Should Honda and Toyota take over GM and Ford?

Mercedes took over Chrysler and they seem to have turned the corner. Chinese manufacturer Lenovo took IBM PC's.

Been that way for a long time. People laughed at Geo Prisms, but they're just Toyota Corollas, for $3000 less. The Mazda 3 is basically a Ford Focus. Ironically, if people weren't so hung up on Asian brand names, they'd save a ton of money, and it might be Toyota hurting, not GM.

BTW, Saabs are built on GM Cutlass platforms. You'd be amazed...there really aren't THAT many different cars out there. Just different styling.

isn't the Ford Five Hindered basically a Volvo?

with a sideways 3.0L V6 driving the front wheels.

came from the factory with a Delco battery, so I've assumed they are already somewhat associated.

Yep, we've got a 2001 Chevy Metro and are loving it during these high gas prices.

They're not making much money. Mercedes quality has dropped like a stone, and the only thing the management can focus on is building more 700-horsepower SLRs or whatever the hell those AMG coupes are called.

They can't build a $40,000 Benz that doesn't fall apart, but keep investing in new $250,000 models.

Not to mention the Maybach. How many of those have you seen so far?

Yeah, they're selling quite a few Chrysler 300s, but that doesn't mean they're doing well as a whole.

Redstone

I imagine Chrysler and Ford going out of the market someday. GM could improve and rival Toyota(Toyota is poised to become the GM of the 21st Century). I like GM cars (they are the only American brands that can compete with Japan), but Ford and Chrysler are crap, pure crap.

The big crap car line in the U.S. is GM everything they do is junk I wouldn't wish one one these crapwagons on anyone except you since you love them so much.

Come on...there is enough to write about here. We've all seen the "I'd rather push a (Ford/Chevy) than drive a (Chevy/Ford)" bumper stickers. There really is no point in it. Personally, I always had reliable, fun GM cars. My first Ford was a used Taurus wagon I ran into the ground...also reliable. But my Ford Windstar was the biggest POS I've ever driven. Replaced virtually the entire engine, and it still blew again. Utter crap. I'd bet a dozen other people can tell similar horror stories about either make. So let's not, and say we did, kay?

brake job and I just put it's first new belt on it two weeks ago.
There's nothing wrong with American cars except the reputation garnered back in the 70s.

how come consumer report study after study rates American car reliability behind Japanese cars. Both short term and long term. Are they and other organizations faking the data?

Am I going to judge American cars based on a case study of your car, or case studies that include many cars. Hmm...

From day one it needed repairs, including two radiators! :wtf:

Mercedes has been even more distracted lately by the Smart car division than by Chrysler. Those Stuggartianarians are working on very small fuel saving cars and losing a bunch of money doing it, but Mercedes will be ready for the price of fuel rising.
Then there is the new CLS 4 door coupe, maybe the best looking car in the world, hopefully what the 2010 Dodge Charger will look like.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.wintonsworld.com/cars/featurestories/geneva-motor-show-2004.html&h=267&w=400&sz=38&tbnid=XGZyzcYM2PYJ:&tbnh=80&tbnw=120&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmercedes%2Bcls%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

Maybe if we got rid of "big auto" - or at least get it small enough so we could drag it into the bathtub and drown it ('scuze the Grover Norquist line - couldn't resist!), we could start seeing not only more hybrid cars, but also those run on bio diesel and other clean forms of fuel. With the worldwide supply of oil rapidly deteriorating, we have to start looking at better options. I'm no economics guru, but it seems to me that if you have to be on a 2 year waiting list for a Prius, perhaps there might be a demand for hybrid cars. And if more states start passing emissions standards such as those in California, sooner or later, we'll have to kiss our SUV's goodbye. If only the Hybrid craze could have happened 10 years ago... could you imagine??

Looked at their numbers lately?

Secondly, the car companies can't just make hybrid vehicles appear out of thin air.

Thirdly, the hybrid craze could not have happened ten years ago, because nobody had the battery technology, electric motor technology, or control-system computer technology to make it happen back then!

Folks, we need to be realistic about this stuff. Want more hybrid cars? Big Auto and Little Auto both will be happy to oblige you, but only if they see a real demand. If you want more hybrids available in the future, go out and buy one now. It's the only way to get them to make more of them.

Redstone

and eliminating the tax breaks on SUVs. The whole US industry is geared to diminishing demand for low mpg/hybrid cars.

SUVs are proved dangerous. Do they make them safer? No, they make them fun by making commercials with big fuzzy animals.

It's sick.

Especially given that it only applies to the really huge honkin' ones over 6,000 pounds GVW.

But that doesn't mean that "the whole US industry is geared to diminishing demand for low mpg/hybrid cars"

The car manufactureres want to make money. They do that by making cars people want to buy.

You may not like this, but it's the truth: the car companies make so many SUVs because people buy so many SUVs.

Simple as that.

Redstone

That's why we have a 2 year wait list. I would buy one now, but it's not possible.

Perhaps we couldn't have had the modern hybrid 10 years ago, but biodiesle cars have been up and running for well over a decade.

http://www.grassolean.com/index.html?textFile=gff

In today's automotive section of the Hartford (CT) Courant, there were FIVE Toyota dealers advertising that they had Priuses IN STOCK.

No two-year waiting list around here.

Redstone

I suppose now I'll pack up and move to CT. Prius's are in abundance.

will make GM and Ford cry. Mercedes and Chrysler have a big edge over GM, Ford and even Honda because of their excellently engineered rear wheel drive platforms, backed up with state of the art braking and traction control systems. Tomorrow's MOPARS will be made with "hand me down" Mercedes platforms and components. This new rear wheel drive 300 is a hit from Texas to Harlem, Vancouver to Sarasota. Rappers, seniors, NASCAR dads, Buckhead Betty's, they all love this car. It took the Germans to build the best American car ever.

which is built in Canada.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Redstone

What a dumbfuck idea.

As much as I like the Asian cars myself, I would imagine that if they were aquired by Honda or Toyota, the prices would rise.

Now, frankly I think it'd be good if people drove less and used more public transportation, but I don't see it happening anyways. It would just create a hardship and it would especially hurt some here in the US in the auto industry.

Plus, while Toyota certainly has the potential to grow larger than Ford (unless it has already), I cannot really see GM going under anytime soon. I am pretty sure GM is still the largest automaker in the world.

Another possibility would be restructuring. Toyota is arguably has much higher efficiency and for that reason alone we could see even more layoffs in the auto industry.

of that commodity trade. IBM was still building arguably the best and most innovative laptops around and making a profit at it. Lenovo moved their headquarters to NY and ex-IBM execs are running the show. I don't see the comparison.

GM is making some good cars now. They have turned Cadillac around completely, whereas Toyotas are boring as hell.

Ford Owns Mazda. Sony just named Sir Howard Stringer as their CEO. Renault owns Nissan. The Japanese economy is still comatose after about 15 years. They announced on Friday that they came out of their latest recession with a whopping 0.1% GDP growth.

It's a global marketplace. No 'country' is doing anything business-wise better than the rest. Some companies are doing well, many are not.

is a great car as well as Honda/Acura, but I'd still take an STS or a Chevy Corvette!

and he told me years ago that, probably within my lifetime, there would be maybe three car manufacturers in the world. I think there is a great deal of merit to this view.

Julie

All of these companies are no longer independent.

• Volvo
• Range Rover
• Jaguar
• Nissan
• Mazda
• Saab
• Chrysler
• American Motors
• Rolls Royce
• Subaru
• Izuzu
• Daewoo
• Suzuki
• Kia

GM paid Fiat $2 billion to get out of a deal wherein GM would have had to buy Fiat. (GM had owned 20%.) Fiat is now looking for another buyer.

The Mercedes/Chrysler merger has started producing some nice results, by the way. The Crossfire is based on the SLK. The hot-selling Chrysler 300c and Magnum, which are based on the Mercedes E series, are the best cars Chrysler has sold in years. All hot new Nissans, like the Infinity G35 and return of the Z car, resulted from Renault's influence.