Ford has a better idea. Back in the day that was Ford's battle cry. For quite a while Ford has lacked a better idea and has landed in a stinky kettle of fish. GM and Chrysler have not done any better.American cars used to be the dream of every man, woman and child around the world. Today everyone dreams about anything but having an American car in their life. WTF happened?
We all have our theories on the failure of each of the auto makers. But really what it boils down to is that the issues in Ford, GM and Chrysler is all leadership, piss poor leadership, money grubbing greed from the CEO on down in each of these corporations and the failure to compete in a world economy. Simply put, we've had our asses kicked in the car world by Korea, Germany and Japan.
In the sixties American cars were hot. Chrome. Metal Fins. Big engines. The stuff wet dreams are made of.
Today's Mustang still looks a lot like the car it was back in the 60's. Evolution goes slow and steady in Detroit. When we should have been mirroring what foreign auto makers were building Ford, GM and Chrysler sat on their thumbs.
The revamped 2009 Camero in a time when everyone should be buying fuel efficient or hybrid vehicles is certain to be a loser. The new Camero has gas guzzler plastered all over it.It seems that the attitude of a lot of fellow countrymen is to let the Big Three fail and either cash in their chips, close the doors and fire all the help or file for bankruptcy. All of those solutions will cause ripples along the foundation of America which I believe will further devastate our economy.
Wifey and I hold a lot of stock in Ford and GM. We'd lose the sum total of our investment should Ford and GM go bankrupt or if they completely closed down. In the big picture that's a small price to pay compared to the thousands of workers who would lose their jobs. That's a small price to pay in terms of the losses of the other companies that Ford and GM owe money. And this is not even scratching the surface. Think about the impact on the economies of cities and businesses with in each of those cities when an automotive plant closes.
I don't think anyone has an easy solution to the problems America faces today. We only have rants about all of the bailouts and the corporate crooks who made off with all the money.
All this said, together we've made our bed. Now we have to lie in it.
4 comments:
Bob,
I agree with most of what you said here...I am one of the ones that feels that the big three should go under. I have stock in them too however, I was lucky enough to see the writing on the wall 3 years ago and diversified my stock into other things. If the money I have in the automakers tanks..I only lose casino money as they would say.
The lesson learned? The discipline in our schools are lacking. While we were busy here cutting teacher's salaries and benefits...the Asian countries were promoting their education system. So they had better talent building autos for the future. We did not....Then we went into denial...To a degree we are still there.
I am always a proponent of "its never too late" Lets get good quality teachers in the schools. Lets have them push our students to the next level so that we can secure our future...and theirs....
Fox: You don't want to get me started or hear what I have to say about how to improve public education. Having been in the business my viewpoint as a school district superintendent may offend you.
Buy American, so we did.
Pt cruiser-radiator, motor mounts, front end all have gone to shit 50,000 miles.
Ford F150 transmission completely gone 28,000 miles.
I love american things and people but the quality is for the birds.
Well said, Bob. Well said.
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