Foresight? Haven't the Japanese always built small cars? They never made anything big until the SUV's and large pickups became vouge. Seems to me that the American auto makers were building what people here wanted at the time. The Jananese always had the fuel saving small cars so when the fuel prices shot through the roof they look like genuises. In retrospect a good business plan but not foresight.
The Japanese have ALWAYS made small cars! Their average speed limit is only 35 mph! and their roads are extremely crowded, and they rarely go very far. When long distance travel is required, the average person takes the train, out of necessity, NOT choice.
The same goes for most of Europe. Only in America do we have large open expanses, and the freedom to drive them ANY TIME WE WANT! That's why the American people like our big cars and trucks. And we always had plenty of inexpensive gas, until govenrment overstepped it's bounds, getting in private business's business, and putting on outrageous taxes. (The EXACT reason most other country's gas prices are so high!) The actual price of a gallon of gas, BEFORE taxes, is almost identical, around the world. Nowadays, it's actually more expensive here in the USA, because of environmental regulations, and government interference, rather than the people who get the blame, "Big Oil." The reason we import so much is because government has made it impossible, or to expensive, to get our own.
some of you have mentioned some American branded vehicles made for other countries. Good vehicles, nearly all. But we can't bring them here, because of government environmental regulations. Our EPA has become one of the biggest causes of high prices of all types of energy production and use. We have the most stringent rules in the world, and the cleanest environment, yet everyone says "WE" have to "conserve more, and clean up more." "WE" are no longer the problem! Jealousy is.
The American auto industry has always made the cars the American public wants. Those that didn't, went by the wayside. When a particular design/model/feature didn't sell, it was dropped, fast. When something sold, it was expanded. During the "contrived" fuel shortage of the '70s, the American manufacturers downsized quickly. Buyers scooped up the junk they put out. (I have worked for Ford from 1967 thru 2002, so was there for most of the changes.) Lee Iacoca made his mark during the '70s, selling this downsized junk. Remember the Pinto, and the Mustang II? The Maverick? Iacoca's. Problems and all. They are why he was fired from Ford. (Yes, some are going to say the original Mustang was his idea. Nop it wasn't. It was finalized before he came aboard. It was his idea to make so many options available, and the sales media blitzes were his. He was a salesman, avery good one. But a terrible designer.)
When he (Iacoca) went to Chrysler, they were only building big cars. They hadn't downsized when Ford and GM did. Tht's why they were going broke. When he came along, he came up with the "K" car lines. Very successful, very CHEAP. Cheap as in "JUNK!" But they sold, very well. It wasn't until they were a few years old, just like the Pinto and the Mustang II, that they started falling apart. These cars were all basically throw away cars. It cost more to fix them, than they were worth. And they needed constant maintainance. After saving Chrysler, they nearly killed it again. Just as Ford's versions did it, and GM's little cars did it. When gas became plentiful, Americans wanted their big cars back. But, government, and the new EPA had already gotten it's tenticles into the regulations, and the prices of new vehicles went thru the roof. It continues today. 15% of the price of a new American auto is to pay labor to build it. 45% is to cover EPA regulations, 25% is the actual cost of parts and materials. What's left over is profit, split between the dealer and the manufacturer. (These numbers are NOT exact, but are close.)
I could go on, and on, and on, but....:argue:
