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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.