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Originally Posted by iwantchixx
Making vehicles that are unreliable, drink gas at alarming rates and spend way too much time in the shop. Keep in mind. There is hardly any profit from just selling American cars. They make their money from parts and service. Example, the Ford Focus costs the dealer 19k to purchase in Canada. They then sell it for $19,600. The profit is split between the dealer and the salesman. Not much of a profit there is there? So they rely on parts and service to stay afloat.
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I've had opportunity to chat with a couple car salespeeps on a personal level... turns out where the REAL money is on each sale is a 'factory incentive', essentially a direct kickback to the salesperson, often more than the margin of profit off list price. It's one of those things that everyone does but few will fess up to... if you get a chance to chat to one outside of a business setting, ask about it. Very enlightening.
Even with that kickback scheme in place, domestic auto sales margins per vehicle manufactured are extremely slim compared to, for instance, japanese auto sales.
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Look at that piece of shit Dodge Caravan / Chrysler Voyager sold in the late 80's early 90's. Every single one of them spent more time in the shop than driven in their first 3 months of life. That's not good. No vehicle should behave like that. Of the 2000 Dodge Caravan that my old boss had that had the transmission fall out after 60k on it. these companies are producing crap and are paying the price for it now.
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See above regarding Dodge Dart, Ford Custom 500 and Chrysler Cordoba. I'm pretty sure that learning how to swear during my childhood reached peak efficiency while listening to my old man piss and moan about his latest shitheap that he was throwing money at.
That said, the Cordoba was still a mad pimpin' ride.
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Now look at Jap and European car manufacturers and dealers. The profit margin is much higher. Look at the prices a Civic goes for. 20k for a bare minimum base model up here. Cavalier or a Dodge 2.0 go for 4-6k less. It's apparent in the prices for replacement parts too. That's why getting a Civic repaired VS a Cavalier is much much more expensive. VW is absolutely insane for parts. But you'll hardly ever see your vehicle in the shop if you have one of these. They recoup profit losses by marking up the vehicles more at the manufacturer, the dealer and the parts shops.
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Blue book values on Japanese cars bear that up... the much-maligned (in another thread here) Toyota Camry for instance retains value like a motherfucker. The blue book on a '95 camry SE with 100,000 miles in good condition is around $5k. A 95 Ford Taurus SE (which came with more baseline options, like leather interior 'n whatnot, but roughly the same sticker price) with 100,000 miles will get you $2,300... and it's highly likely that you'll have thrown much more money at the taurus to keep her roadworthy.
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But now, Japanese manufacturers are producing big trucks and SUVs and you can bet people are going to continue flocking to them as the craftsmanship and reliability is better. People are no longer stupid, they don't pass up a quality vehicle just so American workers can keep their jobs because most American vehicles are produced in pieces all over the world and most Jap vehicles are being manufactured in our own continent. People want what they pay for, not something they have to worry about breaking down every time they go on a trip.
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I've certainly seen a number of light toyota pickups around (hell, they we're popular enough to make it into pop culture references even going back a few years... like the 'YO' truck from Toy Story, f'instance). So there's some dent being made in the market, although I *still* can't find a solid source for marketshare per vehicle class aside from Class 8 heavy trucks (Mack appears to be the winner there). Still, I wouldn't underestimate the power of nationalism when it comes to buying certain types of machinery... Stereotypically, the average pickup driver is your average good ole' boy with a gun rack in the rear window and "wouldn't buy no fuckin' ve-hickle from no fuckin' slope ever" (yes, I've actually heard this said out loud).
Besides, most people I know with Ford trucks actually like them for what they need them for. They're solid performers (if lackluster on gas usage) and can take a beating. The detonating cruise-control thing from the F-100 series lately didn't go over too well though, admittedly.
I don't see myself buying a Ford for town runaround use any time soon though. Might pick up an old '64 Mustang convertable and trick it out some day as a hobby, but if I did I sure as fuck wouldn't tool around in it to pick up the kids or go get groceries.