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That's a great idea. Let's all support foreign companies and boycott American.
Welcome to the new age of RW anti-Americanism.
BTW GM Core Brand Sales Up 32% Over Last February GM Core Brand Sales Up 32% Over Last February - FOXBusiness.com (http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/transportation/gm-core-brand-sales--percent-year/ - broken link)
General Motors reported Tuesday that February sales of its four core brands were up 32% over February 2009. Overall domestic GM vehicle sales 11.5% including four brands the company will no longer sell.
The thread is about GM, an American auto company. You celebrated the success of Toyota, while encouraging people to NOT buy GM.
Maybe so, but I could care less where people buy from as long as it's not the unAmerican GM corporation. Toyota also employs plenty of people in America so I'm really concerned about their jobs.
Then go buy a freaking Toyota and show those evil American auto companies how you hate them.
Bought a Mazda instead, partially supporting Japanese quality and Ford at the same time. Never will go back to GM again until they the government gets their dirty mitts out of the company and the union thugs are busted.
Well, you're looking at this from a very simplistic perspective. A few years ago, Ford was really struggling. They did a major downsize and committed themselves to being a leaner, smaller, but better company.
The reason they're successful right now and GM isn't has nothing to do with bailouts. It's just that Ford went through restructuring right before gas prices skyrocketed and then the economy collapsed. They were on track to get profitable when it happened.
GM, which does shoulder blame for not adjusting more quickly, is simply undergoing the same restructuring in the midst of a financial crisis that Ford went through before the crisis.
So, the politics you're trying to project on this simply aren't there. It's just timing.
It's not politics?
Politics had nothing to do with the federal government shepherding the unions at the expense of GM original shareholders? When the government gets involved in the ownership of private enterprise, it is politics.
This administration used BILLIONS in taxpayer money to protect union jobs in its dealing with both GM and Chrysler and appointed the CEO that is now managing GM. When the government takes over automobile companies and manages the daily operations through its own appointments, it is politics.
The same owners of GM,..the federal government,...is grilling Toyota officials before Congress over safety issues,...but gives GM a pass on power steering problems that has resulted in one death and many accidents. No politics?
If you believe that there is not a public resentment toward GM then you really need to do some research. The public backlash is out there,...and YES it is political in nature, strictly as a result of public resentment toward our government and labor unions who continually get sweetheart deals from this administration.
Some say that Americans "just want good cars". They do,...but there's not a tinker's damn difference in the quality/driveability between Ford and GM. When there's disposable income to be spent in that situation, Ford will get a lot of business that GM lost.
I'll be buying a couple of new vehicles in the next couple of years. GM may as well close their dealerships as far as I'm concerned. I'll not visit them or give them any consideration when I'm ready to buy.
That view will be reflected in the buying habits of many more like me.
Hmm... So the OP not only celebrates the murder of an innocent person by a crazed terrorist, he also seems to miss the fundamental flaw in his argument (again):
Honda, Nissan, Ford, Hyundai, and all the rest who did not get government bailouts did not see appreciable increases in sales from Toyota's troubles either.
More importantly, the quality gap between Japanese and American autos has shrunk from about a 24% difference to a 1% difference. American autos are definitely back.
I agree. I used to drive 5 series BMWs. My caddie kicks the crap out of them with regard to performance, maintenance, as well as fit and finish. I am an American car convert. I actually converted my wife from Toyota to GM and Ford as well.
In all honesty, all the evidence suggests that American automakers are building as good or better vehicles now. They are simply burdened by an outdated (though well deserved at the time) reputation for poor quality.
The evidence shows that American automakers are building better cars than they did but that's not the same as American automakers building better cars than foreign manufactures yet.
Also, the American automakers that are building great cars such as Buick, Mercury, Cadillac and Lincoln are not cheap and have and old person reputation. A young person who has 40K to spend is not going to buy a Buick LaCrosse over a Lexus ES 350, BMW 3 series, Jaguar or Mercedes. And a young person isn't going to buy a Mercury Sable over a Honda Accord or a Toyota Camry. Cadillac and Lincoln make trendy SUV's but their sedans are associated with the elderly. The cheapest new Escalade is 62K. When the more affordable and in-demand American cars like their mid SUVs and trucks start to get a better reputation then you will see change.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 03-03-2010 at 11:21 AM..
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