I Hate GM, Ford, and Chrysler and Here's Why

[Guest TruthBeTold35]

I hate GM and Ford. I used to like GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The home teams, but they are all run by morons. Chrysler is a run a little better (before and after DCX), but their quality still sucks.

 

Any thoughts?

[Carnival 0]

I hate cars.

[Fuzzy Dunlop 0]

I guess there was some talk of some Ford plants closing down in my area. I don't know if that's just local, or everywhere, or what.

[Red Baron 0]

Everywhere.

 

Go Nissan!

[2GOLD 0]

I drive a Dodge pick-up, I don't care.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I hate GM and Ford. I used to like GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The home teams, but they are all run by morons. Chrysler is a run a little better (before and after DCX), but their quality still sucks.

 

Any thoughts?

Real automotive insight there. Once you can actually produce some real reasons for hating on the domestic automakers instead of repeating the overall message the media would have you believe (domestic and British = bad, all other imports = good), we'll talk.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Well after hearing about Ford's recent layoffs, it seems you're not the only one who doesn't think so highly of the company that brought us the assembly line.

[Art Sandusky 0]

But it isn't like CNN was portraying it yesterday, interviewing workers who were sad and wondering what they were going to do with their lives and wondering how it'll affect the economy, as though Ford did this for shits and giggles. If they maintained their former structure, they'd be driven out of North America and then there'd be zero jobs. It's changing in order to be a viable competitor again, in the same way they're curtailing fleet/rental sales and concentrating on hybrid technology while trying to eliminate incentives on their cars.

 

I mean, their report yesterday concentrated on the Atlanta plant that makes the Taurus and Mercury's Sable, but not once did they mention during the report that both cars were ancient (15+ year old platforms, stuck-in-the-90s design) and less than half of their sales were to actual consumers. Believe it or not, you can't keep building the same car for years and years and maintain the same market share. That's why the Japanese are in the position they're in, they refresh their vehicles every three years or so, compared to the domestic average of 4.6 years between product cycles.

 

EDIT: And our own media continuing to run down our own companies is only going to lead to greater negative perception and success for foreign automakers. Betcha didn't know that Buick (near-luxury domestic) is second only to Lexus (full-fledged luxury divison of Toyota) in JD Power and Associates' problems per 100 vehicles leaving the factory. Where are Toyota, Nissan, and Honda? Behind Mercury, Jaguar, and Lincoln, a trifecta of non-media approved automobile companies.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I hate GM and Ford. I used to like GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The home teams, but they are all run by morons. Chrysler is a run a little better (before and after DCX), but their quality still sucks.

 

Any thoughts?

I could ask you the same thing!

[WukenBloodstar 0]

I hate GM and Ford. I used to like GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The home teams, but they are all run by morons. Chrysler is a run a little better (before and after DCX), but their quality still sucks.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

If you provide reasons why you don't like GM, Ford and Chrysler this topic would be okay, as it is I see you as another one of the many(and I mean many) retarded people online who hate this brand, hate that brand and provide little or no reasoning to hate said brand. I'll mark you as an idiot, carry on.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Wuken, your "I'm schizophrenic and so am I," while funny, isn't really an accurate joke about schizophrenia. It's not really the same as multiple-personality disorder. Come on. 100-level psych.

[The Man in Blak 0]

The closing of the Ford plant in a nearby suburb could conceivably bury the entire town. There's not really any other opportunities available in industrial employment for the residents in the area. The city's going to try to fight it but, from what I've heard, their plant may be one of the first to go. Widespread corporate mismanagement strikes again.

 

And I just bought a 2005 Ford a couple of weeks ago.

[Vyce 0]

I hate all of these American auto companies for being fucking morons and not having any forethought to realize that, with energy prices on the rise (something which has been ongoing for YEARS now, it's not a more recent trend), maybe it wasn't such a bright idea to roll out endless variations of the SUV or mammoth truck every single year.

 

Start making more vehicles with better fuel efficiency, and maybe more people will buy your products again.

[The Czech Republic 0]

By the same token, there are still idiot soccer moms out there purchasing these hideous things. My neighbors, for example.

[AboveAverage484 0]

I drive a Chevy

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I've had a Chrysler Sebring '04 (bought brand new in Jan. '04). Have over 50,000 miles on it, and haven't had a single major issue with it. So, clearly there are still quality domestic vehicles available at decent prices, at least in my experience.

 

The problem is definitely the over reliance on SUVs. People aren't going to spend 100 bucks to fill up their tanks, sorry. As for towns that are going to be hurt by the closings, I feel for them (there's one city nearby with a GM plant that's been rumored to be closing for years)...but at the same token, you can't put all your eggs in one basket. Cities that rely on one industry need to diversify, or they get left behind as technology and markets evolve.

 

Frankly, I also find it hard to feel sorry for people who don't have a college degree and make close to $100,000 per year with extremely generous retirement and health benefits. You need to save for the bad times, which unfortunately a lot of them don't have foresight to do.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Isn't it conveniently glossed over in Roger & Me that the Flint UAW was demanding something like $55/hr adjusted for inflation + benefits? Like you said, that's an awful lot.

 

Invader, is that Janesville that's supposed to close? I think either Janesville or Beloit has a big plant. Also, Beloit is a fucking shithole.

 

EDIT: Lolz, I get you confused with snuffbox and I called you Snuffy. Awk-ward!

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Czech, I was referring to Janesville, indeed. It seems like they are doing ok right now, though, since they are building a brand new vehicle (comes out later this year or next, I forget). I think it's a more fuel efficient SUV thing.

 

Yeah...I'm all for unions, but there has to be give and take between both sides. The union has to recognize that if the company can't stay profitable, they ultimately loose their jobs, despite one or two extra years of cushy pay.

 

I can also tell you that it's very hard to get fired if you have a UAW job. Doesn't exactly create competition within the work place, or drive people to excell, because no matter how many times they mess up, they know the union will make sure they stay employed.

[lomasmoney 0]

The only problem I have with domestic made cars is that I've had so many more problems with them than I have with foriegn made vehicles. For instance, my dad brought a $32,000 Mercury Mountaineer in 2002, and by the end of 03 he had so many problems with it that he traded it in for a minivan. My Saturn with only 59,000 miles on it had mutliple problems, too many to even list, and yet my mom's 97 Honda Accord with 120,000 miles on it, had nothing but standard problems such as replacing the tires, changing the oil, brakes, etc, but nothing like having the muffler fall off your Saturn 8 months after you buy it. The thing that sucks for me, is that being from Michigan, where the economy is so reliant on the automobile industry, that closing plants in this area is going to pretty much destroy families abilities to provide for themselves. For instance I have five family members who work for Ford at the Woodhaven Stamping Plant. If they were to close that plant, my two uncles , both with young children, my aunt (who is near retirement-time) and my cousin who has a barely one year old son to worry about would all be out of jobs. For my cousin, he has kind of been taking classes in school, and has a CDL to drive trucks or whatever, so he can find another job, but I mean for my other family its like you have worked somewhere 12-24 years and made it a career basically, and then because the people in charge of the company put out a poor business model you are shit out of luck on a job. I don't care what anyone says, the Honda Accord is the best value car on the market, in my opinion, and with all the talent in R&D at the Big 3 they should be able to put out cars that are way more efficent, especially in fuel economy. I would buy a domestic made car in a heartbeat that got 40 mpg. Better efficiency will get the Big 3 back on track and hopefully they don't have to put 100,000 people out of work to do so.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Unions only look out after their members, and in the end, reduce employment in their locus of control (thus raising unemployment). I really dislike *most* unions.

 

I don't feel sorry for those towns with one plant, so the town dies when it closes. The only reason why there was a town there in the first place was because someone decided to put the plant there.

 

They should design scooters.

[Vyce 0]

By the same token, there are still idiot soccer moms out there purchasing these hideous things. My neighbors, for example.

 

I'm not absolving them of the blame. Believe me, that's an entirely different rant. That's more of a "Shut your fucking mouth with all the bitching about how much you pay for gas, you should have bought a hybrid you dumb fuck!" rant, whereas this is more of a "Assholes, build a better / more efficient car and maybe you won't be almost out of business" rant.

[Art Sandusky 0]

The auto companies build what people want. Why do you think Porsche of all people made an SUV also? It also doesn't help that the environmental movement has been painted as an unamerican pursuit (even last night during a discussion on the auto industry on Hannity and Colmes, Sean Hannity said he'd never give up his gas-guzzler) because apparently behaviors that don't just concentrate on yourself are evil.

 

And the sweeping "all the domestics are just putting out bigger gas hogs" statement can really only be applied to GM, the only major automaker that sees potential in that shrinking segment, as shown by their trotting out a full new line of large trucks and SUVs for 2007. Ford dropped the Excursion and Lincoln's Aviator and is working on putting out 250,000 hybrid vehicles a year by the end of 2008. Bill Ford is probably the biggest environmental nut CEO this side of Honda.

 

Of course, you could also ignore how much it costs to continue making cars the current way instead of all that would have to be invested in re-tooling factories and products. Again, these companies aren't making cuts because they feel like screwing over a bunch of people. They're doing what must be done to continue functioning and halt the losses of market share. There would have to be even greater cuts if they were to all decide to suddenly make economical and environmentally friendly vehicles.

 

If there's anyone you should be pissed with, it should be the oil lobby that keeps this country addicted to fossil fuels and does its damndest to prevent alternative forms of energy from getting off the ground.

 

Finally, the domestic car makers are making automobiles that stand up well to foreign competitors, but the perception is going to continue to be that they're inferior thanks to that message being pounded into our heads on a regular basis. A car is something people don't think much about, so they go off of whatever Consumer Reports tells them, or a magazine they might pick up. Much like how the country as a whole is in the mess it's in, it's a matter of people not caring enough to look for the facts. I mean, the Honda Ridgeline won the Truck of the Year honors at the Detroit show this year, despite it having a useless bed, an underpowered drivetrain compared to what its competitors are putting out, horrendous styling, and only a single model line that prices well above other trucks in the segment, and that's with very few options. Oh, and the vaunted Japanese economical mindset is nowhere to be found, as a small engine plus all-wheel drive plus a heavy truck (that isn't even on a real truck platform and can't go off-road all that much) equals you being lucky to swing 20mpg in normal driving.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Did anyone notice it was his first post?

 

Gimmick.

[alfdogg 0]

I drive a Chevy

A Chevy Asshole? I must see ads for this model.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Hey remember my "a new smiley is in danger of being overused" precaution?

[Art Sandusky 0]

Sure do.

 

Now let's get back to blaming the real culprits for all of this decay of the economy and American values: UNIONS!

[The Czech Republic 0]

Unions have their place in our country, but you're being silly if you don't think they're corrupt beyond repair in some cases, and are hindering their members more than helping: auto workers, teachers, for example.

[Art Sandusky 0]

So say that "corruption in unions" is the problem instead of just "unions" as so many are wont to do during discussions of the domestic automakers.

[WukenBloodstar 0]

Wuken, your "I'm schizophrenic and so am I," while funny, isn't really an accurate joke about schizophrenia. It's not really the same as multiple-personality disorder. Come on. 100-level psych.

 

 

It's off my license plater holder..hell..I don't think I ever changed it(Being the I'm schizophrenic and so am I) , too lazy. To think of it, I need to buy another car, I hate my 2G Eclipse, damn pile of crap.