Ruggles – September 2012 Amid the political turmoil of election season the rescue of the domestic auto industry by the George W. Bush administration and…
The Auto Industry Posts
The Industry in the face of the Euro’s (partial) demise
Posted in Chysler, Euro, Eurxit, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Germany, Grexit, Nissan, OEMs, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, Spain, suppliers, Toyota, Turkey, and Volkswagen
…Eurxit and beyond… The Euro as currently configured is not sustainable, from both an economic and from a political perspective. Spain cannot possibly deflate its…
Bad News for Toyota? – the Detroit 3 are Back
Posted in Accord, Camry, Chrysler, fixed costs, Ford, General Motors, GM, Honda, Impala, legacy costs, marginal costs, mid-sized cars, profitability, and Toyota
…the Detroit 3 are returning to the midsized-car segment… I’m tossing out back issues of Automotive News to try to fit into a corner office…
Reverse Import Deja Vu?
Posted in Audi, BMW, car imports, international trade, Japan, Mercedes, Nissan, reverse imports, sales strategy, VW, and yen
…a strong yen should boost exports to Japan… In 1992 I wrote a paper about Japanese car imports, later picked up by the Economist, in…
Lights Turned Off at Bright Automotive
Posted in BEVs, Bright Automotive, Dept of Energy, electric vehicles, hybrids, light trucks, Solyndra, and vans
…new technology can’t target the mass market… The long-run goal for electric vehicles is the mass market. The expense of new technology means that is…
Toyota vs GM: Guess Who’s the Dinosaur!
Posted in Camry, corporate strategy, dominant firm models, General Motors, GM, Hyundai, Impala, Malibu, microeconomics, product comparisons, Sonata, and Toyota
…economic theory says dominant firms adopt strategies that undermine their dominance … This isn’t an enthusiast site, and I’m not a car guy. My family…
Bob Lutz, the VOLT, and the Right Wing
Posted in Bill O'Reilly, Chevrolet, enviro-Nazis, Fire, GM, Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Lutz, media, NHTSA, and VOLT
The recent media coverage of so-called “Chevrolet Volt fires,” especially by the conservative talk shows and Fox News, has attracted my attention and ire. Let’s…
Auto Bailout Redux and Mitt Romney
Posted in bailout, bankruptcy, Chapter 11, Chrysler, DIP finance, General Motors, GM, Michigan primary, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum
See the post on my parallel blog, US and Economics on Mitt Romney’s puzzling statements on the government-led bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler. First, as…
It’s a big, bad world…
Posted in Syllabus Schedule
…will 2012 ring in the red?… It’s a big world…but everyone is aiming to expand for a bigger world. Toyota of course intends to get…