Consider buying American!

But it's not NEARLY enough of a track record compared to the Japanese
nameplates--not nearly enough for Joe Sixpack to throw his hard earned
$25,000.[/QUOTE]

Funny, the only carmaker to have increased sales last month was GM.

I guess you don't know Joe.

Jeff

 

They used to. But, the Michigan 3 also build good cars.

 

It's not possible for a country like the US to compete *at all* in the
world wide economy if you think the workforce wage cost is the only
important factor. You simply couldn't pay anyone as little as a Chinese
labourer as they couldn't even afford to buy food at US prices. Or
accommodation. Etc.

Thing I've never understood is why the American cars we get in the UK - at
a far higher price than in the US - have such very poor interiors. Cheap
plastics etc. After all UK (Euro) Fords and Vauxhalls are ok.

 

Geez, I some people want everything. Just buy American, fill it with
$40b Exxon gas, and stop ur whining! Don't you understand that there
are CEO salaries at stake here?

On a lighter note, when GM Management gets a friggin clue they might
be able to make some money. Don't expect it in the foreseeable future.
They've only made it this far due to inertia.

I though Vauxhall was a GM brand now (?)

 

Yes that's the odd thing - Ford and GM actually make some quite good cars in
Europe these days, and to be fair many EU marques had horrifying reputations
a generation ago: -

Citroen - over complex, unrepairable.
Fiat - rust
BL - everything
Skoda - "the worst new cars sold in Britain - Car Magazine"
etc.

 

They used to. But, the Michigan 3 also build good cars.[/QUOTE]

The Michigan 3 have improved.

So have the Japanese nameplates.

Jeff, nothing will change simple facts. Your precious Michigan 3
created sucky products, and are now trying to play in a very mature
market of good cars.

When you're Joe Sixpack and plunking down your $25,000...

 

Funny, the only carmaker to have increased sales last month was GM.

I guess you don't know Joe.[/QUOTE]

You keep wanting to focus on things so narrowly, and hope that you can
convince someone that it's a trend.

"The only carmaker to have increased sales last month was GM." Last
month. Show me the last 20 years.

"I found a lemon Toyota once." Once. Show me the last 200 million
vehicles. GM, Ford, Chrysler--losers. Japanese nameplates--winners.

 

But it's not that way all the way across the board. Not all American
Cars are unreliable. There are some that are considered as reliable
as a Honda or Toyota, at least if you're buying new. If you're buying
used, CR certainly recommends a lot more import models than domestic
models in their used car section, but they do recommend some domestic
ones. I would expect that to change a little in the next few years
though. The Big 3 are still getting beaten badly by Toyota and Honda
when it comes to reliability, but more new American cars are getting
the CR reliability mark now than five or six years ago.

 

Whereas the domestic manufacturers don't even have profits.

 

No, No, No.

A man walks into a car spares shop and asks "Can I get a hub cap for
my 1995 Lada?" "Sounds like a fair swap," says the chap behind the
counter.

 

I have an 85 F150 Ford in my driveway with 169000 miles on it and a 97
Honda Prelude with 80000.
I wouldn't want to try to predict which one will fail first but I do
know which one is the most expensive to maintain.
Somebody here told me the other day I wasn't qualified to work on the
Honda and I should pay $800 for a belt although I am perfectly capable
of doing anything to the Ford.
I can't even use common fluids in the Honda. The antifreeze is 4-5
times as much.

 

It's not the union worker's fault. You could hire a team of Formula 1
mechanics to disassemble and reassemble a Detroit 3 car and it would
still be a piece of crap.

 

"One swallow does not a summer make"

 

Name a GM, Ford, or Chrysler model from years ago that has an imprint
on you. Where is it now? Is still being produced? Does it still retain
its unique characters somehow? I can only think of Chevy Corvette, but
it's just an expensive toy and has no practical use. Besides, i'd
rather buy a Honda NSX if i want to have some fun and have money to
burn..

And i can never get over the nightmare i used to endure, also known as
a 1984 Buick Century. A f*cking pain in the ass piece of sh*t

The truth is that the "Big Three" have no integrity, no characters and
had not produced anything good enough to hold on to. Why would you
hold on to them?

 

Has been for a very long time.

The point I was making is US cars sold in the UK are priced for the UK
market - ie about double what they cost in the US. So similar to locally
produced vehicles. But the quality is very much worse.

 

Yup. It's nice to have a fall guy though. Saves approaching the real
problems. Since I'm reading this on a BMW group the OP might like to
ponder why BMW recognises unions but manages to be one of the most
profitable car makers world wide.

 

You can buy detroit iron and pay for present and past autoworkers high
pay, pension and health care, or you can buy "import" and be able to
pay for your own health care and provide for your own pension. Same as
shopping at wal-mart.

 

Moe wrote:

Shopping at Wal-Mart is a different story. Wal-Mart has some really bad
employee practices, like not paying workers when they work through their
breaks and a history of locking in workers at night. They are very
anti-union as well.

Wal-Mart does predatory pricing on the things they buy. This forces the
suppliers to cut costs drastically. And on some products, the quality
really suffers. Plus, the only way some makers can make the products at
the prices that Wal-Mart demands is to send work out of the country.

I don't shop there.

Jeff

 

Hey, Jeff:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=gm&btnG=Search+News

"GM lost $US722 million in the December quarter and a record $US38.7
billion for 2007"

Tell us again the bedtime story about how GM was the only automaker
whose sales improved last month.

 

Nothing unusual about improved sales *and* reduced profits.