Gimmie Shelter

So the big three fat cats from Detroit were back in Washington again begging for a handout. Seems they now have a “business plan”, unlike their last visit. After decades of building vehicles inferior to German and Japanese cars, it seems in ONE week, they came up with business plans so impressive that Congress would have to give them the money. One of the execs said they had invested millions of dollars on how to build a better car and it was coming soon. Gee, you think they could have just spent 20k on a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord and took a good look at it.
All of this is due to the big three paying for their sins of the past. During the 1970s and 80s, they built some really bad cars. So bad, that many Americans who would have never considered buying a Japanese import did just that. And once they experienced the quality of those foreign made cars, they would never take another chance on something coming out of Detroit. I know, because I’m one of these people who was brought up to “Buy American”. After years of buying Detroit junk, I bought a Nissan – and it was such a quality vehicle, I’ve never looked back. There are many more folks whose experience is the same as mine.
To further exacerbate Detroit’s woes, no one believes their claim to be ‘American’ carmakers anymore. GM, Ford and Chrysler are global companies – just like Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. All of these companies have plants and build vehicles on American soil, and employ American workers. All of these companies have plants in foreign countries too. The profits (if any) go back to their respective corporate headquarters in which the CEOs are responsible to the stockholders. So what differentiates the big three from the rest of the world? Perception – the perception Detroit is still building inferior vehicles.
To be honest, the big three may be building quality cars today – I just can’t gamble 20 thousand dollars to find out – and neither are a lot of other Americans.