Thursday, December 11, 2008

Why Detroit Failed

Detroit has been brought down by its advertising as much as its cars, its unions, and its decision-making. I am utterly convinced of this.

Why? Because the voice of the American car maker has always of the been chest-beating, swaggering, king-of-the-world ilk. Chevy, Cadillac, Pontiac, GMC trucks, Dodge. Macho bluster.

You don’t really want to help a person like that out when they come begging. And I don’t think Congress will.

Contrast this with, say, the voice of Honda. Grounded, simple.

I’ve often felt American car makers should speak humanity and even humility. Now’s not a bad time to start.

3 comments:

Uber Flow said...

Yes, American Auto makers have been selling those big bad wolf tickets for decades. But c'mon, let's admit the new Dodge Challenger is a beast. It looks just as breathtaking as it's gas mileage is frightening. I think Detroit and America's problem is not knowing "when to say when". Buckminster Fuller made a car that wouldn't break down and like many forward thinking inventors he couldn't bring it to market because it defied Capitalism. It was built to last. Instead of being the innovators of the world, America settled to waddle in mediocrity. Fuel efficient technology has existed longer than Lee Iacocca's first transformation of Chrysler. Greed and back room deals kept futuristic ideas from flourishing because the big 4 would've had to tighten their belts. In Gold, Oil and Diamonds we trust. The bottom line - The rich still got richer through it all. And the poor, well, the bottom has fallen out from overcrowding. Bail out? I'm not falling for the banana in the tailpipe. Somethings need to begin again from the ground up.

G.D. said...

Yes, the Challenger is a beast--but it hearkens back to Detroit's glory days rather being progressive product (imagine if they put that much thought and effort into a hybrid). There's no doubt Detroit's products have, as you said, waddled in mediocrity for years. Unfortunately so has the marketing.

Anonymous said...

This is a topic that's close to my heart... Cheers! Where are your contact details though?

Feel free to surf to my weblog :: raspberry ketone