It’s time for you, the average consumer, to take a stand!
Consumer friend, for years we have been led to the cleaners of the auto industry: It is time we demand a change in product quality and in the way the auto industry conducts business! As consumers, we must push the industry to change course and provide us with the best product and service they can or let them die, go out of business! If some American companies survive, they may make it; finally, they might understand that Americans deserve and expect more.
Don’t be fooled by stories of bad economy and poor sales! The American auto industry has done this to itself!
I’m not saying there isn’t a bad economy, but they’ve been down this path of destruction for a long time. I used to work at an Oldsmobile dealer, Subaru – in 1986 we were selling all models from both manufacturers, let me quote two models from the 80’s to make my point clear.
1) The Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra pickup came with a 4 cylinder engine, A/C, AM radio, power steering, power brakes, approximate selling price was 10k-11k.
2) Subaru GL pickup came with 4 cylinder engine, A/C, FM stereo, power steering, power brakes, 4 wheel drive, power windows, power door locks, split rear seats, rear defrost, multi-position front seats with tilt, roof rack and more – approximate selling price was 10k-11k.
Olds had a reputation for major engine problems and often didn’t survive past 100,000. In contrast, the Subaru was well known for surviving over 200,000 miles with few engine problems. Plus, there was a big difference in standard comfort features for the same price: We sold the Subaru at a rate of 40 to 1 compared to the Olds.
The US auto industry continued down this path for several years as the price of vehicles rose dramatically and they began to use financing tactics to sell their inferior products. The inevitable happened and many of the vehicles sold didn’t last their loan terms without major repairs and the resale value of an American vehicle was low so you couldn’t trade them in without taking a financial hit.
Around 1990, American automakers began to pay attention, producing some better quality vehicles and keeping prices more stable. Unfortunately, along with the improved product quality came a substantial increase in part costs. Therefore, repair bills began to skyrocket and they continued to lag behind foreign competitors and their technology. Around 2000 it seemed like we were going down again in the Quality department, around 2005 we started to go up a bit, but I think it was too little and a bit too late.
In 2008, Ford Motor Company had an advertising campaign saying that they now had cars with quality equivalent to Toyota. I don’t know about you, but if I owned a Ford, I’d feel like “Oh great, so the Ford I bought before 2008 was certainly inferior!”
US automakers sponsor race teams at a cost of millions of dollars a year: They continue to overpay their executives: They have grossly overstated union workers’ compensation: And yet, after at least 2 decades of foreign competitors hot on their heels, they still lag so far behind in technology and quality. Frankly, I don’t understand why!
Now, after years of inferior products, higher repair bills, exuberant executive pay, they must have unions to work in the plants, have they reached out to the taxpayer to bail them out? There should be no doubt about the answer: a resounding NO!
Thank you, Mr. Ford, for building the Model T and ushering in the industrial age, thank you US auto manufacturing for providing good jobs for so many years: but, after all, you are a business and you must stay alive or die like the rest of the business world!
I am not advocating that Americans buy foreign products, especially in our current economic crisis! However, the majority of the working public in the US has a limited amount of money for car purchases, which requires us to use that limited amount wisely. With the past and current conditions in the auto industry, higher quality, better comfort, more options for the same price suggests that foreign automakers offer “more value for money.”
(By the way, I have two American vehicles, one I’m not at all happy with and the other so far *fingers crossed* has been fantastic.)
