Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7 Forum - View Single Post - Canadian Built Camaro, Foreign Cars and US Jobs

derklug · 09-01-2010, 01:11 AM

American manufacturing needed a kick in the pants in the 70's. We were building junk and not even caring if it was junk because we had 85% market share. When the oil embargo hit and gas went up to a buck a gallon, people started to buy imports for the fuel economy. They stayed because of the quality. The Big 3 started to respond, but then got used to the new lower limit of market share and went back into cruise control. The 80's offerings let the import market explode, especially in the Luxery class, when people found out that Luxery could still be fun to drive. Ford and GM have made huge gains in quality and desireability, and hopefully the American car buyer will come back. The real question that faces consumers is if buying an American car will also help their bottom line. It is no longer the 60's where everyone knew someone that worked for the Big 3, people need to see what an economic multiplier buying from US automakers really means to their community. Unfortunatly, there are no longer the factories in every town in the US that there used to be.

09-01-2010, 01:11 AM	#40
derklug Drives: 12 Boss 302 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Grand Rapids, Mi Posts: 1,369	American manufacturing needed a kick in the pants in the 70's. We were building junk and not even caring if it was junk because we had 85% market share. When the oil embargo hit and gas went up to a buck a gallon, people started to buy imports for the fuel economy. They stayed because of the quality. The Big 3 started to respond, but then got used to the new lower limit of market share and went back into cruise control. The 80's offerings let the import market explode, especially in the Luxery class, when people found out that Luxery could still be fun to drive. Ford and GM have made huge gains in quality and desireability, and hopefully the American car buyer will come back. The real question that faces consumers is if buying an American car will also help their bottom line. It is no longer the 60's where everyone knew someone that worked for the Big 3, people need to see what an economic multiplier buying from US automakers really means to their community. Unfortunatly, there are no longer the factories in every town in the US that there used to be. __________________ The biggest mistakes in life come when you know exactly what you are doing.