20 years ago the writing was on the wall

[maxiep]

http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13724698&source=hptextfeature

This article was from 12/2/89. Amazing.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

The Economist rocks.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gung_Ho_(film)

 

[barfo]

Nice find. It's sad/pathetic that they had 20 years to fix their problems and never could.

barfo

 

[Colonel Ronan]

Maybe North America will get more Japenese, German, French, English, and Italian imports. They're really nice cars, to be honest.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

its all about the Korean cars right now. can't beat a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty.

 

[julius]

Maybe North America will get more Japenese, German, French, English, and Italian imports. They're really nice cars, to be honest.

I used to have a preference to 'merican cars, but now I like cars that are good. Some of those are US made cars, but my preferences are Honda, Volvo and Toyota.

 

[boatsandstars]

I'm pretty happy with my Italian made scooter, 70mpg, fantastic emissions, 3 dollars to fill up.


Maybe America can catch up with the rest of the world in terms of fuel efficiency instead of choosing to be retarded.


btw, just for poetic justice the Hummer dealership on 11th ave in New York is now a Vespa showroom. They have 30+ scooters in the room that used to hold 3 Hummers.

 

[mook]

I remember the days when Saturn was supposed to revitalize GM. "A different kind of car, a different kind of company." The hype and feel-good marketing was actually pretty effective at launching a pretty unremarkable vehicle. It was a PC vs Mac thing, except the PC was GM.

Sadly, the "Mac" was absorbed into the "PC" culture, and Saturn became yet another failure.

Here's a good article on how GM crushed Saturn:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/192458

The sooner GM fails, the sooner the Japanese will build more plants in America and the sooner we'll have access to more quality cars.

 

[maxiep]

Maybe North America will get more Japenese, German, French, English, and Italian imports. They're really nice cars, to be honest.

All those cars are available here. And many of them use GM parts. You'd be surprised at how interconnected the car companies are. When I picked up our new station wagon in Munich last year, I was told that the transmission was made by GM, and that wasn't unusual.

It's been said that once you buy three cars from the same manufacturer or country, you're unlikely to ever buy from another manufacturer or country. I own a pickup truck as an additional auto because I need to haul stuff around. It's a Chevy. However, I couldn't imagine ever owning an American car. An SUV? Perhaps (I own a semi-American one now). A pickup? Absolutely.

I fear two entire generations can't see themselves in an American car, even though they are as high quality as they've ever been. And if that's the case, that is all she wrote.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

hey, would you recomend the euro delivery? I'm intrigued about that.

 

[maxiep]

I'm pretty happy with my Italian made scooter, 70mpg, fantastic emissions, 3 dollars to fill up.


Maybe America can catch up with the rest of the world in terms of fuel efficiency instead of choosing to be retarded.


btw, just for poetic justice the Hummer dealership on 11th ave in New York is now a Vespa showroom. They have 30+ scooters in the room that used to hold 3 Hummers.

We can afford to use fuel as we wish. People make the conscious choice to live that way. I embrace the freedom to make that decision.

 

[maxiep]

hey, would you recomend the euro delivery? I'm intrigued about that.

I've done Volvo and BMW. Both saved me thousands over what I could have gotten the car for here, and that includes the money I spent driving around Europe on vacation. The key is to find the right dealership. I'm looking at buying a new Audi via European Delivery next year, but their deal doesn't seem to be as attractive.

 

[Colonel Ronan]

Yep, many car companies use the German engines because they're extremely powerful and have a good gas mileage. I know you guys have a lot of Jap imports (probably a lot more on the West Coast), but expect to see more. Do you have the Focus in the States?

 

[boatsandstars]

We can afford to use fuel as we wish. People make the conscious choice to live that way. I embrace the freedom to make that decision.

oh get over it. i'm not taking away your fucking freedom and using freedom as a crutch to embrace 3rd rate standards is pathetic.

just because you can buy a shit ton of gas to fuel your piece of shit SUV doesn't mean you should.


note: and I don't mean "you" personally, but in general. americans are generally re-fucking-tarded. "meh, i want a giant stupid hummer to drive around in then complain that gas is too expensive for my 15 mpg vehicle."

 

[Colonel Ronan]

oh get over it. i'm not taking away your fucking freedom and using freedom as a crutch to embrace 3rd rate standards is pathetic.

just because you can buy a shit ton of gas to fuel your piece of shit SUV doesn't mean you should.


note: and I don't mean "you" personally, but in general. americans are generally re-fucking-tarded. "meh, i want a giant stupid hummer to drive around in then complain that gas is too expensive for my 15 mpg vehicle."

If you're English, then I am ashamed.

 

[mook]

 

[yinets1860]

20 years later the writing was on the computer

 

[maxiep]

oh get over it. i'm not taking away your fucking freedom and using freedom as a crutch to embrace 3rd rate standards is pathetic.

just because you can buy a shit ton of gas to fuel your piece of shit SUV doesn't mean you should.

Freedom means acknowledging that other people have the right to live their lives in a way you would find distasteful.

note: and I don't mean "you" personally, but in general. americans are generally re-fucking-tarded. "meh, i want a giant stupid hummer to drive around in then complain that gas is too expensive for my 15 mpg vehicle."

Thank you for your opinion.

 

[MARIS61]

maxiep's new ride.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

About 8 years ago I was adjusting a Saturn that had damage down the entire left side. The front bumper, fender, door, q-panel & rear bumper were all off other GM vehicles. There was nothing that was original to Saturn. The entire vehicle was simply a collection of spare GM parts. That's when I knew GM was going to hit the toilet.