OneMoreWaste -> RE: The Other American Auto Industry (12/14/2008 9:43:50 PM)
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You want to talk about building cars in the South? Okay, let's talk about building cars in the South. Until about three years ago, there was a Ford assembly plant in Atlanta metro employing about 2000 people. It had opened in 1947. At least as of a year or so ago, you could still see the huge letters painted on the side of the building, about how they're proudly assembling the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable. The Taurus and Sable were mid-size family sedans, the bread-and-butter unit shifters for a U.S. auto manufacturer. When they were introduced in the mid-late 80s, they were a huge hit- in fact, they were the last American-branded passenger car to be the domestic best-seller. But management- not the UAW, but FoMoCo execs- ignored the advances being made by the Accord and Camry. They let one of their key platforms stagnate, giving it only minor facelifts as the competition was doing clean-sheet redesigns to provide more comfort and convenience, better handling, and more contemporary styling. Just because the category is the perennial market leader in sales- who cares? If a family needs a car, we'll sell 'em a truck, because they're more profitable! Just push that macho, adventurous image and the suckers will stand in line for it! In the last year of Taurus production, the platform was so dismally outclassed that they weren't even worth putting on dealership lots- they were fleet sale only. I drove one, courtesy of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. It was pathetic. In 2006, for a midsize sedan that would have stickered at over $20k at a stealership, it had a TAPE DECK. Where did they even fucking find a tape deck in 2006? That's just an example- the handling, interior appointments, powertrain, and just about any other metric you can think of, all felt like left-overs from the 1980s. I actually felt sorry for the poor, anonymous grey-silver thing. Gee, for some reason, Taurus sales aren't nearly what we projected. Kill the program. 2000 jobs go away. Must be the Union's fault. Damn Unions, making the poor widdle manufacturers pay people $70k/year to turn screws. If it weren't for them, everything would be just fine. Juuussst fiiinnnne....
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