07/2008 11:54:54 AM PDT by green iguana (FREE LAZAMATAZ!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Jim Noble
What are THEY supposed to do without seven passenger vehicles?

In a free enterprise, market economy they're supposed to solve their own problems...and if they can't, they're supposed to fail.

19 posted on 08/07/2008 12:42:45 PM PDT by liberallarry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: xzins
They should focus like a laser beam on larger, high-mileage vehicles.

That's equivalent to saying they should concentrate on repealing the most basic laws of physics.

20 posted on 08/07/2008 12:49:34 PM PDT by liberallarry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson