And nowhere in your story of Nissan's turnaround did you mention "bailout."
Let's be fair ...Nissan never came to the edge of the abyss as the big 3 have now. Point #2...the Nissan brand was intact, unlike that of GM and Chrysler, Ford too but to a lesser degree. When the typical urban dweller thinks of a chevy, the mind share drifts to visions of stodgy uncool cars, with engines that, despite the same displacement, are typically less powerful than their Japanese counterparts. When I travel and end up renting a Chevy, i usually get this sensation that I am traveling in a Hoover vacuum cleaner...gun the engine and you get an underwhelming mix of Hoover suction through a tin can. The finish inside the cars is boring and uninteresting...add a reputation of inferior quality and you get the picture. Look at a Maxima or an infinity G series or an Avalon and you get the looks of an exotic, an engine to match it, and the drive of a european sports sedan. That's what it will take for "GM" to win. Unions part of the solution? sure. But a lot more to do with designing a business model that will turn around mind_share ....that involves world class cars, warranties that stand behind their quality, press campaigns, top notch ads, and so on.
By the way, I have some hope that Ford's new CEO can turn that company around, bailout or not.
Maybe he can accomplish for Ford what Ghosn did for Nissan.
Hope so...
Al |
