View Single Post
Old 07-05-2011, 12:27 AM   #61 (permalink)
jamesqf
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Earth
Posts: 5,209
Thanks: 225
Thanked 811 Times in 594 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by cleanspeed1 View Post
To be incompetent implies that you don't know what you are doing. To be evil implies malicious intent. There is no way with the decisions being made by these automakers who have been in business for as long as they have, that there hasn't been collusion with other business sectors.
I'd expand your definition of incompetence quite a bit. An incompetent could, for instance, be ok at what they're doing, but suffer from "confirmation bias", which is the tendency to give much greater weight to information that supports your opinions, and less to information that contradicts it. So the automakers build their big gas guzzlers, and the fraction of the customer base (and automotive press, etc) that likes that sort of car forms a cheering section. The automakers hear the cheering, think "Oh, we're doing a great job, let's make next year's models even bigger!", and ignore the ever-larger market segment that's taking its checkbook to the Honda & Toyota dealers.

As for the conspiracy, remember the Dortmunder family motto: "Quid lucrum istic mihi est?", which translates to "What's in it for me?" So if the automakers join this big conspiracy, what's in it for them?

  Reply With Quote