There was an interesting conversation that we had over the weekend that had an angle that just may explain much of America’s woes – it explains the auto industry’s at least.
We were at a friend’s house for an impromptu cookout and met a couple that are friends of theirs. The chick was from Detroit, so naturally she and Nick got to talking about the car industry, etc. Naturally this led to discussions about gas prices and gas mileage for American cars vs foreign cars. I know for a fact that Heather’s little 4 cylinder Cavalier (4-5 yrs old, maybe) got 18 MPG. Eight-mothafuckin’-TEEN!! It was retarded. So, I ask: do the American car manufacturers TRY to make their cars suck or does it just happen by itself?
Well, of course, them’s fightin’ words to a dyed in the wool Rust Belt dweller, so she was sputtering about how great the gas mileage is for her Monte Carlo (the 08 model claims 21 city, 31 hwy – I doubt sincerely it’s 10mpg higher on the hwy). It was cute that she used how far she could go on a tank as her measure of good gas mileage. It was cuter that she didn’t know the size of her tank (17 gal). Then she proudly stated that her friend’s Cavalier got 22MPG! Wow! 22!
My 1994 Honda gets 26-28 city and about 32-35 hwy, BITCHES. And it’s 14 years old!!
Anyway, so I said that if the American car companies would stop bitching long enough to actually design a good looking, fuel-efficient and reliable car, then maybe they wouldn’t be getting billions in bailout money from the damn government. And she said this:
“Well, I don’t care about quality, I just don’t want people to lose their jobs, so I’ll buy American no matter what.”
Oh, rilly? Well, that explains a lot, doesn’t it? If the people who live up there think this way and the people that work in the American car industry think this way, then one can extrapolate that it’s no wonder American cars SUCK. It’s a sad statement that people feel obligated to buy American cars to keep the industry going knowing full well that the products are inferior. Yes, there’s nothing better than an American muscle car, but Detroit never got over it and they refuse to change. It’s called evolution and it works for the auto industry just like in the wild.
It’s nice to think that you’re helping by buying something you don’t really believe in, but all it is really doing is enabling the American auto industry to keep on using the government as its personal banker. You are misguided if you think buying American cars will help the industry change. It will not. (Buying other American products will actually do some good. China owns us after all.) Just about every car bought in the US today is built here anyway, no matter what the brand. All Hondas except the 2000 Roadster are made here now, sadly. (Mine’s a real Honda made in Japan.) The point is that even if you buy a Honda, you’re STILL buying American, dumbass.
You’ll never convince me that the American car industry is incapable of making better vehicles – although that is what they claim when they whine about CAFE “breaking” them. I think we’re perfectly capable of Honda level quality but the auto industry is just too lazy. Why innovate when you are not pressed to and you’ll get your bailout $$ anytime things get tough? This is the same industry who whined about putting seat belts and other safety equipment in vehicles and refused to do it until forced by the government. This is the same industry who says it’s “impossible” to make more fuel efficient cars NOW rather than 10 years from now. This is the same industry who just got $25 billion from our government (that would be MY money, assholes) to bail their asses out. Again. Whine, whine, whine. It’s all they do while they have their hand out for more of MY money to pay their unionized overpaid workers and continue cranking out inefficient gas guzzlers.
It’s called CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) and it must be embraced by the whiney bitches in the American auto industry. If they spent as much time trying to solve the energy dependency issue with more efficient and/or hybrid cars as they did complaining about it, the US would rule the industry instead of getting its ass kicked by every foreign car plant in the world. Hell, even Kia beats the shit out of American cars now. Kia!!
People look for the best overall deal: MPG, looks, safety features, price. If the Big 3 (soon to be the Big 2) can’t cut it, then they can’t cut it. Move on. These people who’ve spent their lives and generations of lives before them suckling the teat of unionized labour need to get ready to have to do like everyone else and GO TO SCHOOL to get a good paying job instead of asking Uncle Frank to get you on at the plant. It ain’t so tragic to have to use your brain rather than attach door handles all day, you know? I really think that people will adapt. It’ll hurt for a while, but they’ll figure it out. I personally think it’d be the best thing for them in the long run. Education trumps relying on the Union any day of the week, IMO.
So, that’s my US auto industry rant. All Detroit dwellers, please deposit your comments about my unfairness to the poor US auto industry workers in the round container marked “File 13” as you leave this site. Thank you.
My mother (who I know you LOVE) once was touting how it was a shame that I would rather own a Japanese car than an American car and how I was stealing jobs etc etc etc. So I told her, if Japanese cars were assmbled exclusively in Japan, they would cost way more and be way better than they already are. They are “Americanized,” just like anything ethnic.
And if America’s car industry is SO concerned with it’s fellow patriots, why the EFF is the 56 mpg FORD Fiesta only available in Europe? Especially in light of our ridiculous oil ‘crisis.’ (Another rant, entirely, but I’ll sum it up with this : our oil reserves that will last 200 years [yes, OUR, as in AMERICA’S] and the need for other fuel sorces, which should have started in the 70’s, when we had our first gas shortage.)
Oh, right. Because American car companies are shit-heals. Which is why unless it’s GIVEN to me, I will not own a hunkajunk!
USA! USA! USA! >:/
I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
Ha! They refuse to change their ways (and the unions won’t budge on their demands, of course) so they fall behind. It’s survival of the fittest, folks, so either change or die. The generations of people who go to work at the plants will have to evolve, too. Which needs to happen. They need to get an education like everyone else and go job hunting like everyone else instead of relying on the plants to sustain them generation after generation. I’m getting Nick to join this fracas, since he is from Detroit and knows plenty of families that have built their whole lives around the plant rather than send their kids to college. I’m sure he’ll have some good input.
Oh, and your mother is a SAINT!! A SAINT I tell you! We should commission a statue!
:-D
My dad owns 2 american cars…from the 70’s when shit was still made well, the 77 pontiac grand prix, and the 79 chevy malibu gets better gas mileage than these new computerized cars, and thats including 4, and 6 cylinders in there as well. Me, 92 Honda Accord, 23 in the city, and about 35 on the highway if I dont floor it.
just as a side note you can even but the BMW X-6, and the new 1 series cars in the American made category…made right here in Greer, SC, oh and also if you run michelin or BFG tires…made right up here as well, and the Michelin North American Headquarters is here too :P :)