Just a Question

     I've had this recurring question in my thoughts once I saw the factories of Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota either being constructed or up and running in the Mid-West. Here is the question, how is it possible for these companies to be building and opening plants here in America, while the US Automakers are closing plants? In my view we are now the third world country when it comes to the auto industry. Think about it; for over fifty years the auto industry here was the it, the then big five dominated the would of cars, now there are only three.  struggling for  market share. Of Course there are a myriad number of opinions has to how and the why. Here's my take on it, we have to go back to the year 1974, OPEC was formed, they immediately froze the sale of oil to the US, the result was long lines at the gas pumps, odd and even days for buying fuel. Now the big American cars were not looking so good, Asian cars were smaller and cheaper, gradually Americans began to purchase them, now in a big way.

     The real reason is the Detroit Automakers themselves, when I studied business we were taught we should have a one year, two year, five year, ten year, and if you are large enough a 25 year plan. Be aware of market trends, be flexible enough to respond in a timely manner. Some of you out there may remember this car from the 1960's, here is what Chevy had to say about it;

"The 1960 model year Chevrolet Corvair featured GM’s first air-cooled engine since the ill-fated "copper-cooled" model of the 1920s and was its first car with the engine placed in the rear. Often maligned and somewhat controversial in its day, it also marked the beginning of new lineups of smaller cars among all GM’s U.S. brands.
(source: GM)"

     What went wrong here, simple, they did not listen to the people who were saying "don't change it, just fix it". Instead GM changed it, made it bigger, moved the engine to the front, put a water cooled v8 in some models. I think this one is a good choice as a retro brand with today's new technology. I'll just mention a few more failures then we can move on to better days. You tell me what you think of these, the Chevy Vega, Pontiac Sunbird, similar to the Vega, Ford Pinto, Ford Falcon, and one iteration of the Mustang that made no sense at all for 1974.

    I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts as to what is happening with the US Automakers

    Thank you for your reading;

    Chill's Rides