I predicted the American Auto Manufacturing Is Coming To An End! in August 2007. Trends seem to be confirming that prediction. It is not what I wanted but the handwriting has been on the wall for about 30 years. Each year imports have sold a greater percentage of the total United States sales. The American companies chose to ignore the fact that an ever shrinking number of buyers liked their products. The management of the American companies is to blame for the current situation. That this situation has grown critical when the entire economy is doing very badly only adds to a problem facing our government. Barack Obama must decide if the government should prop up the car manufacturers until the economy is strong enough to withstand the loss of thousands of auto manufacturing jobs.
My guess is that the U.S. government will support the car manufacturers for at least two years. The continuing support after an overall economic recovery is doubtful. Looking at European manufacturers that have government subsides will be enough motivation to discontinue subsidies at the earliest possible date.
I received Consumer Reports annual car edition just this week. Their conclusions about U.S. auto makers is devastating. Among the top 10 in their rating the only American car was the Chevrolet Corvette. Among the worst 10 cars, eight are American made. The three lowest rated cars are American made. Even worse in the overall rating of 15 manufacturers, the American companies took 12th, 14th, and 15th place. Consumer Reports takes no advertising in order to prevent their ratings being influenced so I trust their evaluations. The have no axe to grind. Just a few years ago they rated all Hyundai cars very low but this year the Genesis 3.8 model landed on that list of top 10.
Today’s report on ABC World News that an Auditor Report Warns GM Survival ‘Doubtful’ only reinforces my opinion about the survivability of the American car companies.
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