Forbes' Jerry Flint has some strong words for Detroit. But first… "Yes, Asian car companies cheated. They kept us out of their countries and kept their currencies weak. Yes, our government changed the rules so foreign brands could sell in domestic dealer showrooms, making it cheap for them to attack this market. Yes, our unions helped by ignoring the destruction they were causing until it was almost too late. State governments helped by giving foreign carmakers huge tax breaks when they build plants. Then there was bad luck, or whatever it is that has pushed gasoline prices to $4 a gallon." BUT "the blame has to fall on Detroit's executives. They didn't know enough about their own business to build better cars than the foreigners did, and they were unprepared for a change that was sure to come, sooner or later." BUT "That's not the issue. If we want a home-owned industry, our government will have to help for a change instead of piling on, treating the automobile and the industry like devils." OK, so, how much is this boondoggle going to cost me? Nothing! All we have to do is "halt immediately all new regulations–safety regulations, emission regulations, bumper regulations, mileage regulations." Where do I sign?
Find Reviews by Make:
Read all comments
In the end, it all comes down to better product, not better excuses…
Flint seems to be going a bit around the bend these days. If he thinks that a moratorium on automotive regulations will magically fix Detroit then he needs to go into retirement, yesterday.
In fact, there is a good chance that if CAFE had kept incrementing up by 0.5 MPG per year these past 23 years instead of staying locking in at 1985 levels, Detroit wouldn’t be in the bind it finds itself in right now. Strategic errors are made in the “good” times more so than in the bad. The easy money decades for trucks and SUVs could have been used to build up Detroit’s product lines and efficiency technology … but instead they went into executive bonuses, goofy acquisitions, generous labor deals, on-again-off-again development programs and temporarily high stock prices. Now the easy money party is over and the hangover is world class, perhaps fatal. Had CAFE kept a steady march upwards there would have been less of an easy money party and more real work getting done.
Gawd. Another New Deal thinker of an old man who ‘remembers’ that brand of social/fascism in a better light. He got all of the reasons for the Big 3 failure right, but he’s daft in his pronouncement of the solution. Sheer garbage.
I’m with Turbo G; it’s the product, stupid.
Funny my Honda was built in America. Good economy, quality engineering and build. We have a US auto industry. One I can invest in and my neighbors can work in.
It works for me.
On the other hand the biggest difference I see between the Big 3 and Asian auto companies is who occupies the management seats. The Big 3 lean towards MBA and JDs. The Asian companies towards engineers and founding business leaders.
I might support taxpayer subsidies for the Big 3 when their top 50 executives make the same compensation multiplier compared to line workers as Asian auto company executives.
Ole Coot Syndrome to include Flint, Byrd (WV), and Stevens (AK).
I’ll agree with the engineers vs. MBA’s idea. MBA’s seem to be really good in the short term, but for the long term they just seem to suck.
This guy has a legit point. Europe and (in particular) Japan give HUGE government incentives to their automakers, while our government uses the domestic industry as a whipping-boy, left to fend off not just the companies themselves, but the nations as well. Fact: Japan manipulates its currency to help their auto companies. The US does nothing about it. Fact: Japan gives its automakers boatloads of money for advanced research. US automakers get peanuts from our government in comparison. Fact: Japan and Europe have nationalized healthcare. Meanwhile US companies are required to provide for their workers and retirees. Fact: Trade policies and tax incentives give a nearly open market to foreign companies here in the US, while we are not granted the same overseas…our government does nothing about it. Fact: European and Japanese governments treat their companies as a source of national pride, while US companies get a photo-op every few years and some remarks when election time comes up and candidates need to carry Michigan. Fact: The US government had a hand in forcing large trucks and SUV’s onto the public and making them profitable for domestic companies. If they hadn’t come up with CAFE rules (which I am quite certain say that you can’t count foreign-built small cars towards your average…forcing companies to build them for a loss in the US while pushing profitable SUV and truck sales to make up the difference) that punish companies for consumer choices (look how effect high fuel prices have been vs CAFE), maybe they could have actually made money on small, good cars. Unions I won’t discuss. Legit US industry issue. Silly management is another. Poor reliability that opened the door to foreign makes is another. Marketing is another: Hell, look how good a job Toyota and Honda did convincing people that “final assembly in America” is somehow the final word when it comes to what makes a car “American”. You can’t even start to compare financial impact of an Accord built in Ohio vs a Fusion made in Mexico. The cash infusion of the latter far outweighs the former when you consider everyone beyond those who work the lines. I’m all for free market, absolutely. But nobody can sit here and deny that our government has done nothing to ensure the playing field is fair. If other govt’s are gonna play the game, then either we should play too, or trade agreements should change. Instead, while Detroit makes mistakes of its own doing, they get pounded by their own government. How would you feel if you were required to take on the world with one hand tied behind your back? This article brings up legit points that are too big to just ignore.
I might support taxpayer subsidies for the Big 3 when their top 50 executives make the same compensation multiplier compared to line workers as Asian auto company executives.
We need to see some serious pain if lessons are to be learned from the Big 3 fiasco. In addition to huge pay cuts at the top, we need to see the bystanders canned and humiliated and the stock holders all but wiped out.
From allbusiness.com:
“Officers and directors may be personally liable for financial harm caused to the corporation if they:
* Breach their duty of care to the corporation;”
I’d think a pretty good case could be made that the GM directors have met the test given the years-long loss of money and market share. Just leaving Wagoner in place should be enough. Of course such a suit would be brought by stock holders, I assume, and they’re curled up in a fetal position somewhere sucking their thumbs.
Jerome10: You are thick in the D2.8 kool-aid drinking up all the excuses for poor management, short term thinking, apathy for everyone around, greed and carelessness for their core customers.
Fact is Detroit makes so many excuses for their poor performance they spend less time making cars.
Fact is that US also adjusts our own currency not just Japan. This is the age old excuse by Detroit repeated so many times people think its true.
Fact is that US D2.8 Management makes exponentially more money than the white and blue collar workers compared to a Japanese automaker. No one is worth $16M+ a year for losing 10% total market share in 8 years!
Fact is US gives money to automakers for R&D in many forms such as tax credits for buying hybrid vehicles (of which D2.8 did squat about and other mfgrs took advantage of this).
Fact is the majority of Japanese cars sold in the US are built in the US without a nationalized health care. They instead pay into 401k / IRA plans rather than through guaranteed union pensions that milk funds and money for greed.
Fact is we have such huge trade deficits b/c Americans are very wasteful and we consume much more than we can produce – not Japan’s fault but our own (hard to look ourselves in the face and take some of the blame).
Fact is Japan and European manufacturers work together which leads to more success. D2.8 and UAW management (leaders are politicians) treat Gov’t politicians with disdain and are often at odds unless they are scratching each others backs.
Fact is the US Gov’t didn’t force the D2.8’s hand…they quested after huge profits and buying other automakers through easy and cheap to build SUVs and ceeded the small cars as they didn’t make money. This short sighted abandonment of view is D2.8’s fault not the Gov’ts. D2.8 spent billions lobbying in Gov’t for CAFE loopholes for E85 vehicles to avoid penalties for terrible mileage for their fleet. Honda or Toyota can make a profit on their cars b/c they incrementally improve them over decades making them better, reliable. D2.8 treat them as poor people cars and build them that way.
Final Assembly in America from Honda / Toyota is from locally sourced parts from local US companies. They have been for decades building these relationships, partnerships, and quality. Read up on rankings of parts suppliers of their manufacturer customers – note Honda/Toyota are always ranked the highest b/c they care whether that contractor makes a profit. D2.8 hammer them for costs cuts leading to shoddy cars.
In business there is a very simple but all too true expression that the “costumer is always right”!
GM, Ford, and Chysler just plain forgot about the cosutmers NEEDS and DESIRES and left the door open for the competition to eat their breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
In all honesty when we review this mess in the future I believe Americans will be better willing to admit that our auto industry was run like a socialistic enterprise; WE MAKE IT, YOU BUY IT (like it or not)! “Dont like it, too bad. Go buy one of those stupid little VWs!”
I am 38 year old and have paid attention to the auto industry for a while now and I have to say for as long I have cared the Doemstics have always prooffered excuse after excuse for their lackluster performance. It has always been some outside force that is hurting them and not themselves.
Come on, would you hire a person to work for you with no personal sense of responsibility?
When you go out to buy a shirt or a pair of running shoes, (or nearly any shoes or clothing) do you care if they are made in the U.S.? Most of us do not. Most of the time, we can’t find anything made in the U.S. to buy. The free market position has always been, if it can be made somewhere else cheaper, buy it from where it can be made the most efficiently.
Americans are not as efficient as the Japanese. Our work is not as precise. GM engineers are not as good as Honda engineers. Japanese cars last longer and offer more value. Japanese companies have better business strategies and are more in tune with the market. That is why they have beaten us.
We have two choices: 1)let Detroit fade away.
2) Invest in some last ditch effort to gain the technological high ground.
If we choose the former, we should be prepared for the consequences of the lost pride, lost jobs, and the discovery that we don’t call the shots anymore.
If we choose the latter, we need game-changing technology. That costs money and we must be prepared to let the government fund the basic research. It will cost less than a year in Iraq, but I think it will pay better dividends.
“Japan give HUGE government incentives to their automakers”
And just what do you think the “Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles” going back to 1993 and it’s later day son the “FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (FCVT)” programs are? Big governement handout to the US auto makers. Unfortunately, little of consequence came of these efforts. I don’t know how much the Japanese government does to help their auto industry, but at least it works! Also, state and local governments routinely give handouts to domestic and transplant factories for “worker training” and such. You can hardly argue that the various levels of government in this country do nothing to support the industry. Heck, do you think we would be in Iraq if oil was such a vital import?
Can you back up your claim with facts about how the Japanese government subsidies it’s auto industry?
Carlos,
Just a reminder that “the government” takes money from you and me and about 150mm other Americans as taxes and GIVES it to corporations and other entities in the form of social programs and entitlements. mmmkay?
And your comment about US engineers not being as precise or efficient as their Japanese counterparts is a load of crap. It’s the leadership that has sunk the D2.8 for the last 30 some odd years. $50 and a steak dinner says that if GM had been run by engineers the last 3 decades, it would be Toyota.
jaje:
Fact is Japan and European manufacturers work together which leads to more success. D2.8 and UAW management (leaders are politicians) treat Gov’t politicians with disdain and are often at odds unless they are scratching each others backs.
You’re preaching to the choir, brother…:)
The CEOs/upper management of Japanese and European automakers primarily come from engineering backgrounds (many of them have PhDs).
The CEOs/upper management of the Big 2.8 manufacturers are primarily MBAs/Marketing/Bean Counters.
Kinda speaks volumes, doesn’t it?
The big 2.8 did not abandon small cars. In fact, they make some of the most popular small cars around and make a profit selling them. The catch is that I’m talking about the Big 2.8 in Europe, not in the USA. Solution: allow the Big 2.8 to meet standardized EU car safety, pollution, and mileage requirements. In fact, harmonizing these requirements with the EU would help all manufacturers by allowing them to amortize design and crash-test costs across a bigger market.
As far as legacy health car costs for past employees, is this “normal” in the working world? I know plenty of people (including myself) who get health care while they are current employees but what crazy plan is it to provide free health car to people who aren’t even working for you? It sounds like the Big 2.8 promised a bunch of stuff but didn’t fund that stuff up front.
Why am I one of the few people who’s not excited about American cars getting neutered? Until a fuel effecient car comes out that has a 0-60 time of less than 6 seconds AND can seat four people comfortably, I’ll keep buying pre-CAFE standard cars no matter what gas costs.
Kia and Hyundia can build a respectable car in less than 10 years. GM is still whining………
Jerry is a friend of mine, yet I am the first to criticize him for patronizing GM and suger coating the truth. today’s article though is one of his better ones, full of truths and spot on. still for everyone to see, its’ really the fault of Red Ink Rick that GM is in the dire straights it finds itself in now. the guy HAS TO GO!
SunnyvaleCA: “It sounds like the Big 2.8 promised a bunch of stuff but didn’t fund that stuff up front.”
Exactly. These “legacy costs” are part of the huge overhead expenses that (along with higher payroll) prevent the 2.8 from making money on lower-priced vehicles. No wonder they focused on high-margin trucks and SUVs. They’ve belatedly tried to extricate themselves from this predicament, but now they have no surplus cash.
And about that argument whether the 2.8’s engineers are as good as Toyota’s, Honda’s, etc., I’d like more information. Consumer Reports’ reliability charts for the Dodge Grand Caravan and the Toyota Sienna are strikingly different. I doubt such variations are fully explained by assembly quality. Are there any engineers out there who can cite examples of inferior design dictated by cost-cutting executives?
Americans are not as efficient as the Japanese. Our work is not as precise. GM engineers are not as good as Honda engineers.
Bullshit, it’s the executives’ fault.
Carlos.negros, the Tacoma is assembled in the United States. Bulletproof reliability. Nissan Frontier? U.S. built. Also reliable. In fact, every Japanese pickup built for the U.S. market today is American made, and the Japanese-owned companies do it reliably and well while the American-owned companies (with a few exceptions) do poorly. Same thing with many reliable Nissan sedans. If our work isn’t as precise as the Japanese, why is Toyota planning on assembling the Prius in California next year? And so forth.
Take a look at what happens with newer management in American companies. 2007’s CR listed the Explorer, F-150, Mustang, and many other Ford vehicles as having poor reliability. 2008’s issue listed all those vehicles as having average reliability. CR even called Ford the most reliable of all the U.S. makes. In fact, it ranked in CR reliability studies as being more reliable than Nissan, and Chrysler tied Nissan in the predicted reliability scores.
To say Americans aren’t as precise or efficient as the Japanese is pure racism, and like all forms of racism, it can easily be proved outright untrue.
[b]Are there any engineers out there who can cite examples of inferior design dictated by cost-cutting executives?[/b]
I am the regional engineer for my company’s largest market area, a company that is the largest of its kind in the world. I am responsible for the planning and management of tens of millions of dollars in capital annually. I am ROUTINELY hounded by upper management to reduce costs by either delayed construction, construction less than what is truly needed, constructing “stop gaps” and then trying to use them as permanent installations, etc.
Accountants should never, ever be allowed to run anything larger than a department in the company. They focus solely on the cost of a particular part/item, regardless of the total cost. “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves” is their motto.
GM north American operations may be going right where Wagner wants them to, in the tank. files bankrupcy in NA and erases all the debts. keeps his parachute and imports everything to NA. wall street will crown him a genius, business week will have him on the cover etc- etc- etc.
look at the new profit margins. a truck made in Mexico is just as expensive here as one made here. when Mexico is paying $4 an hour, why is that?
The Luigiian wrote:
“If our work isn’t as precise as the Japanese, why is Toyota planning on assembling the Prius in California next year?”
For the same reason InBev is going to buy AB. The dollar is cheap. It is worth half as much as it was when Bush was appointed by the Supremes.
“To say Americans aren’t as precise or efficient as the Japanese is pure racism, and like all forms of racism, it can easily be proved outright untrue.”
This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with culture. American culture does not have the same work ethic as Japanese culture. Just like some cultures produce better soldiers than others. Just like some cultures have better cooking than others. That is not racism. In America, we do some things better than other places too. For example, we build better bombs.
50merc – I’m not sure if anyone will come out as engineers (they are usually kept behind closed doors). However, the parts suppliers sell similar components to both D2.8 and Honda/Toyota/Nissan. H/T/N would have stricter standards and if one item in a lot failed the whole lot would be rejected – many of those rejected lots went over to D2.8 which were rejected b/c they wanted lower cost parts and thus they got lower quality items and rejected parts.
This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with culture. American culture does not have the same work ethic as Japanese culture.
You said:
Americans are not as efficient as the Japanese. Our work is not as precise. GM engineers are not as good as Honda engineers.
And let’s not forget:
In America, we do some things better than other places too. For example, we build better bombs.
You have still not answered my point, which is how can the Toyota Tacoma–an American made vehicle–still be one of the most reliable on the market? If Japanese culture breeds better engineers, why is Ford currently beating Nissan on CR reliability studies? Why is Renault currently in charge of the company?
Toyota recently lost a lot of credibility when its 6-cyl Camry and 4wd Tundra scored below average reliability in CR. You might argue that because they were made in the United States, it proves that Americans can’t make good cars. So answer me this:
-Why did the 2wd Tundra do much better than average in reliability, from the same plant? Could it be that the Japanese engineers–who you say are better than GM engineers–are to blame for the problems? Or did our U.S. workforce simply not put as much work into the 4wd units as the 2wd units? If so, why?
-These reliability problems are tarnishing Toyota’s reliability as we speak. So why would they risk their rep further on American factories in California? Because they “know” the Detroit 3 are going to die and the Japanese won’t have to worry about reliability anymore? Or because it had nothing to do with the workers?
-Why do the Chevy Silverado and F-150 currently score at average in CR versus Toyota’s offending blackhead zit? Could it be because Ford and GM primarily invest their time in trucks while Toyota invests in cars? Lastly, does that (and the subsequent loss of truck sales) have anything to do whatsoever with American workers, or could it be because of lackluster American bean-counting management, which is what everyone else has said the problem is so far?
Don’t get me wrong, Carlos, there are problems with American cars. But to attribute this to American culture in general is disingenuous, when the Detroit 3’s corporate culture is far more to blame. If GM engineers were given the same time and money as Honda engineers, I’ll bet they could turn out equivalent products. But the company doesn’t, so the products aren’t.
Wow. So he thinks California should not be allowed to demand better?
California is the largest car market in the US. If I recall, when your largest customer demands something, you do it. You don’t go behind their backs and try to undermine them.
Why do the car companies thing they have to make two types of US cars (Calif. and Non-Calif.). Why can’t they raise their standards and make all their cars Calif? I’m pretty sure there is nothing about a California car that is illegal in any other state. And why does this seem to be such a big deal for them? So they pass the cost of the special emission systems onto the Calif. customers. Calif. consumers are aware of this price difference and know why it is. It is not a big deal.
An another note, Flint seems to think that all mandated safety, economy, and emission regulations are only applied to US made cars. They are not. The playing field is level. The imports have to meet the same regulations. Dropping such regulations will do NOTHING about getting Detroit to sell cars people want to buy.
In America, we do some things better than other places too. For example, we build better bombs.
And this doesn’t take good engineering and manufacturing capabilities?
Let me state emphatically that the time wasted reading these bulletinboards is qualitative evidence that the American culture is wasteful (of time) and has a poor work ethic (or maybe it’s just me).
On topic though I believe that US engineers are just as good as the Asian/Euro ones but the bean counters/bueracracy/fiefdums/internal culture all prevent thier true talents from showing. Other than job security (which they effectively do not have anymore) I’m not sure why you would work for one of the Big 2.8 here in the States.
carlos.negros: GM engineers are not as good as Honda engineers.
I guess Honda didn’t get that memo when it hired Charlie Baker away from Saturn and made him chief engineer of North American operations back in the 1990s, or when it put former GM engineer Gary Flint in charge of the Ridgeline project…
It might help to actually know something about the auto industry. This way, you won’t make these sweeping generalizations, and end up being proven incorrect.
Regarding the D2.8 engineers compared to the Asian company’s engineers:
As a former engineer for one of the Asian companies, I can confrim that there is a much stronger passion for good engineering than at the D2.8. Also, there is much more thorough checking of engineers work by management (former engineers).
I have several friends who work/have worked for the D2.8. One of them recently told me of one of his designs that purchasing decided to resource to another supplier. In doing so, the new supplier met the tolerances on the drawing, yet the part failed. My friend admitted to me that after checking his tolerance stack-up (which wasn’t done up front), there’s a possibility of failure. The countermeasure was to have the suppier adjust their manufacturing process to meet the dimensions the previous supplier met. His management didn’t catch the problem before the part was initially released, and the solution was acceptable by his management.
This would’ve never been acceptable at the company I worked for. Once the problem was found, a proper coutermeasure would’ve been found and engineering/design changes would’ve been done to correct the problem (not pushed onto the supplier).
Bob Lutz’ education:
Bachelor’s Degree in Business – Berkley 1961
MBA with Honors – Berkley 1962
And this is the guy in charge of GM’s products. Hah!
John Horner:
Bachelor’s Degree in Business – Berkley 1961
MBA with Honors – Berkley 1962
And this is the guy in charge of GM’s products. Hah!
I have to disagree. Mr. Lutz may shoot off his mouth on various subjects, but he HAS improved GM’s vehicle development processes. That is what he was hired to do, and, by all accounts, he has succeeded. He also had a decent track record of attractive products at Chrysler before he came to GM.
When GM has given Lutz and his team either a blank sheet of paper, or a solid platform as a starting point – as was the case with the GMT-900s, Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Malibu – the results are fully competitive with anything else in that particular segment. The GMT-900s are great products, but betting the farm on them in a time of volatile gas prices was dumb. I’m willing to bet, however, that this decision was made by a person or group higher up the food chain than Bob Lutz, even if he did attempt to justify it by saying that “rich people don’t care about gas prices.”
In some respects, Lutz’s hands are tied. He was hired to change one aspect of GM – vehicle development – when what GM really needs is a complete corporate culture change. When Lutz either dies or retires, the “old” GM will reassert itself in the vehicle development process.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – GM settled for a Lutz, when what it needed was a Mulally. But top management, and the board of directors, really aren’t interested in that kind fo change. They still think that a few solid hits will solve all of their problem. I honestly don’t believe they have yet realized just how tough it is to really thrive and prosper in the North American market – and that it is going to get even worse in the next 5-6 years.
Mulally is tackling Ford’s biggest hindrance – its hidebound corporate culture – which is a more difficult, but ultimately more far-reaching endeavor.
This is the typical idiocy peddled by free market ideologues such WSJ, Forbes. Now even the (economy-illiterate) McCain was brain-washed into .
The idea is that if the free market fails it can only be because it wasn’t free enough, too much regulation and government involvement, they say.
When the credit markets fell into the toilet we were told by these chumps that it was because there was still too much regulation even when it was plainly obvious to everybody with an iota of common sense that the exact opposite was the case. The credit markets tanked because there was little to no oversight.
So now we have the same idea extended to car industry in America. We are told the US car market is failing (for US automakers) because there is too much regulation. If this was the case then I would have expected the European car companies to have been totally wiped out by now since there is a lot more regulation in Europe than the US. But surprisingly quite the opposite seems to be the case; many European car companies are stronger than ever while the Japanese are making only very small inroads in European car market.
ra_pro: When the credit markets fell into the toilet we were told by these chumps that it was because there was still too much regulation even when it was plainly obvious to everybody with an iota of common sense that the exact opposite was the case. The credit markets tanked because there was little to no oversight.
The credit market – and the housing market – are hardly examples of an unfettered free market. Both are heavily influenced by tax code provisions that make some investments more favorable than others (removing capital gains provisions on the sale of a house, for example). The housing market – which basically is responsible for most of the credit market’s woes – is also heavily influenced by local government actions (zoning restrictions, open space requirements, or even a simple lack of available land for building in a particular area). Those factors can drive up the price of a house, and thus place it outside of most residents’ purchasing power, which, in turn, encourages the use of creative financing.
Fact: Japan manipulates its currency to help their auto companies. The US does nothing about it.
You should do a bit of factchecking. The yen has tripled in value compared to the US dollar since 1972.
Compare that to the British pound, which has about the same value today compared to the dollar as it did in 1972.
If the Japanese are manipulating the yen, then they’re doing a really lousy job of it, because they have manipulated the yen into becoming a much stronger currency. The Japanese obviously blew it, and should fire those economic ministers and replace them with guys who really understand how to devalue a currency. (There might some Bush employees in need of a job soon, so tell them to send their resumes.)
Fact: Trade policies and tax incentives give a nearly open market to foreign companies here in the US, while we are not granted the same overseas…our government does nothing about it.
Again, I would try a bit of factchecking. The US has a 2% import tariff on cars and a 25% import tariff on trucks. Japan has a tariff of zero.
To be fair, Japan does have some ridiculous equipment requirements that make it tough to import cars or for perfectly good older cars of any type to stay on the roads.
But we’ve done the same thing, by creating “safety” standards that are vastly different from every other country on earth except for Canada, just so that we could keep out gray market imports. We’re playing similar games, we just go about playing them differently.
John H,
I have to disagree with your assessment of Lutz’s eduacation. Whatever his faults, this is not his problem.
Wasn’t he a military pilot? The majority of military officer jobs are engineering jobs, and certainly military aviatiors work as engineers (Even if they don’t have engineer degrees). It may not be the same as working at a desk doing design and testing all the time for a decade or so, but it is very similar to working in production or construction as an engineer.
The mindset coming out of the military is very much an engineer approach to most things. Military retirees without engineering degrees are often recruited to work in jobs that would not go to a civilian that did not have a hard science or engineering job.
I would say that MB’s real problem is he has fallen in love with his job and all it’s trappings. He seems to be a risk taker who is not offering up his resignation often enough to get things changed. He likely feels he is fulfilling his role, but when you paid what he does, you owe more to the company than to simply do your own job. Instead, he is running around acting confused because no one can understand the ridiculous talking points coming out of GM.
PCH101-Thanks!
I got curious last year and checked the yen/dollar history and discovered the manipulation theory it was what Lutz might call a “crock..”.
Anyway, this urban ledgend needs to end. It demonstrates the kind of mentality that has killed Detroit, every problem is behind an SEP (somebody else’s problem) field.
Another part of the Japanese market problem is simply the dominant type of vehicles.
“Kei-class” is important and IIRC there are graduated taxes on engine/vehicle size.
Do the Debt 3 offer an engine under 2.0 L?
A competitive (any?) B-class or smaller?
And it is a saturated shrinking market like some others I could mention.
BTW, I nominate Flint for next years “Lutzie”.
Bunter
ra-pro,
What we have in the US is a case of the green side of the left making a set of regulations that caused the labor side of the left nothing but headaches. Between the two, they squeezed all the life out of our domestic players. The free market guys should stay out of this argument because they will NEVER win in this industry.
This guy wants to chunk the green (and safety) desires in the toilet to save the labor desires. I have been predicting for some time that the left will split over this, much like the right has split between the social and financial camps.
As a free market guy, I will stay out of it (except to occasionaly throw fuel on it). It’s a perfect example of how you can’t manage a market. Anything beyond the most subtle regulation, and slapping for abuses, and the whole thing goes tango uniform. There are no desirable guaranteed outcomes, no matter how much we want them, regulate for them, or demand them. You can only guarantee failure, never success.
Repeat after me, everybody.
YOU CAN ONLY GUARANTEE FAILURE, NEVER SUCCESS.
Anyway, this urban ledgend needs to end. It demonstrates the kind of mentality that has killed Detroit, every problem is behind an SEP (somebody else’s problem) field.
I really wish that these bozos in Tokyo would manipulate the currency back to where it used to be. If they did, we would be able to buy new GT-R’s for $25,000 and Priuses for $8,000.
The funny thing is that the weak dollar isn’t particularly good for Toyota et. al., because they have large US operations that earn them dollars, and because the dollar isn’t weak enough for them to be able to dump cars into the market to the point that they could overwhelm it. The manipulators are doing such a lame job that they are screwing them, too.