What in the HELL is going on with Toyota? Over the past 20 years, Toyota has acquired a rep for making quality vehicles. In fact, most surveys indicate that Toyota practically owns the “mindshare” outright for “quality” with the buying public, when it comes to automobile quality. But reputations are difficult to acquire – and easy to destroy. All it takes is one little P.R. disaster, and your carefully-crafted image as the King of Quality can be a thing of the past.
When it comes to corporate disasters, the problems with Toyota’s gas pedals is a doozy. From a PR perspective, this one ranks right up there with Union Carbide (Bhopal), Johnson and Johnson (Tylenol), and of course Ford/Firestone (Explorer). Which makes it all the more curious as to how Toyota seems to be dragging their feet in their response to the problem. Read the rest of this entry »
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Like American cars? I do. (Well…at least Jeeps.) Like American car makers? Me neither. To find a bigger bunch of clowns in charge, you’d have to look at…at…Congress. Of course, the question on everybody’s lips should be, why do American automobile makers make so many models that nobody wants, models that they couldn’t make money on, even if they DID sell well?
There’s a reason, a believe it or not, it’s not “executive incompetence.”
It’s Congress. Read the rest of this entry »
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I am a sucker. Or at least I have been. And may be sometime again in the future. You probably have been, too. Let me explain…
Let’s say you’re in the market for a car. You lust after a new one. Doesn’t matter what brand or what model. You buy it. As you drive it off the lot, it automagically loses about 20% of it’s value, simply by moving from the “new” to “currently owned/technically used” column. Say your new vehicle costs $30K, not an unusual amount for a new whip. You’ve put down 20% of the cost of the vehicle, either by trade in, down payment, or both. You plan to finance $24K. Fair enough, but when you drove it off the lot, it lost 20% of it’s value. At this point, you’ve paid $6K for the privilege of driving some new wheels. Hope you’re happy. If you’re not, let me acquaint you with a new term to add to your lexicon: under water. This is the phrase lenders use when you owe more than the item you financed is worth. If you go to trade it in on something you like better, you’ll pay for that mistake for, oh, let’s say the next ten years or so. Read the rest of this entry »
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