Did the Prius kill the US auto industry?
All about expectations?Yesterday, Jim Cramer echoed a sentiment that has been growing louder on Wall Street: The Big 3 are running out of money and they might not survive until new, efficient products hit the market. Others believe they have enough in the bank and enough strong foreign sales to survive. So, opinions on the automaker deathwatch vary.
Still, the other day I was at a Toyota dealership that was adjacent to a GM dealership. The Toyota dealership had a small stream of traffic. The GM dealership was dead. The difference, in my opinion, hybrid cars. Slowly, but surely, Toyota's hybrid vehicles, led by the Prius, have changed the perception of consumers. With $4.00+ gas, hybrids have made consumers realize that automakers could have done better, should have done better.
Ugly. Stupid. A bad science experiment. Whatever. So, who is laughing now?
Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
7:15 AM
6 Comments:
The BIG 3 have been making substandard garbage for decades. They don't deserve to be in business.
The elimination of these 3 companies alone will make way for many more innovative, more deserving firms out there that can do it right from the beginning.
I have no problem with the BIG 3 completely disappearing. As for all the people working there, they can find something more productive and helpful to do for this ever so fragile planet we live on....for a change.
Well, I'd prefer that the Big 3 take some real risk and wage their future on aggressively doing the right thing. If you fail, then at least you failed trying to do the right thing.
If they can't take that chance then I agree entirely with you.
Fault not only lies in the lap of US automakers, but also the US driving public that has influenced this insane demand for large inefficient vehicles. You reep what you soe.
especially, since the writing has been on the wall for decades.
still, let's make sure not to forget congress if we are to asign fault.
foreign oil dependency - a game the whole american family can play!
I'd like to see a California PSA with Gov. Schwarzenegger in front of his Hydrogen highway saying "hasta la vista, baby" to the big three
howard-
i feel ya, but when it comes to hydrogen, GM does deserve some credit. i've driven GM's Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle a couple of times and even filled it up at a station that woulnd't have been possible without GM.
unfortunately, however, it does seem that both Toyota and Honda are prepared to eclipse gm on fuel cells and hydrogen.
are fuel cells going to be another example of US innovation breeding profits for other companies, but not US companies?
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