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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices
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To: tejek who wrote (442830)12/28/2008 6:43:19 AM
From: Road Walker   of 1574680
 
First marketers get people to buy the most ridiculous things every day......see Chia pet. Secondly, if the Big Three just maintained some consistency people would become more confident about their products. They do things like the Volt while the rest of their auto lineup is crap. They seem to be able to focus on only one or two products at a time.

Not if they hate 'Chias' and 'pets'.

Many Fords and GMs are very competitive in their class, especially against Euro cars. They are cheaper and more dependable. You can argue style but that's in the eye of the beholder.

Most people, once they are past basic practical considerations, buy cars based on image. As I said before you wear your car; everybody thinks their car "says something" about them. You see someone in a Mercedes convertible and a Ford convertible and you immediately have a different image of those people. Yet the Ford is likely more dependable and half the total cost of ownership.

In he end the 'high end' Euro cars are getting huge premiums in their selling price because of perception, not reality. It's marketing, and that's where the US auto industry falls on it's face. They have to make and market compelling cars that create a perceived value that exceeds their total COGS.

They've done that in niches; pickup trucks and SUVs. But (in my memory) there has never been a successful mid or small size US premium car.

And that's what they need going forward if they are going to participate in a more MPG efficient fleet. With all the consumer negatives I don't know that it's possible.
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