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Old 11-14-2008, 06:00 PM   #44 (permalink)
trebuchet03
MechE
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Bay Area
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The Miata - '01 Mazda MX-5 Miata
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Duffman View Post
We are seeing a shock to the market, your statement will not hold in the long run.

From BBC NEWS | Business | The decline of Detroit

Wish I had a bigger graph.... It's now 2008 - it doesn't take much for an analyst to say, "the rate of SUV sales is negative." 2+ years ago, this was evident in addition to other indicators such as higher fuel costs and lower purchasing power (not so much to the degree of today, but not as optimal as in 2001, for example)....

Light Trucks vs. Cars


And because I prefer the ends of my graphs to point right and up


I don't disagree with you with respect to long run trends... But an inability to adapt to short and mid term conditions results in never actually making it long term. I'm sure the dinosaurs could exist in today's environment (at least, the movie Jurassic Park tells me so ) Hopefully, the US automakers won't fizzle out too....


Henry Ford's Model
  • Build a quality product
  • Keep prices low
  • Welfare Capitalism
  • Employee benefits for "healthy" lifestyle
  • Maintain low employee turnover
  • etc. - we can ignore his thoughts on the hiring of women and blacks o.0

Somehow, we lost sight of this... There's no excuse, today, for some of the vehicles coming off the line with terrible quality (be it American or otherwise). Testing is time and money - warranty repairs is time, money and scarred reputation (more time and money) :/
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