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What did the American car industry in for a while happened during the 1970s with the Oil Embargo. The UAW also got greedy and the manufacturers had to cut corners, turning out turds. Meanwhile, Europeans and Japanese were only increasing in quality.
During the 20s/30s people compared Cadillac with Rolls-Royce.
During the 90s they were compared to Acura and Infiniti.
Thankfully, American cars are going up in quality.
What lead to the market share loss was the big 3 didn't change with the times as they needed. They counted too much on were number 1. They discounted the competition from Japan and Europeans and ignored the signs of a changing vehicle market.
I don't know what is more strange. This weird fixation on World War II as it relates to auto manufacture or the idea that the Pinto was somehow equal to other small cars of the time. It wasn't even up to the standards of a Plymouth Horizon, let alone a Civic of that era.
The Pinto and the Horizon are not really comparable - they are from different eras (Pinto 1971, Horizon 1978), with significant design differences (The Pinto had traditional FR layout, the Horizon being one of the first US-made cars with FF layout using a transverse engine - though that was basically catching up with the 1959 BMC Mini that took Europe by storm, and even that had predecessors).
The Pinto was not the worst car ever to come out of the Big 3. It became infamous for its rear-collision hazard, caused by a bad decision to leave the rear without a frame member, in turn to keep the weight of the car below 2,000 lbs. The Pinto really became a throwaway because it was an inexpensive car introduced at just the wrong time - when so many young people were entering the auto market. These young boomer owners did not bother with such inconveniences as oil changes, and, with increasing income, where happy to upgrade when anything went wrong with them. I knew a few owners who took their Pintos to well over 100k miles and swore by them. As with all Fords of the era, they were prone to rust where roads were salted - such as here in Detroit.
The Horizon (and its twin the Dodge Omni) was another car that was neglected by its owners. I read that the Henry Ford Museum made an effort to acquire a number of cars that it considered historic, and that the hardest car to find in restorable condition was the Dodge Omni, as its owners drove them until they died and scrapped them (they wanted an Omni because it was the first truly mass-market US made FWD car, the Cord, Eldorado and Toronado notwithstanding as those were made in small numbers for niche markets).
The first USA-sold Civics were also in a different league, as they were much smaller than anything the Big 3 were offering. They also had serious rust issues. The Civics of the late 1970's were bigger. Yes, they were well made and quieter than Detroit's four-bangers, but, to a large extent, they sold well because their resale value was so high, which was a self-perpetuating situation. A lot of boomers, especially on the West Coast, also preferred imports because they associated American industry with the Vietnam War, the Allende assassination, and other US misdoings of the mid-20th century.
No, the golden age of the American car was about 1950-1970. Some American cars were good before 1950 but they hit their peak in design during the 50s and 60s. The American car companies downfall happened in the 1970s.
I mostly blame the UAW for the failure of the Detroit 3. There was a lot of bigotry that kept people from buying cars from Germany and Japan after WWII. I remember renting an apartment in 1972, signing the lease, and when my new landlord walked me out to my car (a 1968 VW Beetle), he told me that he would not have rented to me if he knew I drove a "Hitler Special"! Bigotry against the Japanese was much worse, plus they had to shake off the Made In Japan = shoddy stigma, too. Germany and especially Japan (led by the teachings of Amercan Dr. W Edwards Deming) surpassed the Americans in manufacturing because of tight union rules and guidelines that basically went against Dr Deming's philosophy.
Prior to WW2, American car companies had to compete with English, German, French, and Italian cars. But after WW2, many of those factories were destroyed. Even if the factories survived, the economy was in the tank around Europe as they went about the task of rebuilding. BMW even badged an Isetta car with their name. During this time after the war, American car companies had all of USA and other parts of the world all to themselves. Those were the good old days. The 50s and 60s are remembered fondly as the hey day of American cars. By the time the late 60s and early 70s came around, our enemies in WW2 were making vast strides in car quality and innovation. Most Americans then still had absolute brand/country loyalty. Why engineer quality and innovation when your customers buy anything with their company's name on it? Combine that with Nixon, Watergate, and Vietnam and you begin to develop a segment of the population starting to turn their back on the nation and heritage. They're more willing to give our former enemies' cars. As they do this, they see better quality materials, ride, handling, and sometimes better performance. They let their friends and family know how much they enjoy these Axis vehicles. After suffering problems with their American cars, they decide to give the Axis cars a chance. None of this happened overnight. I wonder if WW2 hadn't happened, would American car makers have continued to innovate and provide quality to continue to compete in the world. At one time, Cadillac was the "World Standard". Today, that "World Standard" is a joke remark as Cadillac is trying to catch up with BMW.
Does your user name have anything to do with the rant up there??^^^
Does your user name have anything to do with the rant up there??^^^
Did I point to GM exclusively or did I use the all inclusive "American automakers"? GM wasn't the only American company to go through financial hard times and have a quality problem in the 70s, 80s, and or 90s. For more than 20 years I was a loyal Chevy fan. I want to trust GM again but that is going to take time to rebuild trust and that depends on how the executives behave. I felt betrayed when I found out GM knew about the problems I was having with my car even as the dealership and GM were blaming their customers for the problems and did not correct the problems once discovered.
Detroit's failure mostly came about starting in the 1970's because the domestic management of U.S. auto companies was the worst in the world. That includes British Leyland and FIAT. Junk cars were made for so long that the U.S. population just got tired of it. When options became available, imports were purchased.
Those same companies had successful non-U.S. subsidiaries. But the domestic management were populated by more and more accountants and fewer engineers. Producing cut rate junk for so long, (with the exception of pick-up trucks) that the memory of their arrogance will resonate with Americans for the next 50 years.
For those people who blame the domestic worker---nonsense. They never had input in the process. If it was the worker then why are so many cars made in the U.S. with domestic workers under foreign management/brands/ownership.
They cheapened the components,(Walmartification) and held on to Sloan's concept of segmentation far too long. It's also what killed Detroit, but that's a much bigger story.
Did I point to GM exclusively or did I use the all inclusive "American automakers"? GM wasn't the only American company to go through financial hard times and have a quality problem in the 70s, 80s, and or 90s. For more than 20 years I was a loyal Chevy fan. I want to trust GM again but that is going to take time to rebuild trust and that depends on how the executives behave. I felt betrayed when I found out GM knew about the problems I was having with my car even as the dealership and GM were blaming their customers for the problems and did not correct the problems once discovered.
You mean like the Toyota recalls where it was claimed user error?
European car mfrs could never really compete with America and later Japan, S. Korea, and Taiwan, except in small specialty markets for luxury and sport cars (the VW Beetle aside..it created its own market). It's still true today. The reasons are higher labor costs and boy scout marketing practices.
But wait, weren't Japan's major cities bombed back into the stone age in WWII? And as I recall, by the mid-70s they were outselling American mfrs in some markets. Meanwhile, Fiat, Alfa-Romeo, Renault, Peugot, and GM Europe pulled out of American markets and virtually every UK sports car mfr. had also pulled out or went into bankruptcy) and Citroen did after it's diesel cars bombed in the early-mid 80s (along with US diesels).
What was left? Deutchland Uber Alles: VW, Mercedes, BMW (at first by the skin of their teeth), Porsche and Audi. Their labor costs are now declining and their marketing model(s) are now precise, so much so that American mfrs hardly compete in their markets.
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