Monday, October 5, 2009

TOO LITTLE TOO LATE


the death warrant is signed and sealed; the flowers have all wilted and blown away and no more tears have been shed. what was apparant to the rest of the world is now our fate, we have lost being relevant in the world's eyes.

last week, the first of Octoberish, we were dealt a few shots across our bow, shots that also hit and found their mark. First, Toyota, the global super power on its own, announced, even in it's own largest recall here in the states, over deadly floor mats of all things, that most of it's own blood letting is due to it's north american market sales slump. Then the wonder savior of Saturn, Roger Penske, bailed in a last moment deal to take over the failed GM venue. Even Nissan, whose car company would have provided Saturn most of its models when GM quit supplying them, smelled the blood in the water and got out before they were mired in a deeper loss.

then to finally put the nail in the coffin, Chicago, who looked like a lock to win the 2016 Olympic games, lost out even with our own president trying to win the vote for his own political stomping grounds.

The rest of the world has been growing by leaps and bounds, embracing the global markets and becoming the new eden; we have fell behind, akin to our own parent country, England at the turn of the century. Too big, too mighty, and too damn proud, we allowed our own best interests to blind us to our own fall and fall we have. We were the world's leading powerhouse; what we did, affected the rest of the free world. we sold our souls to foreign interests, in order to make a buck or two; our own brain drain took place and we never knew what happened; We are a consumer nation, a service group, taking care of our own needs off the backs of others; we got what we deserved. When WWII took place, we heeded the call, created the machines and manpower to stem the losses and win the war and make the world a safer place. Now with no real face of an enemy, no real battle to win and no products or ideas to call our own, we have lost relevancy in a ever changing world. it was ours to lose, and loss it we did.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

so over it all

here in the wonderful state of unemployement, michigan, u.s.a., a depression all its own, i have found in many chat sites and regular media outlets, a larger than normal japanese car bashing all over again;
this time it is because, with this "cash for clunkers" deals going on, lest than 25% of the domestic car makers fine automobiles qualify for sale in the program. so, go figure, a large amout of the cars being purchased in this deal, are by and large, from the far east. but of course, the japanese are getting the bulk of the bad media or backlash, as all it takes is for the toyota's to be the first choice in the mileage battle, for it to be all the japanese fault, once again.
what i find equally humorous, of course, is the lacking of the european car companies being blamed. now, i am not sure, but i think the bmw's mini and the smart car, both should qualify for the program at hand, but since both of which are pretty much "niche cars", i am afraid they don't even show up on the radar of the pundniks bitching right now.
2 points that come to bear; first, since the japanese and korean cars as of late, are the bread basket cars; the ones who the cash for clunkers programs are trying to benefit the most; getting the family out of that ford explorer and into a nice affordable car, which almost doubles the fuel mileage as well. as of even this morning, in the local detroit media, the domestic car companies are running out of their product, the ones that qualify for the program, while the far eastern imports, whose almost entire lineup, meets these goals, are having record sales and plenty of product to take in each and every potential buyer. so i must ask, why is it the fault of the eastern car companies, to once again, have the product and line up to service the buying public? it is simply not the case.
the second and last point i'd like to make. unlike the u.a.w.'s smear tactics, world war 2 has been over for over 60 years now. hardly any sizeable amount of people who actually fought in that war, are still around and do not make up that large of a buying group to make a real difference; by the way, haven't many of you watched tv of late? there are program after program, finally showing guys who fought on both sides of the battles, meeting and paying tribute to each others actions of the course of those battles; war is fought by governments; the soliders are merely pawns of the overall actions.
in almost any anti-import car banter, it usually incurrs the japanese; rarely the germans; funny thing that is; the germans where more responsible for war time deaths than the japanese ever were; it just seems all too convienent to blame the country who seems to be doing a better job at the product you are boycotting. get real people, get a life; the day will come when the final wwII vet will pass away and you'll have to pick another battle to dredge up and make a marytr for your so-called cause.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

shoot for the moon

now that we have entered the great demise of all things built in america, have we really accepted the fact or notion that we should just be a service nation or an nation of entertainers? great for the hollywood types and sports stars, but sucks to be the rest of us.
upon the cusp of world war two, it was said america was a sleeping giant; turns out they were right; once we commited our industrial might into tools of war, there was no stopping the american spirit. what of that same spirit now? if we have to tool up for a huge war effort, what would we do? mobile all the walmart greeters to stop any enemy at the door? would the starbucks deny them their latte before they make their big push on the capital? could we use telemarketers to annoy them to death and send their families and children to disney world to see a big, white world and corrupt their values? sorry, i am afraid that won't work. becoming a nation of users has put us in a bad way, a way unlike great britain, a major nation of consumers with no real industry other than elton john and a few others like him.
we really need to expand our horizions, we need a goal again; onward to the stars, i say; when we mobilized behind a great national cause, the trickle down technology, as well as the manufacturing base, made america a great proud nation. we need to be self reliant again; sending aall of our technology and brains abroad as well as the manufacturing base, soon will bite us in the worse way, and with the chinese not only owning all our debt and making most of our products, soon may be here before we know it.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

westward winds

seems a cusp of a dawning of a new automotive world is upon us. yes, in less than a year, with all the economic choas around us, a new pecking order and outlook as a whole is nigh.
general motors, who did battle with exxon and walmart as the world's largest companies, now as the "new" GM, has a net value less than the "GAP" clothes stores. chrysler, was simply just "given" away, to the italians, as if any one else, short of the chinese, wanted them. Ford, poor hapless Ford, struggles along, pretending all is well, but in truth, the death pool is patiently awaiting its demise.
granted, even the mighty germans and japanese, in hindsight, never expected this much termoil, some took risks, some played it safe, but all fell into the same sinkhole as did our own companies. suppliers, already hanging by a thread, failed and their suppliers did like wise. no one, was safe from the virus. all said in done, 1 in 3 jobs were affected in this country, due to the automotive fallout following the economy's demise.
now, all of us, are all ready aware of these plights, but we are focusing on the new; mergers on mega scales, downsizing on the mega scale as well; how, after, most of the OEM's come back from summer change overs, will be ready and able to supply what is left of the industry is a bigger guess. many of the 2nd and third tier suppliers are already aftermarket suppliers and have hedged theirselves against further mayhem; but with what is already called government motors, a socialist experiment ala communism, is at hand. Henry Ford would be proud, any color as long as it's black..with so few choices available, and even fewer credit worthy buyers, a interesting time is ahead. and lets look at the start ups; Tesla, got government money to push ahead their electric cars; the greening of america, is here, kicking and screaming we may, shoddy first production cars, with shaky mechanicals, makes a buyer wary of any of these ideals. sure many here in america, sheep that we are, would love to drive a "green" car. maybe the time is right for much of this, but after going to the S.A.S.E. show here in Detroit, a show that is for all the engineers of the automotive industry, looking at the suggestions and samples provided by even the largest of OEM's , i am scared to say, the offerings are lean and offer little to make me feel we have mastered the technology required to market such creations, let alone, stand behind them for any lenght of time; just like when the first computers came out; they were better left to the egg heads that created them; but as technology gained fruitation, the concept became viable and worth selling to the general public.
it is my greatest fear, that not only will all this push to become "green" and struggle thru these economic times as well, the buying public is the one with the greatest risks of all. let the soup come to boil, and finish simmering, when it is ready, let the people eat, not sooner

Saturday, February 28, 2009

stimulus for me

hey mr. president! over here, over here! you know, all that money that you are throwing around? how about some my way? i promise not to be quite as bad as the banks and blow some of it on high flying hi-jinxs, but i'll do my best. maybe i'll do my part and pay some of my bills, try to stay solvent, hmm, maybe not, i'll get more money that way. you want to have 36% ownership in me? why not? hell, when i work, you already get close to 25%, so what's a few extra points between business partners. do i have a business plan? no....should i? doesn't seem any of corporate america does either, so does it really matter? do i plan on paying it back? come on mr. president, this is the new america, the one you wanted to change so badly; hell, with all the new socialist programs in place, flush with cash from the endless supply your mint keeps printing, why should i worry? if it all goes as badly as it is planned, hell, i'll be out of money sooner than when you give it to me.
thinking back, george w's measly $600 per taxpayer was chump change; you give the meaning of "entitlement" a new twist; just ask, you'll recieve, and in a really big way.i was always under the impression that the democrats just give away money, as long as it's not theirs, and boy, you didn't fail to surprise anyone...less than 100 days in office and already given away the cow, the milk and the farm. damn, is there anything left yet? see, why should i worry about paying you back, hell, i stand a better chance of making it, compared to some of the other so-called shaky business deals you've already made. talk about buying votes, you hit that one slam dunk.
oh, and good call, sending hil to china, begging them to buy more of our debt...at this rate, our great grandchildren will be paying off the interest, let alone the principal. you know, i kinda like that idea, we borrow from china, and plow it into iraq, and pay off north korea to play nice. makes sense, buying your enemies, with your own blood, sold to yet more of your enemies.
some how, mr. president, i think on your way out, forget we had this conversation and hey, thanks for the billion; the checks in the mail....

Friday, February 27, 2009

wishful thinking?

i was reading another blog site, dedicated to cars as well, and a story about toyota in europe was having storage space issues with so many unsold cars and trucks, they had to pretty much just lease space on a container ship.
what burned me, was the 'tude of some of the posters to that site, spilling off comments like too much over production, building for the sake of building, bad management, etc.
what most of these armchair "ceo's" fail to realize, as does most of the people macro-managementing this country and the world as a whole, that people who have money and those with out, are just not spending money. we want jobs, the chance to create wealth, our own futures, not unemployment lines and foreclosed homes and shattered lives. we, the people in this country need the bail outs, not the idiots who mismanaged the whole damn thing in the first place. when history is written about this decade, the morgage industry crisis that brought about our depression, will finally be accepted for what it was; not the wants of the poor; but the gross negligence of those on top; corporate greed is what killed the golden goose.
so when the smug little posters who feel it's the little guy's fault, i hope they'll finally figure it out when their bmw's, mercedes and lexus won't make them any new friends at the unemployement lines.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

OUTSOURCED

i just had a bill collector try to call me; this being unemployeed kinda kills the bill paying thing, i know, but hey. funny thing was the phone call came from costa rica...what do they plan on doing, boarding a plane and roughing me up, once they spend say $1200 round trip ticket, for less than $500.00 debt? talk about outsourcing..what next, bollywood will send some pretty boys with slide rulers to work me over? sheez!
on that note, speaking of out sourcing, when will the friendly and totally lost in another world folks at the not so mighty UAW plan on doing, as the plants and job losses keep mounting and the plants in mexico keep on sprouting up? seems mighty suspious when you lose your job here in detroit, but they keep cranking out the same $30k car from south of the border. seems when the entire middle class disappears, maybe then, when what ever is left of the auto industry, can finally figure out that sub $15k cars ARE what americans want and need. bad enough the house value dropped to next to nothing that cars, which are the second highest priced items we finance, are going to be difficult to try to get a loan for when we are all making less than $25k a year. my lovely wife just bought our home, a lovely $200k house for $70k on a $25k salary..so figure the 30 year note, it makes sense; try getting a 10-15 year note on a $40k car...ha!
another note; quietly, GM has made Buick a huge name plate in china; so what you say. well, they sell over 7 different models of Buicks there, comepared to our 4; doean't take much of a fool to see what is getting ready to happen here; yep, you got it, the same Buicks will be made in China and shipped back here.
now UAW; what can and will you do now? when the very jobs you vowed to protect are now gone, and the only thing is left is your golf club and fancy summer lodge for your premier members, not the rank and file, ask your self, could we have failed and boy, what where we thinking....by the way, the country code for costa rica is "506"..so when you see the caller i.d. number come up...tell them bob says hi.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

LOTTERY TIME

i was reading, today's mega million lottery was up to $100 million, usd, and knowing this is a rather decent sum, after taxes, i could buy a small eastern european country and become president for life and have a harem of women and all the cool cars i ever wanted to drive...alas, back to reality.
even in these troubling times, in which many car lines may disappear, i looked inside my mind, and after i got past the bad porn, i thought of what would i buy, of currently made cars and trucks if i won the lottery and of course had a place to park them. i am not listing any old favorites or classics, no, that would be too easy and i am not making the guys at the auction houses any richer. so, in no particular order, for that matter, here is my list of my car porn and why;

1) dodge challenger srt-8; bright orange...nuff said
2) dodge charger srt-8; coppertone orange and evil as shit
3) jeep grand cherokee srt-8; black...nuff said
4) chevy hhr turbo; bright red done in the delivery panel wagen style
5) chevy camaro 6.0 with a/t; fly yellow with black stripes
6) cadillac cts-v; black with black rims
7)caddy cts-v coupe; white with white rims
8)caddy cts wagon; red, for momma
9) caddy sts-v; black for business type work
10)fiat 500 abarth; white.....cool as shit
11) smart car; yellow just for fun
12) nissan titan; dark grey, with 4x4 for the sorry winter months and full size truck needs
12) bmw 5 series; black..nuff said
14)infiniti m45; maroon red and tan leather
15)ford flex; awd and in blue with a white top
16)gmc 3500 dualie; 2wd and 6.6 diesel...sometimes you just gotta dualie
17)nissan gt-r; gotta have at least one sports car
18)nissan 370z; blue with 6 speed; okay, two sports cars
19)pontiac g8; aussie goodness with a heart of evil; black of course

you'll notice, no hybrid's here..i want pure gas monsters; i don't want or need a 'fridge to drive, i want a soul. no weird hyper exotic's either; i want to be able to drive my cars and not really worry about dents or fools messing them up; no vette or viper either...not really my cup of tea; the gtr does it for me, thank you.

so, that does it for me; if i win tonight, i might be a bit busy for the next few days, at least dreaming of my winnings...haha

Monday, February 16, 2009

SERVICE PRO'S

in another magazine i used to write for, until they changed their path, they had a writer, which they still have, who owns a service center and writes about the daily comings and goings of the service industry and how it relates to the parts business.
this writer, mitch, often tries to come across that service is the whole world wrapped up in gold; he can do no wrong,and his tech's never ever make mistakes or order wrong parts and the world is rose coloured according to him; every time i get my copy of the parts magazine, i get more and more frustrated that we, the parts professionals, have to deal with this, the persons who shit never stinks and have his words, taken as a "given" in the industry and we should bow down and wash the feet of all who, like him, work on cars for a living.
argh, i must relate...granted, you are a seasoned pro, a owner, who has seen his share of ups and downs in this crazy business we are in; but i digress, how is the words, of some one who isn't on our side of the counter, the person who creates the frustration when they say all the parts are the same, call at 5pm on friday and know damn well, no one has this part and it's up to me to bail him out of one of his own screw up's? come on mitch; there are two sides to every story, and the ones you pose, are text book perfect and only show your side; oh yeah, we make mistakes, but as the parts industry as a whole has determined, while trying to cater to your pompus ass, that over 75% of all so-called defects or failed parts, are not really failed. if there are a failure, it is in your own industry as in mechanic mis-diagnosis, not parts related. i will you give you credit in trying your best to keep up with all the trends of the automotive industry, and keep everyone on the cutting edge; but alas, even in the dealer's world, mechanics, fail to diagnose problems as well, even with the manufactor's technology in place.
so mitch, is it my fault? is it my part industries fault either, you may have had a bad day, one of my sales people stopped by and wanted to chat? does everyone who walks in your door want to make a sale? each and every person who walks in your door, offers a chance to make you money, whether they are selling or buying; so, must you disrespect all parts people as just mere annoyances to be tolerated until you can write about them and blast them for trying to be human like you? my time is worth money too; i feel bothered when sales people come in, offering me things i have no need or time for; if they are related to my business, i make the time to talk with them, familiar or not; they pose a chance to learn, teach and make connections i may never make again.
if i didn't want to learn about brain cancer, i would not become or study to be a doctor; you , mitch, cannot or do not know or experience all things related in my industry; i personally take your comments as insults to me and my fellow parts people; i am very pleased and quite happy i don't offer services to you and your garage; i have my own "mitch's" in my world to deal with, but do keep in mind; i don't offer advice on brain surgery, nor should you give advice how to run my parts business.

Monday, February 9, 2009

junkyard blues

in my other post, on car domain.com, i have been writing about the death and demise of the junkyards as we know them today. i realize it is hard for many to understand, even more so, when all you car about is your own need(s), what is happening and why. with the geo-political nature of the world today, faltering economies and the "greening" of many countries, the time is ripe, if not all ready happened, in the end of days for the independent auto junkyards.
first, many people fail to realize, unlike their own hobbie, or the federal governmant, businesses must make a profit; the years of living off the fat, has brought us to this point of time. i also realize, there will be plenty of people who will tell me, i still know of a place and so on and such, but they are in serious denial and i don't mean the river. most junk yards, were covered, pell-mell of cars, thrown around like a kids playground, no real reason or order. most of us, knew someone, who knew someone, who'd let you take your craftsman buddy box in and fill up for a few bucks, while novices paid dearly for any little thing.
like the rat infested, wasp nest paradise they were, sal, behind that wooden counter, covered in all those books, that looked important, and old, out dated girlie calenders, this was the next best way a boy became a man, thru the glazed vent glass of old chevies and fords. alas, old Sal passed away and his daughters didn't know or care to take over the nuts and bolts of the business. sure, it was grandfathered to some one else, so as to keep the business going, but times were getting leaner; old cars are harder to come by, federal and local laws keep trying to close you down and that dirty word that eats into the profit and hearts of all that deals with it, "insurance", forced many to try and streamline the industry, to eek out what ever profit is left after all the rising costs. now, wrecks are bidded on by auto salvage yards, who cater to the body repair industry, not the poor smuck who just wants a tail light lens for his neon. also, keeping in mind, they don't make 1965 chevies no more, finding old wrecks is harder and harder to find, and getting them, with the price of fuels and wages, eats into the costs of any parts one may sell off the cars.
as many, such as myself, who buy and sell on ebay, a few years ago, scrap metal went thru the roof; hell, any rolling piece of metal commanded good coin and it was far more profitable for folks to crush that old chevy or ford, rather than the $50-100 a junk yard would fork over for. supply and demand my friend, has caused many tettering business to go under and the rules of averages keeps on working; there are fewer and fewer lots around; those who are still there, know what they have and those who specialized in certain makes, have found theirselves quietly approached by the car companies, to sell out, and keep the whole ball of wax, from cradle to the grave, to their selves.
it's coming folks; the electric cars and hybrids, are giving the car companies a ticket to ride from our friends in public office, under the guise of protecting ourselves, from ourselves, rulings. like in japan and many european countries, forced obsolsence, is a way of life and is coming here. don't think for a minute, you'll find many hybrid's in junkyards in 10 years or so; the government has mandated the demise of most of the so-called hazardous parts of these cars, in the hands of the car companies, not poor old Sal at Ed's used car parts; the future is already upon us, and in many ways, has already past many by and sealed the coffin's of the automotive junk yards of the past.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS...

if you ever worked for a dealer-principle/small business owner/family operation, you are very familiar with these words.
in my ever varying career(read everchanging), i would have to say, these at times, are the most difficult words to have to eat crow to. maybe why i never stayed in the military. having to accept what at the moment, maybe indifferent or conflicting terms or reasons, or what ever, has always stuck in my craw. for those who work for corporations, it may seem different, but what store managers or area managers interpet as grey areas of rules and regulations can bear witness to the same principle; "do as i say, not as i do".
as an example; if your current small business owner boss, in a business meeting states to you, "such and such customer" has issues and problems with him; it is a given, that there maybe bad blood between them, and he, the owner, feels you maybe the ticket or answer to resolving any of those percieved "issues" and the said customer may start buying from your company again; "but" if the above said "customer" doesn't open up and or continues his dislike of your business, and maybe even, because of what ever reason, doesn't like you either; "bam", now you are the bad guy. no win situtation for sure. hence the catch 22 of this blog; who really is to blame here?
first off, is this customer really worth the time? does the percieved value of the customer out-weigh the reasons of trying to keep his or hers business? what really is the reasons for the bad blood of the two companies that can't be resolved? why does the owner, feel another person, who may not be able to change the reasons of the bad blood, is really gonna make a difference or leave a bad reflection of that persons ablilty to manage, due to a unwavering conflict with no chance of resolution?
at 48 years old and 27 years of this business culture, i can see why many of my seniors and other co-workers have stressed out and in many cases, burned out of this industry. stress is a killer; but to keep stress down and to retain business and employees and customers, all parties, from the customers, the owners and the employees, locked in this dance of customer service, must seek a common ground, level playing fields and sanity, to stay afloat as well as to make money in these tough economic times.

Friday, January 16, 2009

BLURRY IMAGE

there is a growing upswell in the automotive manufacturing market place, to shrink down and cull some lines if not whole companies in this new automotive melt down brought upon us by the current and future economic issues. many companies who grew fat on the backs of over supply and low demand product, coupled with high costs of materials, labor and shrinking profit margins and stock performance, are finding that tough love is a terrible relationship to be in as of late.
cutting workers, shedding factories and losing market share seems to be a daily occurance here in detroit, with what seems to be no end in sight. maybe, just maybe, if the domestic 2.5 companies learn to sell a product line that encompasses a type of product that suits a market need, and make it the best they can for the dollar, and they would find that instead of badge engineering, and creating a glut of cars and trucks many don't want or can afford, just to keep factories working and to re-coup development dollars, they might start find they can make more by spreading the platform around, like toyota does with the camry chassis; sure they have two real cars, okay three, badged differently (lexus, solara, and camry), but the rest of the platform meets different needs and appear to most as totally new and different car platforms. gm is starting with their zeta platfom as well as epilson chassis. ford is doing great using the mazda based platforms to create niche and market based cars in the same way. doing this, gm can let saab be a saab; live the saab 3 alone, as a niche market car, saturn could have their own car, reliving what it was designed to be, as well as each model line could keep their halo car as what they do best and leave it at that; corvette could be it's own line, cadillac would remain what it is, and so on. take the best offerings of each line, combine the whole line up as one company and volia, a winning team line up.
yes, there will be losses, dealerships will go, as will excessive production and factories; but long run, american car companies will survive and that is good for our country and companies as well.

Monday, January 12, 2009

DEAL ME IN

seems the auto manufactures, more so the semi-big three, domestic, are on a cusp of finally realizing the having competing dealerships like starbucks, nearly on top of each other, generally with in a 5-10 mile radius is some metro areas, is a giant burden that needs to stop, like maybe 15 years ago. the same can be said for many aftermarket auto parts stores as well; in many cases, in order to franchise the company and trump up growing numbers, the amount of profitablity of each location is dropping and markets are starting to scavage off each others location, rather than just the competition.
not only that, companies, so scared to drop dealers or franchises, keep supporting such businesses, that in all regards, should have closed or become something else entirely. i can bet many of you who work in small towns, many dealerships and parts franchisees look so far in the past, the only thing missing is the pickle barrel and rocking chairs to set them up as the general store. sorry folks, but that doesn't cut it in the mass market, media savy world we are in.
one such so called dealership, here in the motor city capital, is not only a GMC truck dealership, it is a NAPA franchise as well; it sits in a centuries old building and the business as a whole seems like it is still in 1959. not really who i'd like to see as my cutting edge dealership, with so called factory techs working on my 2010 denali; no, it almost looks like a scene from so hollywood b-movie, complete with bubba fixing my gmc topkick and getting some tractor parts from the NAPA counter in the same building.
come on folks; women control more purchasing power than men as a whole; i am pretty sure that most professional women, wearing prada, would not be caught dead in such a place, let alone, allow their family to buy from there as well. bright and shiny store fronts, professional services and cutting edge technology is what these companies are suppose to represent; cut these so called dealers and franchisees; bring the level of your companies asperations up and enforce your corporate image in your contracts and you'll find water will find its level and the dead weight that is these underperformers, will fade away.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

IMPORT BLUES

seems everyday, here in car jaded detroit michigan, if you read our liberal, left wing ramblings, called daily papers, in the letters to the editors, there are the usual responses, about buying domestic cars and all our woes will be gone. of course, if you read further into each and every letter written, in to the paper, or the columnists as well, the common enemy, for them at least, is the japanese auto industry, ie; Toyota.
now, funny as it may seem, european car companies, are rarely, if ever, included in these rants. what is even funnier, when some of these so called letters of compassion are written, they still, to this day, include references of world war 2, which by far, most of the people who remember that war, are pretty much over it in one way or another. if that theory was to hold any water, if i remember my history faily well, germany of all countries, was pretty much the leader of the whole ball of wax, with japan, coming in at a close second, and italy right there in third. and we won't even mention any french stuff...
i have owned japanese, german, italian and american cars. all have their quirks and pluses, that inherently make them what they are, or what gives them the color or flavor, that makes them what they are. most car buyers, a car is just means of transportation, some may have a preferance to a make or country, but most are based on payments, overall cost and what one expects of the overall ownership experience, not who started or won the war, or whose government supports one over another. why we have such bias that stays with us to this day, is plain ignorance, a type of ignorance like any type of bias towards a race, creed or sex; we buy for what ever reason pleases our own selves, not for the reason some liberal, biased publication deems noteworthy. granted, we are the domestic car capital; in paper form only, more of our "domestic" cars and trucks are made in Canada, or Mexico anyway; are those jobs helping us here in Detroit? no. companies are answerable to their stock holders, those same shareholders want profits, from companies that need to keep their costs in line, and to meet the needs of the marketplace.
what did the japanese do wrong? was it the war? no, it was their business model. they built good, solid cars that supply the wants and needs of the marketplace. they took our production models and built upon them and improved on them to suit their needs as a company. how was that wrong? it was wrong in our business leaders eyes, when what we saw was unfair trade laws and price manipulations; but that was too late, the cow got out the barn yard, and closing the gate now is a waste of time.
the nay-say that our cars are shut out of the european or japanese marketplaces is another attempt at lame excuses; for those of us who have driven overseas, or even seen or read about the roads and driving conditions overseas, understands, most of our cars and trucks, designed for here, are by and far too large and inpractical for roads and tax laws by and far for those countries. most people overseas love our cars, and most things american, just as we enjoy their products, but when even a chevy colbalt or ford fusion are considered large by their standards, in size and our smallest engine in these cars, under-performs most of the marketplace cars they would go up against in the host countries. in most european countries, the diesel, is the motor of choice, and here again, we lag far behind in those technologies. once again, our own companies, here in our own country, are now starting to import those same cars and designs, as "world platforms" and becoming more viable in the whole world marketplace, even if some of the cars, seem a bit small for our tastes, they are starting to grow on us and with fuel prices all over the map, are even more so, making sense.
import? i don't think so; i think what we call imports, is starting to blur, some cars will always be designed for a certain marketplace, but by and large, i feel, the world is our marketplace, and as long as we are free to buy what we please, nothing is sacred cow, no longer

Monday, January 5, 2009

SUMMER MADNESS

i have finally reached a milestone in my life; i have sucessfully lost two jobs in a row, due to the down turn here in the automotive aftermarket, here in beautiful cold and dreary michigan, in the last three years; for 27 years, in this industry, i hadn't ever been without a job; now, with the looks of things, i maybe without for a while again.
but truth be told, i feel my medical condition also has something to do with my demise as well; i wear a scarlet "D" on my chest, "D" for depression/bi-polar. you see, for most of my life, i bore witness to the fact i had and lived with this form of mania. most people face it, depression, in their own fashion or form. we all face depression, at some point in our lives, but the medical condition i live with, must be treated with medications for me to live a some what normal life. unlike many who are in denial about their own mental health, who use illegal drugs or over abuse the brown bottles, i don't self medicate; i stay true to my path and take my meds as needed. sure, i have days, in which i slip and fall and could use more help, or better afford my medications to upkeep my moods as best i can, but truth be told, it's not always easy, nor is it always that simple. depression strikes each person differently and with no compassion; but i am not here to teach or to judge, just to say, like others who seek their own help thru abuse of substances, we who suffer from within, only wish others to understand our own personal hell and treat us as such.
see, i made the mistake, when i would suffer a major setback, to announce my short comings, as what they where, not looking for shoulder to cry on, just to say, look, i am human and i can falter.
alas, ignorance, comes in many colors and silently, behind my back, the whisperings of weak link, not up to par, or what ever mis-givens one can label me as, came to bear. sure, the economy was a easy target, but inside, any real gains made, were wiped clear by thoughts of less than perfection, due to my mental health issues.
stress, the good and the bad; can be and is a major killer of men and women. many people are able to hide their battles with stress, whether behind the coatails of booze, drugs, abuse of any kind or just better understanding and being able to counter any or all miscomings thru smarter and wiser living. i don't know or understand each others issues; i only know and live my own, and thru living my own life, i better understand, the more i understand my own short comings, i can better adapt my own weaknesses to the misgivens others may have of me.