I recently re-established contact with an old friend from my time in Brazil, whose passion for cars actually exceeds my own. He was the previous owner of a red 1968 Karmann Ghia which I purchased, mentioned in a previous post. Exchanging e-mails with him reminded me of how our own industrial myopia and arrogance is a sign of the automotive times. Allow me to elaborate.
Throughout the entire current automotive crisis, I have not heard a single voice of humility. That includes the humility to admit that there are solutions in other countries which we could apply here if we could ever admit that we are wrong and they have a better way. The whole Detroit/Washington mindset seems to be that we got ourselves into this mess without your help and by goodness, we will get out of it too, using the same tools we have used with such brilliant success up until now. Am I the only one who sees this?
Ford's most modern plant in the entire world is in the Northeast of Brazil, and is a modern marvel. Different suppliers actually make the parts on the Ford factory floor and place them in the vehicle as it goes by on a conveyor. Parts transportation and warehousing costs for Ford = Zero. Admittedly this is not a Brazilian solution but Ford did implement it in Brazil. Union rules prohibit such modernity in the US, but instead of showcasing to Congress, this plant as an international solution for current cost woes, as well as what Ford can do with a relatively uneducated workforce, it is carefully hidden away in a corner of the developing world. Why? Is it because there is a hidden agenda that wants to show Congress how hard it is for the poor automakers to make cars here in the current environment, so please....give us money? GM makes some very popular vehicles in Europe. They have brought some them here, put them in their most bland brand, Saturn, marketed them as humdrum family transportation and then used this as proof that European cars don't sell so......give us some money. They brought two cheaply assembled vehicles from Australia and marketed them as sports cars (Australia - that land of thoroughbred automotive excellence, the new Germany) which flopped, and wondered why we did not sell our BMW's and jump into an Australian Pontiac.
Do you see a pattern here? Foreign solutions squashed and hidden so that we....give them the money. This is not a conspiracy theory, but a recital of facts. At best, it shows a gross ineptitude on the part of management to leverage global capabilities on anything approaching a comprehensive scale. At worse, it is an effort to get their hands on our money. Either way, shame on Detroit. I just wish that we had an alternative. If GM and Chrysler go under (I still have faith in Ford), who will pick up the juicy leftovers abroad? Where are the capital investment funds today? Oh, yes, they are in dire straits and currently "unavailable" because we were so adept at leveraging our "expertise" in mortgages on a global scale.
Throughout the entire current automotive crisis, I have not heard a single voice of humility. That includes the humility to admit that there are solutions in other countries which we could apply here if we could ever admit that we are wrong and they have a better way. The whole Detroit/Washington mindset seems to be that we got ourselves into this mess without your help and by goodness, we will get out of it too, using the same tools we have used with such brilliant success up until now. Am I the only one who sees this?
Ford's most modern plant in the entire world is in the Northeast of Brazil, and is a modern marvel. Different suppliers actually make the parts on the Ford factory floor and place them in the vehicle as it goes by on a conveyor. Parts transportation and warehousing costs for Ford = Zero. Admittedly this is not a Brazilian solution but Ford did implement it in Brazil. Union rules prohibit such modernity in the US, but instead of showcasing to Congress, this plant as an international solution for current cost woes, as well as what Ford can do with a relatively uneducated workforce, it is carefully hidden away in a corner of the developing world. Why? Is it because there is a hidden agenda that wants to show Congress how hard it is for the poor automakers to make cars here in the current environment, so please....give us money? GM makes some very popular vehicles in Europe. They have brought some them here, put them in their most bland brand, Saturn, marketed them as humdrum family transportation and then used this as proof that European cars don't sell so......give us some money. They brought two cheaply assembled vehicles from Australia and marketed them as sports cars (Australia - that land of thoroughbred automotive excellence, the new Germany) which flopped, and wondered why we did not sell our BMW's and jump into an Australian Pontiac.
Do you see a pattern here? Foreign solutions squashed and hidden so that we....give them the money. This is not a conspiracy theory, but a recital of facts. At best, it shows a gross ineptitude on the part of management to leverage global capabilities on anything approaching a comprehensive scale. At worse, it is an effort to get their hands on our money. Either way, shame on Detroit. I just wish that we had an alternative. If GM and Chrysler go under (I still have faith in Ford), who will pick up the juicy leftovers abroad? Where are the capital investment funds today? Oh, yes, they are in dire straits and currently "unavailable" because we were so adept at leveraging our "expertise" in mortgages on a global scale.
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