The American Spectator

The Nation's Pulse

Why Toyota's Number One

By Eric Peters on 5.8.07 @ 12:07AM

(Page 2 of 2)

GM also had a real problem with rushing cars to market before they were ready for prime time (the Cadillac Allante comes to mind) or "cheaping out" a design that had great potential -- like Pontiac Fiero, which was welcomed with rave reviews when it appeared in 1984 -- until people found out about its Chevette-based chassis/suspension and sketchy build quality.

There were constant problems with quality control -- and customer treatment, too. People finally got sick of it -- and left for greener pastures. Many have not returned and aren't likely to unless the mainline Japanese automakers suddenly start building inferior vehicles and treating their customers with contempt.

The domestics also sat on their hands during the birthing of the Japanese luxury car spin-offs in the late 1980, early 1990s. They kept on selling arthritic old boats with fake convertible tops and wire wheel hubcaps for the Strom Thurmond set while Acura and Lexus peeled off younger buyers and began to seriously challenge top-shelf German and British luxury car brands like BMW, Benz and Jaguar.

In 1989, there was no Japanese luxury car segment. Today, the Japanese are among the major players.

What excuse is there for this criminal negligence? Lexus, Acura and the rest didn't steal their customers. Lincoln and Caddy gave them away.

The indictment doesn't end with luxury cars, either. As recently as two or three years ago, there wasn't a single domestic brand small car that could be considered the equal, in terms of refinement, build quality and technical advancement, of the import "benchmark" small cars, Honda's Civic and the Toyota Corolla. GM was still selling the crickety old Chevy Cavalier -- a car that should have been discontinued at least five years previously, or completely re-done. Ford tried a succession of "world cars" -- including the ill-starred Contour and Mystique. Belly flops. Every couple of years, there'd be a new model -- often with an entirely new name -- and zero "brand equity." People didn't recognize them -- and didn't want to take a chance on them, either.

An example: Ford's Lincoln division launched the Zephyr back in 2005 -- then decided that wasn't right and changed it to MKZ. Same basic car -- a new name. Who knows? And more to the point, does anyone care? Lincoln is looking kind of green. It even allowed the once big-selling Navigator -- which pretty much created the premium luxury SUV segment -- to fade into third-tier irrelevance by failing to significantly update the thing for years.

The point to all of this is that persistence -- and a long-term view -- are what enabled Toyota to become the world's largest automaker. Not "unfair trade." Not the competitive hobbling of American automakers by legislative fiat and the ups and downs of gasoline prices.

We are looking at a self-inflicted wound here.

But Detroit is still in denial. Toyota just launched its first true full-size truck -- a monstrous thing armed with an available 381 horsepower V-8 and best-in-class 11,000 pound towing capability. Ford's F-150 (for the moment, still the best-selling vehicle on the market) comes to the table with a swishy in comparison 300 hp V-8 as its most potent offering -- and can't beat the Toyota on towing.

Will Ford -- and GM and Chrysler, too -- snicker at the notion of a full-size "Japanese" truck?

They just might.

And if they do, it will be their undoing.

Again.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Trade, Business, Law, Energy