curiouscat

A Modest Proposal For The U.S. Auto Industry: Stop Building Cars

Toyota and Honda make plenty manufacturing cars in the USA. The leadership of the big 3 have done such a bad job that it makes sense to questions pretty much anything they do but I don't think the evidence supports any difficulty manufacturing profitably in the USA.

What doesn't work is pointy haired bosses leading companies that manufacturing cars in the USA. Others like Toyota and Honda do it too well for the big 3 leaders to pay themselves 10 or 100 times more more than the executives at Toyota and Honda that are making it so obvious how bad the big 3 managers are.

Chrysler hired a senior Toyota manager this year - it doesn't work to just hire a couple people and think that will fix the problem. The management systems they have in place don't work. Then need to stop thinking the executives should live like kings and just push numbers around on a spreadsheet and everything will be fine.

If they actually would have managed their companies well the last few decades they would be fine now. It is extremely poor management that got them in this mess.

management.curiouscatb.../

Better to Let Automakers Go Bankrupt

I agree. Mismanagement leads to failed businesses. That might not be nice or pretty but that is how things work. Here is a article my father wrote in 1986 about bailing out AMC - williamghunter.net/art... "American Motors is an old, weak fish with bad eyesight in a turbulent sea populated with aggressive, healthy predators. These predators are familiar - both foreign (Japanese and European) and domestic (General Motors and Ford). Some are new, unfamiliar breeds from such places as Korea.
I predict American Motors will stop making cars in Wisconsin in the near future, whether or not the state's money is used for a temporary propping-up operation." Obviously times have changed and GM is not an "aggressive, healthy predator" any longer.

Will Toyota Lose Its Edge?

Toyota will not lose its edge. They continually improve in many aspects. In many ways Toyota is far superior. Look at the pay of Toyota's leaders. management.curiouscatb.../ They have not adopted the obscene pay structure of most American companies. Toyota managers focus on the problems and what can be improved not trying to explain why they are great (even though they just lost a few billion this last year or two).

Toyota's desire is to be the premier employer (where employees want to work) where they are located. Toyota's management is incredibly good. I don't believe Toyota's advantage is due to lower labor costs (to any significant extent). But the long term will show whether Toyota continues there success. I believe so, and own Toyota stock.