Sniffs
Yss: you pointed out PERFECT samles of the death of the american car. Buick, ford, Mercury. c'mon...20 years of only being allowed to make pedestrian sedans has ruined things. america specializes in two things...muscle cars and full size pickups. everything else dies. we've even been booted outa the minivan market.
Since when have all of our products beyond "musclecars and full size pickup trucks" been dying? I see plenty of VUEs and Equinoxes on the road, same with the "pedesdrian" Impala and Tauruses...
Unfortunately it seems that you have fallen into the pitfall created by the mass-media portraying the American automotive companies as dying geezers in the retirement homes of South Florida. GM is alive and kicking, and they have taken off the gloves to compete with Toyota and Honda to stay on top as the worlds largest and best-selling automaker. Nearly every single one of their products sold in North America is comparable to the Honda and Toyota counterpart in terms of reliability, performance, efficency and price... With the added benefit of cheaper insurance rates, I find it hard to belive that their cars and trucks are "dying" against the competition. Sure, their minivan lineup has been a failure (with the exception of the Saturn Relay), but every company comes out with a car or truck once in a while that just wont sell well.
Ford, like GM, is doing better after trimming the company down as well. They still cannot build enough Mustangs to meet demand, and they are on the verge of selling one of the best Mustangs ever built, the GT500. The Fusion is winning awards and praise from the press for being a cheap alternative to the Japanese models in the same class, and with the new Edge on the way, I am certain that will do well as well against the CRV and RAV-4.
As far as DCX goes, the 300C is a HUGE success and they are giving it it's first refresh for 2007 with a slightly updated interior. Their minivans still sell well, and are generally the standards in the market for most companies. Although the Odessey and Sienna are widely considered the best minivans on the market, most people shop the Dodge and Chrysler windows first, so what does that tell you?
I can defend the American car companies all day against any foreign compeditor, esp. when there are so many missinformed dolts out there who seem to think every American vehicle is sub-par when compared to the rest of the market.
Wanna hear how bad it is going to get for the Japanese automakers? Here is a sample of what is just begining to happen...
Leftlanenews.com
Universally recognized as the leader in reliability and build quality, Toyota is taking a hit to that reputation due to a new model that is “plagued with problems.” The 2006 Avalon is causing a lot of owners grief, according to columnist Mark Rechtin. “There have been significant throttle control and transmission hesitation issues,” says Avalon owner Alan Seider, 45, a computer consultant from Roswell, Ga. “I’ve isolated 15 different rattles in the body work.” Seider is far from alone, says Rechtin. “Internet chat rooms are littered with complaints from Toyota loyalists about the redesigned Avalon, which went on sale in February 2005.”
Toyota is seeing just the begining of what happens when your feet outpace your body when it comes to the baisics of car building on a grand scale. Poor build quality is a sign that something isnt working out well for them, and I wouldnt be surprised to see the same things begining to happen with the new Camry as well.
I laugh in the face of everyone who seems to think that Toyota is the supreme leader when it comes to quality and refinement in all forms of automobiles, because it just isnt true. Don't be surprised when Honda recalls 300,000 Accords because of faulty seatbelt connectors, Nissan cant sell the new Altima because of deep-dash rattles behind the radios, and Mitsubishi alltogether withdraws from the US market because their cars simply suck (besides the Evo).
As I have said, when times get tough for American automakers, the gloves come off. It is exactly what happened in the early '90s when everyone began to question the Detroit boys, and they responded with products that were on par and cheaper, and thus sold better. We are in the same situation today, and with the "Turn-on-heels" responces to the wants and needs of customers that GM and Ford seem to be doing, it is a good sign that they are serious about knocking Toyota and Honda back down a few notches where they belong...
