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 |  Let's start with the obvious: how did a woman become an expert on an Alpha-male industry? I'm not a gear head at all. My motivation was simple: I saw an opportunity for advancement. I was covering the Michigan legislature for United Press International when the automotive editor's job opened up. It was a high-profile position, a national reporting job, and the kind of beat that people spent years waiting for the chance to cover. The first time I applied, though, I was turned down. The editors thought union leaders wouldn't talk to a woman. So I went over the head of the men who told me 'no' and found someone higher up who thought I deserved a shot. Twenty years later, I'm still writing about the car business. What makes the industry so fascinating? The American automobile industry is like Hollywood, or the Pentagon. It's a culture onto itself. It has glamour and excitement. Every fall brings a new model year. It has some of the most visible executives that any business journalist would want to write about. Moreover, cars touch all our lives. They're the second-biggest purchase that most people make, aside from a house. They express our personalities - and they give us a sense of freedom and power that we may not get any other way. And, like classic movies and war stories, people love to reminisce about the past. The automobiles that Detroit produced through the years are part of our American psyche. So if that's the case, why are Americans defecting from Detroit automobiles to the import companies? Portugal HotelsBecause while people love the cars of the past, they buy vehicles based on their needs. Buyers are increasingly fickle about the types of vehicles they want to own, but they can be incredibly loyal when they find something that they like. Toyota and Honda understand this. That's one of the secrets to how they've been able to gain so much power in the American market. These are companies that are consistent from top to bottom: everybody at Toyota learns about the Toyota Production System. Everybody at Honda knows the Honda Way. They aren't reinventing themselves every time: they're offering something that consumers can rely and trust. That feeling, for the most part, has vanished when customers consider Detroit's vehicles. But aren't Detroit products getting better in quality? They are certainly better than they were in the past. But this is where Detroit's "good enough" mentality comes in: the Big Three give something a try, declare victory, and then lose focus. By contrast, the import companies don't abandon their vehicles, they make them better. Look at the Ford Taurus. When it arrived in 1985, it was every bit as good as the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry. Almost 20 years later, the Camry and the Accord are the best selling cars in the country, but the Taurus is nothing more than a rental car. Why? Because Ford saw that it could make more money on SUVs than on cars, and it put its focus there. The same is true for Saturn: GM had foreign buyers in the palm of its hand when Saturn arrived in 1990. Everyone loved the nice way it treated customers. But same story: trucks became GM's focus and for more than four years, it didn't give Saturn any new vehicles. Now, the Saturn miracle might never have happened. cheap hotel in MarbellaMany people say it's more patriotic to buy American. Why support companies that are based in Tokyo or Munich? Interlaken hôtelsI think consumers would love to buy vehicles from American companies, but these days, those companies have to earn their loyalty and trust. There are too many consumers who've given Detroit a second, third or fourth chance, only to be disappointed by minivans and cars and pickups that simply aren't as durable as those built by foreign companies. These days, a lot of American work for foreign companies; they own TVs made in China, they dine out on a different style of international cuisine every night. It's become much less of an issue that it was to our parents and grandparents, simply because we have more choices. Plus, customers know that Toyota builds cars in Kentucky, that Nissan builds trucks in Mississippi and Honda builds minivans in Alabama, so they don't consider them to be as "foreign" as they once did. |  |
