T
tropicannayeah
one thing is for sure, control freaks are not going line up to buy self drive cars are they...lol
Can we find a way for Detroit to come back alive building these smart cars?
The short answer is NO.
When Japan, Germany and other producers modernized, improved tolerances and build quality, the US auto makers started finding ways to cut costs, increased prices and were slow to innovate and just sat back and relied on reputation and instead of investing in modern plants, they spent profits on advertising, not better machinery. It's not that US made cars became worse, it's just that the competition improved and US cars stopped being the innovators (that's what happens when accountants gain a greater power over the engineers..and that's usually the beginning of the end)..and that was the beginning of the end for Motown and the whole manufacturing base in the US. Everyone blames labor costs (among many other causes etc etc), but Japan and Germany had high wages too but with a far greater productivity...a 15 year old Toyota is more reliable than a new Ford or GM..and let's face it, many of the current models are just sad looking retro copies of successful 60's and 70's models or they are chunky looking ugly boxes that are a cross between passenger vehicle and an armored car or military vehicle..the USA hasn't built a decent car since the early 70's.
can Detroit come alive again?...sadly, not in the foreseeable future, that's for sure. It has more chance of being the place where Ebola first took over in the US than becoming the manufacturing great it once was again.
Can we find a way for Detroit to come back alive building these smart cars?
The short answer is NO.
When Japan, Germany and other producers modernized, improved tolerances and build quality, the US auto makers started finding ways to cut costs, increased prices and were slow to innovate and just sat back and relied on reputation and instead of investing in modern plants, they spent profits on advertising, not better machinery. It's not that US made cars became worse, it's just that the competition improved and US cars stopped being the innovators (that's what happens when accountants gain a greater power over the engineers..and that's usually the beginning of the end)..and that was the beginning of the end for Motown and the whole manufacturing base in the US. Everyone blames labor costs (among many other causes etc etc), but Japan and Germany had high wages too but with a far greater productivity...a 15 year old Toyota is more reliable than a new Ford or GM..and let's face it, many of the current models are just sad looking retro copies of successful 60's and 70's models or they are chunky looking ugly boxes that are a cross between passenger vehicle and an armored car or military vehicle..the USA hasn't built a decent car since the early 70's.
can Detroit come alive again?...sadly, not in the foreseeable future, that's for sure. It has more chance of being the place where Ebola first took over in the US than becoming the manufacturing great it once was again.
