The Life and Death and Life of the U.S. Auto Industry

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I had one of my readers send me this graphic.  Thought I’d share.

 

The Life and Death and Life of the U.S. Auto Industry.

The Life and Death (and Life) of the U.S. Auto Industry

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

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2 Responses to The Life and Death and Life of the U.S. Auto Industry

  1. Bill says:
    September 5, 2013 at 3:39 PM

    You have to read three books to understand the decline of the US Auto Industry:
    “On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors” by John DeLorean
    “Iacocca” by Lee Iacocca
    “Car Guys vs Bean Counters” by Bob Lutz

    I will defend the Pinto that is mentioned above. Back in the 1970s, all RWD cars had the gas tank mounted between the rear bumper and the rear axle/differential. All compact RWD cars sold in the 1970s, including the Toyota’s would leak gas on a rear impact. The Pinto had two issues that caused it to be the blame for rear collison deaths. One was the numbers. The Pinto sold 10:1 for every Toyota, and almost triple the Vega sales wise. That large number of slaes made it’s chances of collision deaths much higher than Vega, or Toyota. Second, the Pinto was cost reduced and news leaked out that Ford placed a dollar value on life rather than adding a gas tank with a rubber liner, or placing rubber bumpers over the rear end’s shackle mounts. This is immoral, but again, the Pinto was just as unsafe as any RWD compact sold in the 1970s.

    Personally, I am disappointed that Mother MOPAR is owned by FIAT, and Government Motors has still not found it’s way to compete. It is nothing to be proud of as an American. I will say I have pride in FORD; they did not take a bail out, and probably the Fusion/Focus are the best built cars money can buy.

    Reply
    • admin says:
      September 5, 2013 at 5:05 PM

      Thanks for the comment, Bill. I’m going to through the Corvair in there with the Pinto, it was a fine car. Thanks to Mr. Nader now a very collectible one as well. (You’ll see in an article I have coming up shortly – not only did he kill the car version but the van/truck version died as well.)

      But I’m going to disagree with you on GM not competing, I think they have come a long way and have a car of the year tucked way. They have technology on board that the import don’t offer. The Camaro is successful as well.

      Thanks for dropping a note.

      Reply

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