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...?
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.What do you think the American auto industry needs to do to dominate the foreign competition in...?
Each year the %26quot;Big 3%26quot; automakers shut down for 2 weeks for what they call, 'change over'. When that happens, all of the suppliers lay off as well. They reset the lines and do whatever changes they have to do for the new models. It檚 always marketing. The manufacturers are throwing new and 'Improved' at the customers and the suppliers are throwing new and 'improved' at the major auto companies, as well. If we can make a better oil pan gasket, so what if it costs another 10.00? It檚 improvement, right?
We have new pollution laws and safety laws that seem to keep cropping up each year as well. The changes don't have to be as extravagant as they are, but we have to make room for them.
It would be good if they would do as you say, and make a superior more reliable car.
The problem with that is Americans don檛 want last years model. How can we show off our new vehicle if there is no way to distinguish it from last years model? What would be the point of buying a new F150, if it looked like last years, and your neighbors can檛 tell if its new or one that was left over on the lot from last year? We are spoiled and materialistic.
Not only that, but there are those of us who will always buy 'New and Improved?whether it is true or not. Look at all of the gas hogs Americans buy just to maintain the status quo!
Bottom line is the term, 'marketing? They spend billions on finding out what we want, and then they try to give it to us. Luxury, room, gadgets, New New New!! (And everyone knows if it's shiny it runs better!)
(I drive a 1999 Taurus Wagon)
It is also probably the reason they are going down the toilet. The darn things cost almost as much as a house!
It is too late now, IMHO, for them to buy into Toyotas 'lean manufacturing' or 'Kaizen' or '5S' ideas. The only thing that will save Americas auto industry is what is already happening. Foreign companies are buying them out.
That will save the industry, but not the workers. Soon we will have no manufacturing in America whatsoever because they can do it cheaper and better in China..Or wherever. When that happens we face total economic collapse. A nation cannot exist when the people are consumers and not producers. We are in a spiraling decline, and I don't think there is a thing anyone can do about it.What do you think the American auto industry needs to do to dominate the foreign competition in...?
IMHO, for any of the US auto makers to succeed in today's (and tomorrow's) marketplace, the buying public (excluding the already %26quot;Buy American or Die%26quot; loyalists) needs to be convinced that the entire product experience has changed.
This is more of a perception change than anything else, but I assume the overwhelming perception has been so bedraggled that no marketing effort in and of itself will move a cynical public's collective perception one iota.
I would aggregate at least the following into %26quot;entire product experience%26quot;:
Purchasing experience
Saturn introduced the fixed price concept years ago, which still retains loyal repeat buyers. Given that the new car buying process is as painful at Japanese and European dealerships (and the public perceives they are enduring that for a superior product), it would be worth a US marque considering changing this front-end of the process to be easier and more pleasurable for the buyers they're trying to entice away from the imports. But based on how the existing network of dealers are structured, I doubt that will ever happen on a large scale.
Product Quality
Dr. W. Edwards Deming was right - Quality really is job 1. Too bad Ford just took it as a slogan and not a wholesale change in business objectives. The market's perception of US autos as inferior in build quality, reliability and value is a cliche. They need to make a significant, sustainable and actual change for the better for the jaded market's perception to change. And they'll additionally need to fight inertia before they gain any ground. Again, I doubt this is going to happen given the current economic pressures and structures that support and constrain US automakers.
Post Purchase Customer Service
As in, %26quot;Is there any?%26quot; 'Nuff said. When the public is delightfully astounded by the level of support they receive from an American automaker, this will have been accomplished. Not going to happen anytime soon.
I've bought and driven American, switched in disgust to German, migrated to Japanese when I raised my family, and am now driving German again. Not planning and moving to American until the above three points are secured.
Hope that helps some. Best to you.What do you think the American auto industry needs to do to dominate the foreign competition in...?
Do it just like Japan does it..Bring in the PARTS from god awful places where the workers get paid .15 cents per hour and assemble the cars here..
The MONEY is in the parts, NOT the assembly..
THEN you can afford to assemble many different models and market the daylights out of them..Sorta like Nike does with sneakers.. The sneakers only cost $15 ea. but sell for $150.. BUT spend $100 on each pair to market them..
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