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While sitting at my desk the other night downloading the latest video of the kids my eyes wandered across a Chevrolet carabiner key chain attached to my mag-light. The slogan along the webbing read "An American Revolution". Revolution indeed. The long slow decline of Detroit has now manifest its self in the dire predictions of pundits and the 60 day ultimatum from the government.
Earlier that evening I noticed a new advert by GM for its so called "total confidence" plan. While the company dreamed up a slick new website and custom web address the site does little to indicate even the slightest change in the way the company does business.
Further compounding the auto industry's woes are the falling sales of Toyota who is now under attack by Kia based on price and standard features. While I can say that most Kias and Hyundais are loaded with features they are most certainly more cheaply made than Honda or Toyota. My brief experience left me with a dead drive train while in the middle of six lane interstate traffic due to an unknown electrical glitch. While the episode happened in a rental car, I have spoken to more than one "cheaper import" owners who've experienced quality issues with their cars.
Given my experience the sudden realization came to mind that GM may actually declare bankruptcy if not for a host of self induced reasons but for lack of an alternative to cheaper more disposable cars. Current economic conditions being what they are can you truly say that most automotive customers are willing to part with more money for a car with perceivably less features? I surely can't and I can't see that overall quality will afford any brand much of a premium when it comes to sticker price.
The fact is that consumers are increasingly more accustomed to getting "more for less". Years of shopping at stores like Wal-Mart have most people thinking that if they can get something for a few dollars cheaper then it's obviously worth any sort of trade off in quality, environmentally friendliness, or fair labor agreement. Sure not everyone feels this way but by a large margin many people feel this way.
Which of course is the point. For every car buyer who wants to own a low emission, gas sipping hybrid, there are ten who just need a car to get to and from work. When the chips are down and money or financing is hard to find folks are going to cheap out when it comes to car buying. And truth be told there is no amount of government bail out money or slick web site designs that is going to change the hearts and minds of the average consumer. |
