Posted on 02/14/2007 4:59:49 AM PST by baltoga
Cannot add excerpt due to copyright complaint, but see link and my two cents.
Link:
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070213/BUSINESS01/702130401
Having lived in Detroit, Michigan for 7 years during the mid 80's I find Toyota's success troubling. Not because of Toyota, but rather because what did the GM, Ford and Chrysler do over the past 20 years? I can surely tell you that the arguments about low yen, cheaper labor and lower content costs were the same 20 years ago as today. These arguments seem less valid today than 20 years ago given the US dollar drop in world markets and the Toyota plants built in the US (13 and more coming).
Toyota has nothing to worry about.
Agreed.
By the way, what happened to all the teachers?
Backlash? For making excellent cars that are far superior to the crap that Chevy and Ford are putting out? There can't be much of a backlash because every other car you see on the road is a Toyota, and their owners are going to bash the company for high quality and good customer service? I don't think so!
I think the backlash they fear is not from the consumers but from the government once the Unions start pulling strings and whining at the new congress.
Detroit Lemon? I buy nothing except Detroit Iron Pick Up Trucks. And each one of them red V8s that still will haul ass over a Toyota any day.
Has anyone seen what they did to the new Scion xB?!
=8-0
Detroit brought and the unions have brought this on themselves, outrageuos workers rights and aesthetically ugly vehicles, and many overpriced(due to unions) vehicles) are killing the US autoindustry. I dont buy the dependability crap some people believe, but if I can buy a Toyota for 5g's less and its as good or better than any similar America vehicle then I will always go for the price savings, as will most Americans.
My fear is that the Dems will eventually come in and purchase the pensions from the big 3 and save them from themselves and thus continue the emboldened unions who are destroying the industry in America.
Seeing that the F-150 is (or until just recently was--I don't know) the best-selling pickup in the U.S., that comment is not only frightening but encapsulates Ford's problem in a nutshell.
The Scion xB Classic
Sigh. I think Toyota's gone native.
About half of Free Republic, judging by previous threads on this topic. ;)
Sad to say that based on the rental cars we have had and other test drives, any Ford, GM and Chrysler products are not even considered.
The big three only have themselves to blame. THe new ford mustang is assembled in the US, but 70% of the parts are made in overseas. My wife had a Honda Element, also made in the US, with 76% of the parts from the US or Canada. When a honda is more American made then a ford mustang that is wrong on so many levels.
"The high wage begins down in the shop. If it is not created there it cannot get into pay envelopes. There will never be a system invented which will do away with the necessity for work."
-- Henry Ford
There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.
-- Henry Ford
Legacy costs? You didn't begrudge the extra $1500, in GM's case, they added to the cost of your vehicle?
"We liked the fact that Nissan offered a sunroof package and asked the Ford rep if they offered it as well. His answer was "you can go to an after market shop and have them do it for you"."
I suspect that this particular Ford rep needs to be fired. The F150 has had an OEM manufactured and factory installed Moon Roof for years. It is the same MR as what is on the Expedition/Navigator and it is manufactured by Webasto. The problem is that they are in high demand and CAFE restrictions hold the option down to only about 35% of the trucks produced. The added weight would drive the average fuel mileage down and the Feds would hammer Ford for that.
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