Personally, I find this "Japanese... superior quality" notion somewhat overstated. Yes, the *** cars do have charming interiors but American makers are catching up, yes they do go well from point A to B and so do American cars, yes some can give you grief as well... as can American cars.

But one thing the Asian vehicles lack is character. GM must not lose the character it builds into its cars. Anyone who drives a GM V8 will know what I'm talking about - it's the hero cars that can shape a company's image. The biggest mistake the Americans can do is offer exactly what the Asians are offering.

Just my 2c.

 

Did I call it or WHAT?!

 

Oh yeah...god forbid someone's not a flag waving simpleton and points out the other side of the story.....:blah:

 

Wow, you would think that an inteligent person as to point out someone else's flaws could take a freaking JOKE!

 

I'm just so proud since the article came from my local news paper. I must have missed that one though. I think the other faculty must have hid this article from me to avoid an import/domestic dobate.
I think GM is on its way to changing the public perception.

 

Very true.

 

...use a smiley next time....

 

I knew he was joking.

Pretty good article here. While some topics can be argued, the simple fact is that GM and Ford do get the shaft in perception. And perhaps not all of it is justified.

 

This is my hometown paper, leftists paper to say the least. i am stunned it ran this article!

 

Well, I think that Robert N has a point about GM/Ford building off-shore manufacturing capacity.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Big Three has never seriously exported anything from their North American plants (except possibly SUVs to the Mid-East). That makes US auto manufacturing kinda a sitting duck as far competition goes -- as other companies increase their sales here, there's nothing to offset that in other markets.

Compare that to the German auto industry -- they've got even bigger cost structures than the US does, but they've been very successful at exporting their products around the world.

 

But lets look at this logistically. GM and Ford aren't just US companies. They are multi national. While they may no export tons of stuff to other countries, though they certainly do export SUVs to the Middle East and Ford exports the Crown Vics and GM used to the B-body, they don't really import all that much outside of NAFTA. Where is GM heavily investing into building plants? China but then again they sell quite a number of cars in China, and to sell in China you have to build in China w/ a Chinese company. Australia, but that has been a GM wing for quite some time now and this countries plants export more than they sell locally! GM Europe, can't really sell a ton of US built cars in Europe because there is a worse perception in Europe of US built vehicles than there is here in the states. GM Daewoo, sure we get the Aveo but GM Daewoo sells in so many different countries that their local sales are probably a drop in the bucket. So while GM may be investing overseas most of the vehicles sold in the US are made within North America. And remember how much of the money from the rest of the world comes back to the US for research and advanced engineering for alternative fuels and advanced construction that doesn't get done in other places.

 

Bigger cost structures how, exactly? Their medicine is more socialized than ours, and so forth.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but I'm curious as to where you are getting this info...

Plus, GM is HUGE (and growing) in China. I don't think MB or BMW have much of a presence there or in Japan. In fact, I'm not sure how much exporting outside of Europe that, for example, BMW does, besides the N.A. market. But that is just my perception.

I'd be very surprised if MB had a higher cost structure than GM though.

 

I think he means high wages and other high fixed costs.

Yes it's always amazed me why we don't get American iron in Australia? RHD conversions should be a thing of the past. GM must think outside of NA and design vehicles to suit other markets.

I'm sure there is worldwide demand for American auto products. It's just gotta be the right product for the particular market that's all... Reference to Cadillac BLS for Europe and no diesel option!!!

 

The whole "media bias" thing is getting way overused. You'll always have bias in everything, because everybody is going to have their opinions, whether through actual facts presented or via personal experiences. I believe GM and Ford are getting fair reporting when it's due, just as foreign makers are getting recalls posted when due. The domestics quality has met or exceeded the foreigns in a lot of cases, and there are a lot of domestic choices that match or exceed the competition. I don't believe the problem lies in perception, but the fact that they can't get people to try their product. If you own a Toyota/Honda/Nissan/etc., and haven't had any problems with it, why would you look elsewhere. I think these people are happy with what they have and just stick with that brand without giving the others a look. They may even percieve the domestics as good offerings, but figure why switch when their brand did fine for them. The foreign makers have spent years building a good reputation for quality, and that won't change overnight, just as the domestics rep won't change overnight. The domestics were down for years, and lost a lot of customers, and that rep will take a while to repair, not just a few good JDPower reports. They need to find more creative ways to get the foreign car owners to test their new products with hopes of winning them over, and then maybe they can win people back for life, as long as their products and quality continue to improve. The worse that could happen would be to get a conquest sale, and have something go wrong with their vehicle, because then that customer is probably lost forever.

 

SRFCTY, There are some flaws in your post I will go through a few of themThat is totally not making sense. The perception is that USA Inc doesn't make as good of a product as Japan Inc. If the perception was that the Domestics were better then people would switch that is pretty easy to see.
I can't believe you put Nissan up there with Honda and Toyota. The have had very public quality problems, does the Quest not ring a bell? Honda in my opinion makes a higher quality product, except for transmissions, than Toyota who it seems can't get a launch right.

Actually if you go back and look at JD Power's reports all the way back to say 98 you will see quite a few GM models on that list, Buick Century and Regal to be for sure. In fact the Oshawa W-body plant is rated VERY highly by both JD Power, and I think it is Autopacific, for production quality.

GM does offer a few creative ways to get people to try their product. The Red Tag sale is not it, but the 24 hour test drives are certainly very powerful test tools. As were the Autoshow in Motion shows. Not only that but they offer the best full line manufacturers warrenty in the industry, and they even do that on the low dollar, high volume Chevrolet brand!

The fact is that most reviews or articles about a GM car or truck will mention one or more of the following: 1. junk bonds, 2. troubled automaker, 3. old model and what a craptastic auto it was, 4. loss of marketshare, 5. Toyota going to take over the #1 spot. Until that changes Media Bias will continue to exist and should be mentioned brought up when needed.