6 Myths/6 Truths about the Detroit Big "3"
With the recent debacle on Capitol Hill about what to do about the American
Auto Industry, the Lame Stream Media has managed to hang the Detroit 3 out
to dry without the all the facts.
First of all let me say that I am the first to agree with anyone that says that
the American Auto Industry did "a little to little, a little to late", But that said,
after reading this article and doing some research, I seriously had to digress
and say, well now, isn't that interesting.
So, to sum it up, it looks like the Big Three is not quite as lame as the Lame
Stream Media would like us to believe. So lets do a summary here;
1) GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the United States last year and
holds a U.S. lead over Toyota of about 560,000 so far this year.
2) The independent J.D. Power Initial Quality Study scored Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet,
Ford, GMC, Mercury, Pontiac and Lincoln brands' overall quality as high as or higher
than that of top selling Japaneese and German Vehicles.
3) The Chevy Malibu gets better gas Mileage than its competitor the Honda Accord
The For Focus has the same competitive gas mileage as the Toyaota Corrolla
and the Chevy Cobalt has better Highway fuel econonly that the Honda Civic.
4) They have not already received 25 Billion as the media reports, this alloted money
cannot do anything, by law, accept be used to invest in future vehicles and technology,
It cannot help them with their current economic situation.
5) The Big 3 are not alone, Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have all spent
billions of dollars on pickups and SUVs, this is still a viable part of the business for
Fleet Operated Busineeses.
6) Although the Big 3 got into the hybrid business late, Ford and GM now offer more
hybrid models than Honda or Nissan.
So, now looking at things with a little more clarity, I have to admit, I am still unclear
as to what needs to be done, but one thing I do know is that Albert Einstein definition
of "Insanity" still rings very true "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting different results", and that goes for Congress and The Big 3!!
Pat Bucannan recently said it best at his article at Human Events
with cars made overseas in factories in postwar Japan and Germany, then Korea,
where health and safety standards were much lower, wages were a fraction of those
paid U.S. workers, and taxes were and are often forgiven on exports to the United
States. All three nations built "export-driven" economies. The Beetle and early
Japanese imports were made in factories where wages were far beneath U.S.
wages and working conditions would have gotten U.S. auto executives sent to
prison. The competition was manifestly unfair, like forcing Secretariat to carry 1
100 pounds in his saddlebags in the Derby"
Comments