Posted on 11/14/2005 1:29:03 PM PST by BurbankKarl
So how did the non-Detroit makers do, or is this because of Greenspan's battle against economic growth?
It is clear that Toyota and Honda are grinding them into dust. RIP
make a good, safe, economical car and sell it at a reasonable price and people will buy it.
make a good, safe, economical car and sell it at obscene prices, and you get what you deserve.
Nope, they did it to themselfs. The Ford family is proof that the old man was a mental leap well apst any of his progeny. Chyrsler, er Diamler, is doing waht Germans do with inferiors. And GM 'Robert S. MacNamera'-ed themselfs by trying to tell crap as 'that car you knew we could build'.
This might explain why Ford has called us 2-3 times in the last month asking us to consider purchasing a new vehicle.
Not exactly. A good friend of mine is a Toyota salesman in Phoenix and he told me he is having a terrible month. Nothing with a V8 is moving and the only car that is selling is the Camry.
Ford is selling F150's and Mustangs and that's about it.
Crapboxes.
Nissan and Hyundai make better cars right in the US in MS and AL.
Theres no need to buy American.
And yes, the Sonata is much better quality than many GM and Ford vehicles.
There is no problem in the automobile industry that good product will not solve.
TOKYO -- As Toyota Motor Corp. cranks up its North American factories, it will reduce exports from Japan, right?
Wrong. Toyota is pushing its exports to new highs, and North America is the prime target.
In the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, Toyota expects to export 1.04 million vehicles to the United States, Canada and Mexico, up more than 20 percent from a year earlier. That's a record. Toyota's annual exports to North America have never topped 1 million units.
"Demand has been stronger than expected," says Takeshi Suzuki, Toyota's senior managing director in charge of the finance and accounting group. "It's not proper for us to keep customers waiting. So we have expanded capacity both at home and abroad."
I recently purchased a 2005 Hyundai Elantra and am very happy with my selection.
After months of "employeee pricing" the bottom feed next years customers. To make sales in the past few months they lowered their prices so low people who would have bougth in the next 6 months to a year bought then. Now they are suprised that they glutted the market and no one is coming around.
Well last I checked the foreign cars were just as expensive if not more so than domestic cars. Therefore the the reason people are choosing foreign cars (even those produced in America) over domestic cars (even those owned by foreign companies) must be that at least one of the criteria quality, safety, economy) you mentioned must be lacking in the domestic cars and not lacking in the foreign cars that people are buying.
Let's presume that safety and economy are relatively close between foreign and domestic cars. Then that only leaves quality that is lacking.
I don't know about you but I'm driving an 18 year old foreign car, while it is hard to find any domestic cars even half its age still on the road.
Value counts, when you are making the second most expensive purchase in the Average American's life. Even more so when it is the most expensive purchase.
Well, I bought a safe (5-star crash test rating), economical (32 mpg highway) Ford sedan almost 9 years ago for under $20k, about $3000 less than a comparably equipped Toyota or Honda would have cost. Still no mechanical problems (though I get a slight feeling the days on the mass airflow sensor ($45) are numbered). Since then, Honda's prices have jumped, Toyota has stayed steady, and the new Ford replacing mine has a lower sticker price than mine had 8 years ago.
the new Pontiac Solstice is sold out for 1.5 years, the factory is adding a third shift to keep up. that is one bright spot for GM.
Ford should stick to what they do best, trucks and Mustangs, and maybe improve the look of their small nimble foreign Focus. Dump Taurus for goodness sakes... and Crown Victorias only work for cops, I would scale back to a Camry size and convenient like competitor instead, maybe with a Tbird look. Big Sedans are a waste in an SUV world.
"I don't know about you but I'm driving an 18 year old foreign car, while it is hard to find any domestic cars even half its age still on the road."
I don't know about that... I see plenty of 20+ year old domestics on the road here next to Toyota's NA headquarters. Plenty of generation I Tauruses (20+ years old), too ...though I consider pre '97 Tauruses to be risky quality wise...
Most recent surveys, when properly analyzed from a statistical basis, show only very slight differences on average in quality... Some domestics do better than some imports and vice-versa. Its always worth looking at the actual data on a specific model, not going with preconceived notions.
After all, Hyundai has until recently built complete crap. :) Did their improved quality allow them to give 10 year warranties, or did the offer of a 10 year warranty result in higher perceived quality? Tough call, there...
Nissans are a great deal. Good car, reasonable price. Their latest big truck eats Fords, Toyotas and Dodge equivalent for lunch, despite uglier looks.
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