Unfortunately, Empires are dopey, which is why history is littered with tales of their demise. But I get ahead of myself.
Just as many of us saw this bubble burst coming, we also saw the unpopularity of the Proud American gas guzzler coming. I'm convinced that picking up the phone and talking to the people in charge, if you can get thru to them, is what we need to do. They are firgg'n out of touch. Any one of us could waltz in, learn the administrivia and be 10k ahead of them on the Big Picture. So, we could call. Offer our advice. Make Friends. Influence the idiots... er, I mean, the Titans of Industry (Financial for the most part).
ERrrr..... Anger is an acceptable response in this historic moment. Now is when we must reflect on the wisdom of the Ghandis and Kings.
And now, and ad from our Sponsors: (note how I capitalize "Sponsors" because they are SOOOOOOooooo important [sic.], which is why they're being bailed out with the banks):
Sources:
3 comments:
Obligatory disclaimer: I am a retiree from GM. I hate that F'ing company beyond what I can say. I still must respectfully disagree with you.
"Just as many of us saw this bubble burst coming, we also saw the unpopularity of the Proud American gas guzzler coming. I'm convinced that picking up the phone and talking to the people in charge, if you can get thru to them, is what we need to do. They are firgg'n out of touch."
If there is a Burger King of Industry other than Burger King itself, it's any of the auto makers. WE get the cars we want made OUR way. They are not out of touch. If they are, they're out of a job because that means lost sales. What GM, Ford, Chrysler, anybody who makes cars for sale in the USA does better than any industry, is listen! And listen, and listen. They ask "what do you want to drive," then listen some more. They ask that question thousands of times, look at what sold in the last year, take it all in the office and sift thru that information in a manner that would make the CIA proud.
Then they come out and tell us what we're building on the assembly lines. I worked there from 1967 to 1999. On every occasion that society screamed for small, efficient cars, the big three built them. A few of them sold. Thousands upon thousands sat filling up dealership's capacities, while orders for what people really wanted sat unfilled for six months or longer because we had switched our capacity from gas guzzlers to roller skates.
The auto industry is probably the only industry in the world that the consumer can bring to their knees by not doing anything - including buying what they offer. After the oil shortage that never was, in 1970, GM lost millions upon millions, because nobody would buy the pint sized pieces of crap everybody screamed had to be made then promptly ignored! John Q. Public needs to put his money where his mouth is, in such situations.
I agree...they've been building what we want - just look at all the stupid SUVs on the road. I wouldn't want an SUV if you gave it to me. And look what the Asian automakers are doing with UPSIZING all their cars, trucks, and SUVs. It's what people want - so don't say it's just GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
The US auto industry built cars for a certain segment of the population that was declining as gas prices went up and as people became more aware of Global Warming. The Japanese and Korean companies went after everyone else.
Personally, I hate most American cars and loathe SUVs. I thought SUVs and minivans were execrable even before all the stuff came out about Global Warming. The US automakers sure didn't do a very good job of listening to me.
Look who is winning in the long run.
Post a Comment