Don’t cry for Detroit
The US Auto industry death spiral is a tale that will be the subject of so many MBA course studies it’s going to make your eyes roll. Let’s boil it down to a few points for those of us that don’t have time to sift through the bullshit, shall we?
- Quality is not Job 1. US Automakers put out sub-standard cars and ignored the market as people migrated to reliable and affordable foreign cars
- Greed is not good. US Automakers pushed SUVs on the US Market and lapped up the money without looking long-term for new innovations. It’s called resting on laurels until they can no longer bear your weight.
- Unions. Yep, those pesky unions can be blamed for everything from high health care costs to skyrocketing wages for a dying industry. This could fall under the greed category, too.
- Not doing any market research or responding to a changing market. Instead of watching the market competition, US Automakers looked only at each other in a big circle jerk of
you do so I do! FAIL. - And, perhaps my favorite..not listening to the customer.
As this article said, Even if they are better, many Americans wonder why they should give Detroit a second—or third—chance. So true. So true. You give us 30 years of pieces of shit and why should we believe you when you say Quality is Job 1?
So long, GM. Maybe your corporate headquarters will become a stop in the Urban Ruins past-time of visiting dead cities.