The big three from a different point of view. PLEASE READ!

[Truckin1999]

I know a lot of people have been doubting the big three (GM, Ford, Chrysler). A lot of the info people hear and see is biased. There are so many people that just want to force people into believing that our economy is crumbling, and that the big 3 have a lot to do with it. My mother, father, and step-father all worked for GM. I will always have faith in the company even in hard times. I was forwarded an email today from Gord Taylor, a friend of our family who also worked for GM. It should give people a little insight on what's really going on in the automotive market. Thanks for reading.HiAs you may know our domestic auto industry has been brutally attacked by the mainstream media. They are constantly spreading untruths and creating a perception to the public that needs to be addressed. Here are some facts that were researched and compiled to counteract the destruction of the Domestic 3 automakers. Some of this will astound you and make you think of the facilcy out there. Please pass this information on to your co-workers, family and friends.ThanxIn Solidarity,Gord...... Bad Mouthing American / Canadian VehiclesGet the Facts Straight !Here are some facts from the WEB that don't get the press they deserve - next time you hear negative comments about domestic this may come in handy it also has the sites that the info came from as well. Pay particular attention to #13 - It says a lot1. Which country can boast that their brands occupy 2 of the top 3 spots for long-term reliability?a. Germanyb. Japanc. Koread. United States2. As of August 2007, which manufacturer had the most recalled vehicles in the U.S. for that year?a. Chryslerb. Fordc. GMd. Nissane. Toyotaf. Volkswagen3. Pick the brand from each group that has the highest initial quality.a. Acura, BMW, Cadillac (all luxury makes)b. Honda, Mercury, Nissan (all non-luxury makes)c. Acura (lux), Chevrolet (non-lux), BMW (lux), Mazda (non-lux)4. Which midsize sedan has the highest initial quality?a. Accord (Honda)b. Altima (Nissan)c. Camry (Toyota)d. Malibu (Chevrolet)5. Which large sedan has the highest initial quality?a. Avalon (Toyota)b. Grand Prix (Pontiac)c. Sable (Mercury)6. Which midsize pickup has the highest initial quality?a. Dakota (Dodge)b. Ranger (Ford)c. Tacoma (Toyota)7. Which car is the most economical overall?a. Aveo (Chevrolet)b. Fit (Honda)c. Prius (Toyota)8. Which car did the LA Times describe as “a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti”?a. A6 (Audi)b. CTS (Cadillac)c. RL (Acura)9. Which company makes the winner of the 2008 “Green Car of the Year” award?a. Chevroletb. Hondac. Toyota10. Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the “North American Car of the Year” for 2007?a. Aura (Saturn)b. Camry (Toyota)c. Fit (Honda)11. Which car won the same award for 2008?a. Accord (Honda)b. Altima coupe (Nissan)c. Malibu (Chevrolet)12. Which company had a luxury vehicle, a midsize sedan, and a large truck removed from the Consumer Reports recommended vehicles list in October 2007 because of mounting quality problems?a. Chryslerb. Fordc. General Motorsd. Hyundaie. Toyotaf. VolkswagenANSWERS:1. Which country can boast that their brands occupy 2 of the top 3 spots for long-term reliability?Answer: United States.Per J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Mercury and Cadillac are in the top 3, along with Lexus. And in 2007, Buick was tied with Lexus for the top spot.http://www.jdpower.com/corpor...2. As of August 2007, which manufacturer had the most recalled vehicles in the U.S. for that year?Answer: Volkswagen.According to Business Week, Volkswagen had the most recalls at this time a year ago. The second worst was Toyota.http://www.businessweek.com/a...3. Pick the brand from each group that has the highest initial quality.a. Answer : Cadillac (better than both Acura and BMW)b. Answer: Mercury (better than both Honda and Nissan)c. Answer: Chevrolet (better than Acura, BMW, and Mazda)This is according to J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Survey.http://www.jdpower.com/corpor...4. Which midsize sedan has the highest initial quality?Answer: The Chevrolet Malibu has better initial quality than any competitor, including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima. The Ford Fusion also beat all 3 Japanese competitors.This too is from the J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey, which also reveals that above average are American brands Mercury, Ford, Cadillac, Chevrolet , Pontiac, Lincoln, and Buick. Below average are import brands Acura, Kia, Nissan, BMW, Mazda, VW, Subaru, and Scion (and several others).http://www.jdpower.com/autos/...http:// ... corpor...5. Which large sedan has the highest initial quality?Answer: Again per J.D. Power, the highest quality large car is the Pontiac Grand Prix, beating the Toyota Avalon. Two other Detroit cars that beat the Avalon are the Mercury Sable and Mercury Grand Marquis.http://www.jdpower.com/autos/...6. Which midsize pickup has the highest initial quality?Answer: The Dodge Dakota has the best quality for midsize pickups, proving that Chrysler too can beat the imports. Both the Dakota and the Ford Ranger beat the Toyota Tacoma.http://www.jdpower.com/autos/...7. Which car is the most economical overall?Answer: Per Edmunds.com, the premier automotive analysis site, the most economical car in America, taking into account not only mileage but all costs, is the Chevrolet Aveo. The Honda Fit is #3 and the Toyota Prius is a distant #34.http://www.edmunds.com/help/a...8. Which car did the Los Angeles Times describe as “a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti”?Answer: “Cadillac makes a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti, and that car is the 2008 CTS. No other car in the mass market dares so much as this expressive and audacious bit of automotive avant-gardism.” Dan Neil, LA Times.http://www.latimes.com/classi...9.. Which company makes the winner of the 2008 “Green Car of the Year” award?Answer: The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid is the winner of this award.. How could a full-size SUV defeat the media darling Toyota Prius? Read the link below and you will discover, “What’s equally eye-opening is that the Tahoe’s 21 mpg city fuel efficiency rating is the same as that of the city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan. ”Did you catch that? A huge, full-size SUV from Chevrolet that gets the same city mileage as a 4-cylinder Toyota Camry!! Chevy obtained this remarkable achievement through the use of its 2-mode hybrid system, a technology that Toyota does not have.http://www.greencar.com/featu.../10. Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the “North American Car of the Year” for 2007?Answer: Not only was the Saturn Aura picked by the automotive press corps as better than the Honda Fit and the Toyota Camry, “When a panel of 47 journalists named the Saturn Aura the North American Car of the Year over the Toyota Camry, the vote wasn't even close, 205-89.” Chicago Tribune, 1/15/07http://www.northamericancarof...11. Which car won the same award for 2008?Answer: GM
again crushed the Japanese competition in 2008 when the Malibu received 190 votes to the Honda Accord’s 95. The Accord actually came in 3rd since GM’s other finalist, the Cadillac CTS, received 165 votes.http://www.northamericancarof...12. Which company had a luxury vehicle, a midsize sedan, and a large truck removed from the Consumer Reports recommended vehicles list in October 2007 because of mounting quality problems?Answer: Toyota’s much publicized quality problems resulted in Consumer Reports actually removing from their recommended vehicles list the Lexus GS luxury car, Camry V6 sedan, and Tundra pickup. This demotion occurred in October 2007.13.If you are one of the many Americans who gave up on Detroit’s cars because of a bad experience many years ago, it’s time to rethink your position. Rethink Detroit.Detroit automakers: 79 U.S. jobs per 2,500 cars sold in America.Foreign automakers: 33 U..S. jobs per 2,500 cars sold in America.levelfieldinstitute.or.../

[Wolfman213]

That was definitely a pleasure to read!!! It would just be nice is the rest of America was made aware of this.

[Truckin1999]

Well consider it our job to help spread the truth. The big 3 aren't perfect by any means, but they aren't as bad as the media makes them out to be. Its sad how much the media dogs our own country and its products. They live here too and should be proud of it.

[Wolfman213]

Exactly. A lot has to be said about companies that survive over 100 yrs too. Through all the ups and down, even the Great Depression, which was in the early years of the manufacturers. History says a lot for these companies. They've had ups and downs too and it just seems like since they appear to be in a down slump, the media is blasting them. At least there is independent proof backing up these great facts from above.

[Silversn95]

I have always said our own media is our auto industries worst enemy. I agree with all of the above except #7. I've been in a Grand Prix, I would not call it a large car. Large on the outside maybe but not so much on the inside.

[mkaresh]

I'll agree with your statement that the Big Three aren't perfect, but that they're also not as bad as many portray them to be.I don't agree that the press is Detroit's worst enemy. Detroit still deserves that title.If you do accept that Detroit isn't as bad as many portray it, then the above facts aren't hard to believe. It's got enough good products that a careful selection of facts will find enough favorable ones.I wouldn't rely too heavily on JD Power, though. For them "long-term durability" is the third year of ownership. Most people would define the term differently to focus on what happens after the warranty ends.I collect vehicle reliability stats myself. You can view the latest results here:TrueDelta Vehicle Reliability Survey resultsSome domestic cars are doing well, some not as well. Same for the imports.One of my pet peeves: people who want to reduce quality to import vs. domestic. I much prefer to look at the scores for individual models. Even if Detroit's cars don't always do well, this approach would still favor it, as many people would no longer refuse to consider a car just because it was domestic.

[ClunkClunk]

Quote, originally posted by mkaresh »I don't agree that the press is Detroit's worst enemy. Detroit still deserves that title.Agreed.Quote, originally posted by mkaresh »Even if Detroit's cars don't always do well, this approach would still favor it, as many people would no longer refuse to consider a car just because it was domestic.There's also quite a few people I know who buy American, but plan from day 1 to sell it at 75k or pre-100k simply due to fears of longevity. I can't say I'm 100% exempt from that, as I sold the Regal with 98k, but I feel a majority of that was due to high gas prices, and the stigma of an over 100k car and the resulting value.

[isaaclud]

The stats above really dont change my perceptionthat GM deserves to exist as it has for the last century...You can all say what you want about skewed mediaperception and biased auto-critic bashing...but my ANTI-BAILOUT stance for GM (and the other 2)comes from STRICTLY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.and the PERSONAL EXPERIENCE of people closeto me with American car manufacturers products.and THAT is what matters most to me.My own history with GM and my own views onthe myriads of things they have done wrong andare still doing wrong are what prompt me to become quite infuriated that they want help....I'm not sold AT all on the data above.

[mkaresh]

The problem hasn't been so much the problems themselves, but the "customer care" people have experienced when they had problems.I've written about this here:http://www.truedelta.com/blog/?p=199

[bodhi_tree777]

#7, not to nit-pick, but isn't the Aveo just a re-badged Korean car?

[michaelgt]

I am guessing that you always were happy with Citibank!!

[isaaclud]

never a citibank customer....although i must confess...i am not exactly sure what you mean...if you mean I'm happy they got bailed...then again....this would be incorrect.....gov. interference does not equal capitalism...rather....it equals something else....last seen in Communist Russia

[Neouka]

my next car is still more than likely going to be a Subaru