Hi Scotty,
What specific advice would you give each of the 3 US car companies (GM, Ford and FCA)? What do they do well and what do they need to do better? I want to support our US companies but sometimes it gets very hard to do so.
Plus, what should the federal government do to help make these companies better? Increasing the fuel economy and lowering emissions is generally good but this results in more and more plastic parts to reduce weight which in turn reduces the reliability of the vehicle. Can't we find a happy medium?
A couple segments on these topics would be very interesting. In my opinion, at least.
Thank you,
Bob
I don't think the government should do anything. In fact, I think the government should keep their noses right out of it.
I also think the unions need step away. They are just strangling the industry and shooting themselves in the foot. Eventually there will be no auto industry and we'll all be driving Chinese communist cars.
I don't think I would call FCA a US car company.
and GM sells more cars to China than USA now.
Lol. FCA hasn't been a US company for 20 years.
1) Bring manufacturing back to the United States. If Toyota and Honda can build in the US at a profit, so can they. They just have to figure out how. Many of "US" cars are made elsewhere.
2) Make cars that last long and are easy/cheap to maintain.
3) Don't build crap.
These are things that YOU want as a consumer, but not necessarily good for business. It's easy to say, but much harder to put into practice. If you make them too good, you will bankrupt yourself. It's a very difficult tight-rope act for a CEO.
I’d say Toyota has a good model going.
I suspect that the majority of the American public doesn't buy cars based on your criteria. I think they buy cars based on how they look, the marketing fed to them, and perceived image they think it gives them. Just look at all the pickup trucks on the road. How many of those people actually need pick up trucks?
And that is why we need Scotty to save us from ourselves, lol.
All of those are ways to NOT save money. And the reason they "build crap" and don't make "cars that last" is BECAUSE they want to save money. Plus, lets be honest, the initial quality in the eyes of an average American is higher on some lower quality car companies. As a society people think very broadly about a vehicles like they might say " This is gasoline so it would be foolish to buy it" or "this Fiat looks better and has 2 more break horsepower than that Corolla and costs half the price? Corolla owners are dumb!" This is why those brands sell cars. If everyone thought using the average thinking used on this site, Chrysler and GM would not be here anymore.
Mountainmanjoe said: " If you make them too good, you will bankrupt yourself. ", Americans have been making cars too good for a really long time. At least from the first seat belt. Then we added those bombs on steering wheels. Costs go up but safety didn't. We have cars that are like medieval armor and bumper cars on streets is a game for kids that steal the cars. We might have done better investing our energy teaching/forcing safe driving or removing dangerous drivers from the streets and let safe drivers drive safer.
yep, political. LOL!
Not trying to be political but pointing out that America imports so much we have no control over quality, quantity or even color. Maybe we need to find ways to control quality control in other countries.
Who are you kidding. This question is a 100% political topic.
So, who's "we"?
consumers is we.
so consumers should tell companies in other countries how to operate. Fantastic idea.
If having problems with quality control, they should.
Yes we here at carkiller.com should team up to defeat quality control issues. Quote @mountainmanjoe : Fantastic Idea
Americans used Congress to protect us from ourselves in many ways. Big businesses moved to foreign countries to escape government controls. Yes, send American standards to foreign countries. If they do not meet them then stop importing them. America lost many cars because of pollution laws. Why not more.
I buy American, as much as possible. We, the consumers, should try supporting The American Economy. I do without until I can find local products if possible, cars included, instead of buying just because of usually lower imported price.
I think you should buy the best car for you. That's how the free market works. GM is just going to take your money and dump it into China anyway.
What is best for me is what will support the American economy, as much as I can. That is why working under the table is best.
By working under the table, you mean ... dodging taxes? How does that support the economy exactly?
I said as much as I can, not all I can.
The "under the table economy" does not hurt the economy. It does slow taxman taking from the economy for nothing.
@mountainmanjoe @jimz
imo lower quality American cars is a kind of half-suicide. GM or FCA don't care about the American economy they care about their own profits I would not consider FCA a US manufacturer but they will take your money and dump it right down into the French, and same with GM dumping money into Opel the German company. Mercedes had a deal with Chrysler and Chrysler failed on Mercedes. They don't care about anyone else's profit except their own so why should you care? They don't stand behind their products. I watched Scotty's video on Lexus and Lexus recalled vehicles and fixed all of them for customer pleasure while GM is recalling millions of vehicles every month and refuse to do anything about it. And technically, "imports" are built all over the place is it bad for the economy to buy a Honda made and assembled in the USA or is it better to buy a Chevrolet that was designed made and assembled in Korea? What is the point you are trying to make just out of curiousity. This forum is a nice place to listen to others opinions so I would love for you to go for in depth about how you think buying from brands which are historically American will help the nations economy, and to what level would that come back and help specifically your pocket as an individual?
It's something you can not feel, young friend. jimz heart is in the right place. He wants to help his fellow Americans. In the hay day of the American car, you could feel pride and power and identity. But that's the past, and the world has changed. These companies are only a ghost now. The West needs a purpose again.
I did love my 1959 Cadillac convertible. Cheap gas, big car, no bumps in the road. Riding from Miami to The Mason Dixon Line was a thrill. The 1972 Chevelle SS was fun as well. So many cars that were nice and/or fun but they all had problems of some kind. That is what will not change, the problems that come with owning them. What I think changed cars more than anything else was they are made based on social issues instead of the dreams of car designers. That is why I think car ownership is useless now. Buy your home within walking distance of necessities. Stop suburban spread and build more small towns. Then cars could be eliminated and mass transportation could be designed to serve the masses that want to travel. ..... The fellow Americans will have to help themselves and learn the hard way like the rest of us.
FCA could improve it quality image by bringing back the 1982 Dodge Aries K
No, seriously car would be more dependable if they where simpler. Who needs GDI, CVTs, SRS, ABS, when you had carburetors, drum brakes and crank windows?
Except that Toyota/Honda prove you can have all that and still have a reliable car that will last a long time. But yeah it is true the more complexity, the more things that can break and/or go wrong.
When all cars are electric the problems will all go away.
Lol. Now we shift the problem from mechanical/electrical to even more electrical which a lot of car companies already struggle with. Plus you got all that automatic tech stuff (and cameras/sensors) thrown in their now.
I need fuel injectors. Good riddance to carburettors.
If they want to get better, they need to prioritize reliability. A lot of that stuff needs to be designed in from the beginning. The culture (from the Top) is different at those companies than say a company like Toyota. They also need better qualities from their suppliers, but that is hard when those companies (esp. GM) are trying to squeeze pennies wherever they can. Not sure we will see any big changes, unfortunately, as they are really stuck in their ways. Also, they have shareholder prices they seem to prioritize over quality control/reliability (which can eat into profits). All different mindset/mentality than Toyota. Anyhow, I can’t in good faith recommend their new cars until they change their (bad) ways.
When "American manufacturers" cannot design something as simple as a spark plug (Ford two piece crap) then America fails ourselves. On the bright side I laugh when foreign countries send people to American for a better education.
Let American Car Makers teach their own employees to make good cars. Stop hiring poor quality labor and stop making poor quality cars.
You can't find good labour any more these days, because nobody wants to do it. Everybody looks down their noses at physical work. Manufacturing has left America, and those skills are gone. Maybe for good.
I can't speak for all makers but GM let unions ruin quality. Job security is a good thing but it must be earned. If makers did like they use to do and hire and train employees and let salary show work quality. Like the good old days.
The "good old days" are gone. You won't see them again, and probably neither will I.
Not if you wait for others to make your day. Good old days are today if you make them good.