What do you think the American auto industry needs to do to dominate the foreign competition in...?

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I feel they should change their strategy. Stop trying to sell everyone a new car each year by changing the body style (the Smith's 2008 chevy has different tail lights than our 2007 chevy) and concentrate on making a superior more reliable car. I think people would spend the extra money if it was better. I can't imagine how much money must be wasted designing and changing over production formats just so this years Ford looks different than last years model.What do you think the American auto industry needs to do to dominate the foreign competition in...?
Some might feel the related question that is much closer to reality is:
%26quot;What do you think the American auto industry needs to do to survive?%26quot;
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I believe US auto industry leadership and some suppliers to the industry (e.g., advertising agencies) have pretty much run the industry into the ground. My opinion is that the time for optimization is gone; the car industry needs fundamental change. Japanese car manufacturers figured out a way to beat us a couple decades ago and have done so. It is too late to emulate the Japanese strategy and produce quality products. We need to come up with the next paradigm. I am confident this will require alternative fuel sources, etc. We should innovate in ways in which we can compete--e.g., engineering. I read there are some deals cooking in this area between US and Israel tech businesses. We are not alone in the world with engineering and technology know-how. It might behoove us to act to block out foreign competition from striking alliances before us.
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I don't know if the present US auto companies are organized and incented to seek out and implement dramatic change. My fear is that they are configured to preserve the status quo, which to my thinking is suicide. To do what needs to be done will require making investments for the long-term, something that doesn't sit well with a market that responds to quarterly earnings reports.
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Winning in the new auto industry might be based on technology innovation and patent protection--not unlike the pharmaceutical and high tech industries today.
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A cursory scan of Consumer Reports data should scare any US auto industry executive. Here is a summary of one table on pp.82-83 of the current Annual Auto Issue (Apr. 2008).
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%26quot;Best of the best%26quot; (1998-2007 models):
Consumer Reports lists 63 makes/models 56 of these 63 models are of the following makes: Acura, Honda, Infiniti, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Scion, Subaru, Toyota. 3 models are of these European makes: BMW, Porsche, and Volvo. Only 4 out of 63 models are American: Buick LaCrosse, Lincoln Continental, Lincoln Town Car, Pontiac Vibe. Obviously, I am closing my eyes to the fact that many of these foreign auto manufacturers use US labor to make the cars.
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Let's hope for all our sakes that some sharp Americans think outside the box and revamp our stakes in this business. Don't hold out for this change to come from Detroit, though.What do you think the American auto industry needs to do to dominate the foreign competition in...?
US auto makers damaged its reputation for a long time, it is really hard to get it back overnight. Perception is always important. I don't know, for some reasons, US auto design always one step behind Japan and German car makers. For example, i am not picking on any car. If you put three models of japanese, german,and US car. some how the consumers pick German, or Japanese over US. Stylish is always important. Like Buick of GM, no young guys or girl will buy that model. They 'd rather shoot for Infinity or Audi even though they are all in the same price range.What do you think the American auto industry needs to do to dominate the foreign competition in...?
I used to work for a company that had, on staff, a guy who was a Futurist. His entire job was to predict future trends in business, economics and technology. He's a brilliant man. Many of the things I spoke to him about have come true. The US auto industry needs to hire someone like him.

Right now, they're always playing catchup. In the last 15 years, what big hits have they had? None. After the invention of the minivan by Chrysler, and the refinement of the SUV by Ford, they've been behind the Europeans and the Japanese in every single trend. It's like they can't innovate anymore, they're always copying, and they're always years behind. Look at, for example B-Segment cars. These are the tiny cars slotted below the compacts like the Ford Focus. These are cars like the Scions, the Honda Fit, the Nissan Versa, the Toyota Yarris. Where's a domestic manufacturer in this group? They don't have any cars here. It will be two years before Ford produces one domestically. By that time, the industry will be on to the next thing.
They need a breakthrough technology, or a car that everyone loves that's different from what the competition is doing. Until they get those, the market share will continue to erode.