Quote:
Originally Posted by Betonov
The downfall of US car manufacturers were greedy managers and CEO's.
More money was spent in bonuses, lobbying and bribes than actual design and investments.
And more and more jobs were outsourced.
You can hear all you can about Americans but I'll fight someone when it comes to defend the hardworking able American. You can build quality things, problem is you manufacture less and less.
FIAT on the other hand, like the rest of European countries, can't survive only by it's domestic market. Cars are mediocre, but they're cheap, low maintainance and very high mileage. Perfect for a lower income European that just needs some wheels.
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This is, indeed very true. It used to be manufactured items in the US were made and managed by people who actually cared about their products, having either invented, created, or developed their products and thereby had a singular, vested interest in the the rputation and quality of their product. In many cases, it was a family concern and the very name of the family was at stake. After the advent of the late 70s ascencion of the "bean counters", with their shiny new MBAs, and the growth of the trend towards mergers and acquisitions, American manufacturing quality and pride in ownership took a back seat to "bottom-line" considerations. It became more profitabloe (i.e., bigger bonuses for the execs) to sell a manufacturing concern rather than invest in new plant or R&D. Folloowing WW2, the Japanese were able to surpass the US in manufaturing grwoth mainly because their manufacturing infrastructure had been demolished, allowing them to "start from scratch" with new plant and procedures. The US moved forward, also, using methods learned in wartime manufacturing to creat the manufacturing boom of the late 40s, 50s, 60s, and early to mid-70s. However, after that, the amount of new plant to replace or update rapidly outmoded or declining existing plant steadily dropped. The management of the manufacturing sector increasingly moved from family-based ownership/management or "worked up from the mailroom" executives to management culled from universities and colleges with impressive degrees, but little loaylty to the companies. Also, the management ranks were being filled by persons outside of a companies field of interest (e.g., a former banking CEO running a automotive manufacturer, or a automotive exec running an electronics firm). The days of company loyalty and pride of work, at all levels of American manufaturing, are, I am afraid, long gone...
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