Detroit as Mojo Makers? Well, kinda sorta actually....
As I've already admitted, I love cars. How they work. How people choose them - even putting dumb stuff in them. No one needs a DVD player even for the most ADHD kid. Any design needing a backup camera means the company expects the wrong driver to buy it. Lexus can only gimmick your wallet dry if you let them for example. But I digress...
Many companies have moved away from the idea of actually making things they put their name on, because it's easier to have some other slave sweat. Once a reputation is earned, why do any more heavy lifting than one has to?
Because every industry has had massive fails being marketers rather than manufacturers, that's why. As I noted last night, GM's fate was sealed when it chose to move into a gated industrial tower and away from the neighbors and neighborhoods that made executives have to mingle with a variety of people. In the Renaissance Center, they simply no longer have to see anyone but themselves.
Separate from GM's myriad production issues, that one event in 1996 is a line in the sand between the company and the rest of the country.
Chrysler, a long flopping fish out of water, has fared no better. When it had interesting designs....like the Dodge Stratus or Plymouth/Dodge Neon, it couldn't make them reliable or safe. The Stratus was among the worst performing cars of recent vintage.
Perhaps among some soul searching, a new voice needs to emerge.
One saying something like this....
"America, we have spent the last fifty years drifting away from the idea of being manufacturers to becoming marketers and money machines.
Instead of building the products needed to sustain our natural resources while still providing you with vehicles needed to live your daily lives, we pandered to everyone's ego. Most notably our own. And to shortsighted trends indicated by a very narrow portion of our customer base.
We can no longer afford to do that.
It no longer works for us to buy up a foreign maker of small cars that allows our company to keep the profits. Why? Because it means American workers are not working. And America's tax base is being cheated.
It no longer works for us to use a shell game to post our money around the world to avoid supporting the country that allowed us to become strong. We walked away from our home, and we need to come back.
It no longer works for us to promise more than we can deliver.
It no longer works for us to sell multiply branded variations of the same basic potato.
It no longer works for us to fool you.
Too much of American industry relies on our ability to drive our part of the economy.
We will make it work by building what we need to contribute to America in America. By helping our suppliers create and sustain jobs for their workers, who can then support their families, pay their taxes, and support their neighbors, neighboorhoods and ultimately, the country.
Understanding that we live in a global economy.
However, if we have no home, we can only be called homeless.
It works for us to help make our part of America work."
It won't stave off bankruptcy, but it will capture attention and hearts. And when people see they mean it, GM and or what becomes of Chrysler** will force the American psyche into Drive, and they will become unstoppable again.
This, as an example, is not a good place to start.
Couric You came from Home Depot to run Chrysler. You had to be a quick study, but from what you've learned, what was the U.S. auto industry's biggest mistake?
Nardelli: Well I think, look, we've all made mistakes. I've been in business for 38 years, and whether I was at GE or Home Depot or Chrysler, I think the important thing now is to look at this crisis. How do we make sure that we are repositioning ourselves that we break from some of those old paradigms to make sure that we are making new products that we are delivering service to customers, the kinds of cars and trucks they want to drive, have the conficence to drive and will tell their friends about it, Katie.
Mr. Wagoner is gone in part because he took too long to decide that answer, Mr. Nardelli.
*Ford doesn't need to hear this because it actually appears to be repairing itself. I think the others should be jealous, but they've copied too much to obviously to mooch off the smart kid's paper this time.
** Dodge is done making cars, IMHO. Chrysler should become a car manufacturer. Dodge should be the nameplate on their construction vehicles and pickups. Jeep should make their SUVs. Dodge and Jeep should never share a model like the Nitro or Liberty. Chrysler would only be a passenger car line, including crossovers like the Caliber.